Hello everyone! I just wanted to mention again what a crazy city Saigon is and how it is just a sea of motos all driving around in no clear traffic pattern. Today the husband (named Wei...pronounced like the popular game Wii) decided to just drive on the sidewalk when he became impatient with the masses. Hang on! I was on the back of his scooter and his 11 year old son Wei Thoung was sitting on the front of the seat. So, I got to experience what a family of three feels like...plenty of room people now trade in those minivans and hatchback wagons!
We thought we were going to District 5 to the Chinese section of the city but it turns out that Wei had another idea...he was taking us out to the tunnels way out of the city. An hour and 10 minute ride by moto. Already my butt hurt but we agreed to it and made arrangements to go to District 5 tomorrow. Initially as we were driving out I found myself getting a little up-tight, not having wanted to come on this particular trip so far away and then something just gave way inside of me. Must have been my morning Yoga class...I did get my laundry back at 10pm last night and had Wei drive me to Yoga. It was a mix of Bikram and Ashtanga. The class was not hard at all and left me feeling a little disappointed that my body had not been worked to the max like I was hoping for but in the end I was going to need that strength to ride on a moto in the blazing heat all day. The yoga did help focus my mind and that alone was worth it. So, after I finally relaxed on the back of the moto I had lots of time to take in the countryside. We drove out past the rice fields, passing a funeral procession...this person had a coffin and would be buried above ground in a tile storage shed type deal. Some Buddists do not burn the body Wei said...he is a buddist but has no special Pagoda he attends. He does have a small shrine in his house that has a plastic cartoon looking fat and happy type of Buddha in it and I think of all the Buddha's I have seen in this lifetime, that this is probably truly the Buddha's favorite depiction of himself.
Back to the moto....so, I keep forgetting to comment on the Bougainvilla's and the Honeysuckle. The Bougainvilla grows into immense trees here. I am certain that if you give it any amount of unlimited area to grow it will kindly take all the space you have to offer. They are simply breathtaking as are the honeysuckle. I have noticed them at Ngapali beach in Myanmar where they will grow to be over three stories high. They have almost the same growth here. Amazing. Occasionally we will drive by a roadside nursery with all the plants in buckets and I just want to pull over and buy a bunch and some pots and get to the business of making a flower garden....guess I would have to buy a house here though, and while its nice, Ho Chi Min is not for me. Way too loud. And then there is the business of the motos.
So today this long moto ride took us to the tunnels of Cu Chi. The tunnels were there in a smaller version in this farming area back to when Vietnam was trying to gain independence from France (sidenote...still enjoying baquette..) When the American war started they added to the tunnels and they played a huge part in the Victory. The Americans could not get into the tunnels and essentially these crafty people would farm at night at then become guerrilla's by day. We were shown how they made seriously painful looking weaponry from metal that was sharpened into points and then buried pointed up in traps that soldiers would fall into and impale themselves on. They showed us how they would collect our huge fat bellied B52 bombs that had not detonated and saw them open for the gun powder to make their own bombs. It took a week to saw the bombs open...they had to go slowly and pour ladels of cold water over the crack so that the bombs would not detonate. Pretty crafty! We also saw the size of a hole that a detonated B52 bomb makes in the earth when dropped from the sky. Pretty big. Imagine the biggest in-ground pool you have ever seen then go a bit bigger. Oh! And we got to go in the tunnels...they were tiny and hot and I got out after 20 meters and Will stayed in for over 100! The guide said he would be a good guerilla. I would not have lasted long as one of these villagers. For over three years they LIVED in the tunnels. They could not live above ground because the Americans were bombing the crap out of the land trying to destroy the tunnels. And when they were not bombing them they were dumping Napalm on them. We were walking through a forest and I questioned the comment about napalm as everything seemed to be growning pretty well and frankly I did not want to be walking anywhere that Napalm had previously been...he hesitated and said this was another area....is it me or do my ovaries hurt....hmmm.
At the end of the tunnels we had the opportunity to shoot real live AK47's and M16's. We just had to buy the bullets (no less than ten..) we both declined. It seemed like a little too much glorification of war to me. Interesting things to note....these farmer's were initially motivated only because they wanted to save their land, then their family members started being killed and they were motivated by revenge and anger. Women and men fought alongside of each other equally. And if a guerrilla killed many US Soldiers they were given special merit and hero like honors. It was all documented on a movie that we watched at the beginning of the tour that was shot in about 1975 or so on Super 8 film and had pretty bad voice quality. I think this qualifies as the last war monument I care to see on this trip. On the way back in town we were shown a cemetary of Vietnam soldiers that looks just like any of America's National Cemetaries. The grave stones were shaped a little different and they all had a communist star in the middle of them but otherwise at first glance it was a bit disceiving.
So we are back in town and I am going to go to two more pagodas and to the Chinese section of town tomorrow in district 5. Not sure what Will is going to do but we are both getting ants in our pants to get to Nha Trang...the beach.
OH! Another important observation....in each country we have visited we are always amazed at the things people sell and how anyone ever makes enough money to even put food on the table. The one that truly puts us over the edge is the scale. Someone will have an actual scale...as