Cu Chi Tunnels

Val here.

Cu Chi Tunnels - our 1/2 day trip. The brochure reads: "Cu Chi is considered a heroic district for its role in the anti-American war in Viet Nam. It is legendary for its tunnel system of over 220 km and is a popular spot for both Vietnamese and foreign tourists."

Arieh chose not to go, so I joined my friend Joseph and took the bus tour to the tunnels. it was fascinating - but for the wrong reasons. I was astonished by the political stance and the ghoulishness of its presentation. It is interesting history - but rewritten.

Over the years, tunnels had been dug so that resistors against the French and later against the South Vietnamese government, could travel, surprise the enemy, and keep themselves safe. We saw the tiny entrance that the Viet Cong resistors crawled through to get into the tunnels. (picture). Anyone with a girth of more than 34 inches would get stuck! (See pictures)

We saw the bigger underground tunnels used for sitting and cooking and sleeping. We were given the chance to crawl through the tunnels to see how it felt ( an intense experience - one Australian woman said).

We also marvelled at the engineering of the three layers of tunnels and their extensiveness.

What starteled me (and some otheres) was the video which mentioned nothing about the civil war between the north and the south. It was simply a war of the Vietnamese against America. The video shows Viet Cong heros and heroines - their merit based on how many American soldiers they killed.

After viewing the video, we walked through an area showing the booby traps - camouflaged traps where the soldiers fell through to be pierced by bamboo or metal spikes.

The guide demonstrated six different horrifying examples of how the Viet Cong protected their tunnels and maimed their opponents. All this jollity was accompanied by the sounds of a nearby firing range. For a dollar a bullet, visitors to the sight could shoot an AK47. For a larger sum, you could lob a grenade. Several of the young men in our group took up the challenge. (One young man commented on how frightening it is to have those sounds around you as you shoot. He couldn't imagine listening to the deafening noise for more than 5 minutes.) More goulish yet were the tourists who were encouraged (or chose to) smile and pose near the objects of torture. The best photo op was to smile as you posed near an damaged American tank, ("My G-d," a young British man said quietly, "how can they pose there? That's somebody's grave!") And perhaps most disturbing of all is the fact that there was no anti-war message at all! Cu Chi tunnels is the only historic war location that I have visited that lacked that essential (in my view) opportunity to beg for peace among peoples.

Although we stopped at a fascinating laquerware factory for the diabled on the way back, and saw that despite the defolliation of the area by the Americans the forest has returned - it was, for me, a disturing day.

One other thing. Our guide - a man of about 50, mentioned that he had tried to escape from Viet Nam 4 times at the end of that war. He was put into prison for 3 months (he did not say "re-education camp"). There are many edited and untold stories about the "American War" in this country. Perhaps someday the government will permit them to be told.

Hoi An

February 20, 2007
Hoi An, Vietnam

Arieh here. Hoi An is a small town with a preserved "old" town. It is at the mouth of the ????? river that leads into the South China Sea, just south of Da Nang (which is still south of the DMZ). Apparently it was preserved from destruction by an "agreement" between the different fighting parties here during what is called here the "American" war. It's an old port and has become a centre for silk and tailoring, as well as other items of interest to tourists. Quite picturesque and we spent 4 days here over the TET holiday. The picture of Val is of a courtyards in one of the old houses.

Tet is quite a boisterous affair. Lots of decorations, everything closed for 2-4 days (except restaurants for tourists), and it is a big family holiday. The first night (16th) there were midnight fireworks and they were pretty good. Not quite the "Symphony of Fire" but lots of "oohs" and "aahs". In fact, from our vantage point (less than 30 metres from where they were being fired) it looked like the fireworks were exploding directly above our heads. Fortunately, they either weren't directly overhead or the debris disintegrated before reaching our furry little heads. Thousands of people about, both young and old. One of the other events is the "boats" that people make out of paper (oragami), place a lit candle in the centre of it and then place it in the river and let it float away down the river. Quite pretty to see all the boats floating around bringing people good luck for the new year. Before the fireworks we went out for a special New Year's dinner where they had a very nice buffet and cooked as you ordered. (See pictures).



Two days ago we hooked up with an American couple we met in Nha Trang. (Check out the Para-sailing Lion.)


They are teaching English in China and vacationing in VN. Together we rented a taxi and driver and went to My Son, the site of Champa ruins from the 4th to 11th Century. They were/are similar to those at Angkor Wat (Cambondia) and Bagan (Burma). The Cham people were in this are before the Vietnamese (which means "from the south of China) moved south and absorbed them. The ruins are not in good shape partly because the Viet Cong used them as a staging ground/base for operations and the South Vietnam Army and U.S. then bombed them. Similar problem as in Lebanon and refugee camps used by the Fatah, etc. There is also damage to the ruins due to people being allowed to touch the sandstone carvings and even some tourists climbing past barriers to have a "photo-op". Not a lot of respect for public places here in Asia. We also visited the Marble mountains, a series of outcroppings of .... marble. There are caves in those mountains, pagodas at the top and lots of people climbing all over the place and selling drinks. At the bottom, there were numerous stores selling all sorts of marble items. For a mere $1500 U.S. (shipping included) Val and I could have been the proud owners of a 1.5 metre high water fountain and pedestal. It would have looked great in our living room, but wouldn't let me buy it.


Yesterday (19th) Val took a Vietnames cooking course and I went bicycling. I decided not to worry about my backside and just concentrate on where I was going and who was moving perpendicular to me. Not one collision on my part and I am here writing these words. Hoi An has a beach about 5 KM from town. In no time flat I was there. It was fairly busy (Tet holiday) and I found a shady place under a palm grove. I was with another traveller and while he watched my stuff I went for a swim. When I got back my sarong not only had my friend sitting on it, but also two 16-year old girls as well. They didn't speak much Enlish but were content to "visit" with and look at us. (I guess I still have that old charm that worked so well in the past.) We were then joined by up to 10 other young kids who were quite hapy to sit and stare and have their picture taken with the Westerner.


From the beach I then happily cycled back to town, taking detours out along paths between rice fields, taking pictures of water buffalo swimming in their "pools", stopping to drink water and having a chat with two little kids who said "Hello" and were surpised I answered them and engaged them in conversation, and even getting a little lost in this small town. (As you can see, the "loss" was not permanent). The little sidetrip along the ricefield path was marked by quite a few "water buffalo biscuits"--some fresh and some baked by the sun. I also curtailed the ride along that path when I spotted a pair of water buffalo sitting on the path (they have long sharp horns) and I thought it would be better to turn around.


From Hoi An we took the last leg of our bus ticket (from Saigon) to Hue. The "funny" part of the trip was the fact that we departed at 1:30PM and then spent 1 hour driving around this small town of Hoi An picking up other passengers at their hotels. The whole 140 KM trip took 4.5 hours in total, including a 30 minute rest stop and all the pick ups!

Mekong Delta--Phnomh Penh to Saigon

Mekong Delta: Phnom Penh to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
Day 1 (February 6, 2007)

Our adventure started early in the morning on Tuesday, February 6. A minibus picked us up from our hotel in Phnom Penh. We were that last of the tourists picked up by the bus. The driver lowered the middle (aisle) seats so that we could sit down. There were about 15 tourists in the bus and we felt grateful about how comfortable we were as we watched buses rolling by with Cambodians stuffed into metal seats, hanging out the doors and perched on top of their public buses. Our bus drove us down to a boat. We sailed on a rather rickety boat - the best spot as on the roof if you didn't mind the hot sun on you - down the river to the border crossing. We climbed out of this boat, went to be discharged from Cambodia with a bump of a stamp, then boarded a different boat to continue to Viet Namese immigration. After a check for visas and papers, another full page visa stamp and signature, and we were on our way in to the town of Chau Doc. A question - why are viet Namese boats almost always blue? As we travelled down the Mekong, we saw fisherboats and cargo ships and farmers bringing goods to market in their two-oared dugout wooden rowboats. There is so much life on the Mekong - houseboats, ferry boats, cargo boats, floating fish farms, on and on... We arrived in Chau Doc where most of the travellers departed for their hotel in the town. Arieh and I had opted for the Guesthouse on the mountain so we got a longer boatride and an uncomfortable ride with luggage in a motocyclo to our Guesthouse. The Guesthouse, unfortunaely was not so great - we insisted on the nicer room (but larger) and upset the young receptionist of the hotel. She complied, however- and except for the hard foam mattresses we were fine.

Arieh climbed the mountain to see the sunset but had to take a ride on a motorcyle to make it up the hill to be on time for the sunset. He observed that the Vien Namese locals use the mountains for exercise in the evening and early morning. Groups of people are running or walking up and down the great hill.

By 7 in the evening Arieh and I were hungry, and just as we prepared to leave the room the lights went out- a power failure. We walked the short distance to the bottom of the hill and who should be waiting there in the pitch dark but two cyclo drivers - happy, no delighted, to take us to the town of Chau Doc to a restaurant. Away we went - pitch dark in two cyclos (one each) sans any kind of light (is this my husband who insists on helmets and tailights when we ride bicycles?) barrelling down the streets (albeit relatively\n quiet ones) to the Chau Doc restaurant that only our lead driver knew. The seats in the cyclo were narrow and hard, the road bumpy, the traffic increasing, and I was terrified. Arieh, however, was enjoying every minute of it. Who knew where they were taking us? But - we made it! I must admit our cyclo driver found us a lovely little restaurant and I think I had the best barbecued/grilled fish there that I've had in all the time I've been in South-East Asia. The return trip to the Gueshouse was uneventful. Chau Doc, by the way, never lost its power. The lights were on again when we returned to our Guesthouse.

February 7
We arose at 5:30 so that we could meet our group at 6:30 in Chau Doc. We joined the other travellers of our group for a fascinating cruise. we saw a floating market. Farmers bring their produce down river; they put a pole with a melon or onion or potato - whatever they are selling as a signal to buyers. Boats come from all over the area to buy: there were the small, hand-oared boats of the women who would sell the produce in the maket and the large barges which would take the produce to larger markets in the cities. We spent some time travelling among the boats as they banged together and hitched to each other to exchange goods. On this cruise we also saw fish farms under people's floating homes. The fish are contained by a structure of nets and ploles underneath the homes. They are fed by the family and by the tourists. You throw a handful of fish food in and all the fish jump up and lunge for it. I assume they sell the fish when they are ready for market.

We continued by boat to a port called Can Tho. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and had a lovely dinner to the noise of a group of Vietnamese celebrating a birthday. As the beers were poured the noise got louder - but all in good fun. The group sent over some birthday cake for our desert, and Joseph, our Montreal friend chagalugged a beer - all while worrying about the safety of the ice in the drink. (He wasn't feeling so well in the morning - the beer, or the ice???)

Feb. 8

We awoke the next morning to a wonderful tour led by a new guide who regaled us with stories and songs. We visited a village where they made showed us a rice mill and illustrated how rice noodles are made. Every part of the rice is used, except for the dust: the best quality rice is used for table service. the leftovers ground for "vermicelli" noodles, the husk is used for feed for the chickens and animals. We also saw rice paper making (picture). The rice paper is not for writing on; it is for eating spring rolls.

We continued to cruise the small canals through villages interconnected by monkey bridges - a bridge made across a river which is just a bamboo pole or poles, held up by other poles. It is a narrow bridge - but it is said that the Vietnames farmers ride their bicycles over it. The Mekong river floods and one is always aware of the houses perched on stilts and the fact that a lot of the housing and transportation floats.

In the evening we arrived in a port called My Tho (pronounced Mee-toe). Our last night in the Mekong delta was spent in a rather rundown hotel with a fabulous view of the river below. Inasmuch as the tour company chose the hotel and we were obliged to stay in it , I dug my heels in to insist on a toilet seat in the room. To my surprise, in spite of the vague look the receptionist gave me two hours earlier when I mouthed the words "toilet seat", a workman came, boxed seat in hand, to install it. Not to my surprise, it didn't fit. Arieh mentioned the "t. s." words to the manager later in the evening. Good luck, I thought.

Toilet seat (or lack of it) notwithstanding, that evening we walked with Joseph Somer, our new friend, to the opposite side of the river to find dinner. We found a rather substandard dinner - searched for tea and pastries - to no avail - and came back to the hotel. As we walked back, we saw hundreds of motorcycles parked outside a large and well-lit building. A department store had made it to Can Tho , and what excitement there was! The place was packed with shoppers picking over a rather, from our perspective, paltry selection of goods.

Oh - the toilet seat! Well, guess what! In the morning when we returned from breakfast - there was a shiny new toilet seat perched on the toilet - and it fit! Just in time for one use before we headed on to Saigon. The Vietnamese do their best to make sure their guests are well taken care of.

Feb. 9

On our fourth and last day we visited a coconut candy-making farm (actually just a house) - and an incense making factory. Cocunut candy has the same chewiness of toffee, but is much better. We cruised on the Tien river to Tortoise Island. On the way we viewed stilted houses and boat building workshops. We ate lunch in the heart of an island orchard and got to taste dragon fruit, pineapple, bananas, guava, and other delicious fruits that grow on Tortoise Island. Some villagers sang and played music for us. It was quite lovely. We then cruised in a tiny dugout boat through the canals which had the same beauty as the Bayou near New Orleans.

We then boarded our bus to Saigon. We entered Saigon and marvelled at the noise and traffic but not forgetting the tranquility and floating vehicles of the Mekong Delta and its islands.

Wild "sounds like contextual" Dreams

February 8, 2007

Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Arieh here. Tricked you (sort of)!!! The title was supposed to catch you. Instead I had to change it slightly because I think it is causing problems here in Vietnam accessing the blog for me and some others. If you figure out the right word, then it refers to an actual quote from my cousin Phil quoting his wife, Corrine, about one of the rumoured side effects of Malarone. More on that later, if you have the patience to keep reading. First some comments on my "westernerness" and take note that this story is only about me and not anyone else. I am definitely in need of some innovation "re-training".

We were in Phnom Penh last week and Val and I and our two new Cambodian-American friends were walking along the river walkway in the late evening. We were approached by one "moto" driver (small motorcycle) and asked if we needed transport. (This is not an uncommon question nor unexpected). We were clearly a group of 4 people and he was clearly one driver with space for one passenger. This is where the "re-training" statment comes in. I held up my hand and "answered" with 4 fingers indicating we are 4 people. To him, this was obviously not a problem and he IMMEDIATELY suggested in Khmer that he would go get ONE more "moto" driver. From his point of view, his motorcycle not only had room for one passenger, it actually had room for TWO. Hence, his innovative solution to my answer was one more motorcycle and four people could then be transported and he and his buddy could earn some money. I, being well-off and complacent, didn't think of that solution and he, being less well-off, immediately thought of a way to overcome my "objections" to his original offer. The moto drivers solution to my problem is just one example of how motorcycles are used here in Cambodia and all of S.E. Asia. They are used by themselves to move people. I have seen up to 5 on one small motocycle (admittedly, one of the 5 was a babe-in-arms). They are used to transport goods--either on the back with a filled basket or the goods are simply strapped to the back. I even saw a LIVE pig being taken to market on the back of a moto! Upside down and frozen with fear. I have seen smallish study desks lashed to the back of a motorcycle. "Motos" are also used to pull things--usually by some attachment that is not permanent. There are wheeled attachments that are used to carry good (such as big and long pieces of wood or coal--see picture) and there are 2-wheeled attachments that are used to carry peope (as we used in Siem Reap). The people mover motos are then called "tuk tuk"s (in Cambodia) or a "kechuk" (in Java). They can hold up to 2 people (in Java) or up to 4 (in Cambodia).

The moto drivers solution to my problem is just one example of how motorcycles are used here in Cambodia and all of S.E. Asia. They are used by themselves to move people. I have seen up to 5 on one small motocycle (admittedly, one of the 5 was a babe-in-arms). They are used to transport goods--either on the back with a filled basket or the goods are simply strapped to the back. I even saw a LIVE pig being taken to market on the back of a moto! Upside down and frozen with fear. I have seen smallish study desks lashed to the back of a motorcycle. "Motos" are also used to pull things--usually by some attachment that is not permanent.

So you want to know about "sounds like contextual" dreams? Well there have not been any. However, as I mentioned, there is a rumour that Malarone cause wild dreams and I had one. So all you experts on dreams can now tell me what the following meant (and please write to the e-mail address you all have). One fine night I awoke with a start. The end of the dream (and I cannot recollect any other part) was when I took a swipe at a tiny dragon that was chewing at my leg and knocked it off. That's it. Let me know if it is the Malarone.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Val here.

Phnom Penh. A truly interesting and lively city. Phnom Penh is larger than Siem Reap and somewhat less touristed because there is no Angkor Wat nearby. It has its own charms, however. There is a lovely walkway by the river - that is if you can dodge bicycles, motorscooters, hawkers, and walkers. But it is all with lively spirit and a sense of communal comfort. We met a American who left Cambodia when he was 8 years old, and his sister (Virak and Leak) and went on a long walk with them to the amusement park and the casino. The amusement park had the usual rides. The roller blade arena was the most popular spot. We went on a sunset cruise - had the boat almost to ourselves and watched as the sun sank behind the city.

Phnom Penh holds a tragic past. We visited:

1. The Killing Fields - this is a huge field which you walk through to remember and honour the individuals who were killed here. In this one extermination camp many Viet Namese political prisoners, intellectuals, teachers, thinkers were killed, often along with their families. A shortage of bullets eventually resulted in prisoners killed by bludgeoning and thrown into a pit. The site's focal point is stacks of skulls stacked in a memorial in the middle of the compound. This lovely field cries with the sadness and horror that occurred from 1975 to 1979 during the Pol Pot regime.

2. S- 21 - This is a school which was turned into a prison for incarceration and torture of anyone the Pol Pot regime thought might be an enemy. Prisoners were shackled to their beds and tortured mercilessly until they confessed to whatever crimes they were accused of. Then, if they survived the conditions and torture, they were shipped off to an extermination camp and bludgeoned or shot to death. The sight has photographs of the people who were incarcerated in this facility - men and women. It is, like the killing fields, a memorial to the victims of these horrors. Pol Pot and his political cronies, like the Nazis, kept detailed records of these "criminals" so sure were they of the necessity of this genocidal brutality.

3. Phnom Penh - Pot Pot emptied the entire city of its 1,500,000 inhabitants shortly after he came to power. After studying and breathing in the communist idealogy of China he decided to send all the urban dwellers to work in the fields and live in communes. And yes, as unbelievable as it sounds he used adolescent brainwashed thugs to clear the city of Phnom Penh in 24 hours.

The horrors of Pol Pot's regime are in no way yet forgotten. The country still has much healing to do and it will take many more years to recover economically from the trauma of those years. The government is quite corrupt and has made little effort to punish the people responsible for the horrors of the Pol Pot - Khmer Rouge years. Pol Pot himself died in bed a few years ago. I suspect the survivors are hurt and angry at the lack of political will to punish these criminals.

Nah Trang Morning Walk

February 14, 2007
Nah Trang, Vietnam

Arieh here. Up early today to see what's up on this beach at 6AM. Not only was it cool and pleasant, the beach, walkway and green areas were well used by the local inhabitants. Badminton games, soccer games, walking, people doing calisthenics, and swimming. The participants were of all ages--young teenagers before going off to school, middle-aged people before going off to work and older people before....going off to work. Some said hello to me, some engaged me in longer conversations and some ignored me. Relatively few Westerners up at 6AM. BTW, some of the people I saw were finished their exercises at 6AM. I walked for about an hour and by 7AM it was pretty well empty and finished. One memorable fellow was doing some traditional Vietnames/Cambodian/Thai massage on himself. He was standing with his back to the sun and moving his hands as if massaging his neck and head. However, he was NOT actually touching himself; his hands were about 5 cm away from contact and the force field energy was doing the work for him.

Nah Trang is on the East Coast of Vietnam, north of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and south of our next stop, Hoi An. It is a largish city with a beautiful beach and well maintained for both foreign visitors and Vietnamese visitors. I have seen pictures of the beaches in "warmer" weather chock full of people and they don't look like me. There is a very nice walkway for about 8 KM along the beach, the sand is machine-raked periodically and there are very few hawkers during the day. Yesterday, Val and I treated ourselves to a "day on the beach". Our hotel does not have a pool. Instead we found a place close by that rents very comfortable lounge chairs on the beach for $1.25, comes with security guards standing around, use of a swimming pool behind us and, of course, access to food and drink. Very nice day. We both finished books during the course of the day and the number of sales approaches was less than 10. Here I am Para-sailing!!




The bus-drive up from HCMC was interesting, if somewhat long. Very urbanized for quite a while from HCMC and then actual countryside. Part of the trip reminded me of the Jordan Valley. Tall rocky mountains on one side of the road and very little rainfall in the area. As the sun was going down behind the mountains on the West, the light was very similar to the Jordan Valley at the same time of day. For that matter, it also looked like the Okanagon Valley in B.C. at times. In short, it did NOT look like any pictures I have seen or imagined about Vietnam--rice fields, jungles, busy cities.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

February 11, 2007
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Arieh here. Chuc Mung Nam Moi, or as we say in the vernacular "Shanah Tovah". Val has gone off on a tour of the "tunnels" outside of HCMC--those used by the Viet Minh in their independence struggle against the French and then later repaired and used against the Americans and the South Vietnamese by the Viet Cong. I will see untouched tunnels in the Demilitarized Zone in a week or so. In the meantime, I am walking around HCMC.

I started off in a park near our hotel. This park is normally a green space (apparently created in the last 4 years) about 75 metres wide by about 1 KM long. It has grass, gardens, trees, walking paths and places to sit. I say "normally" because I think it looks different today (and this time of year) because of the Vietnamese Tet holiday (same same but different as Chinese New Year). Today all the grassy areas are covered by vendors--I am sure they all have permission. However, the products beidng sold are actually enhancing the park. Big and small flowering plants, green-leafed plants, bushes that produce tiny oranges, small trees in large pots, small trees showing elaborate root systems above the earth level, and, of course, some drink vendors. Some of the leafy bushes have been cut in the shape of little piggies (Year of the Pig); some are in the shape of a small dragon (with ears, tongue and eys stuck in the leaves to give the face). Maybe these are the dragons of my wild sexual dreams??

I am now sitting in the middle of a traffic circle near the old Hotel de Ville. It is now called the Peoples' Committee Building. The traffic circle has a beautiful fountain and flowers in the centre and sitting blocks surrounding it. Last night we were here (on the rooftop of the Rex Hotel) and the streets were full of traffic--comparatively few cars but thousands of motorcycles. For the 6 million people here I am sure there are more than 4 million "motos". Crossing the street, as described in all the tourists books, is an adventure and a half. Don't ever stop walking; just keep watching and going across!! The traffic is expecting you to keep going and will go around you (either in front or back). If you stop, you endanger everyone. HCMC has many wide boulevards (like Paris) and the one near the PCB is being fixed up and made even more beautiful.

For walking and I even tired myself out. After walking down to the Saigon river (and being approached by friends of "Miss Saigon") and back to the PCB I continued on to the War Remnants Museum. It is rather interesting, albeit with some very disturbing exhibits and photos of the effects of war and torture on humans and nature. Old U.S. tanks, jets, and other planes on display, as well as examples of prison cells used by both the French (prior to 1954) and the South Vietnamese until 1975. Not surprisingly, not a lot of mention of U.S. POWs. So, after that museum, I was tired, broke down and took a cycle cab to the Notre Dame Cathedral, where I am now sitting enjoying some sort of chanting and organ as a prelude to a Mass service.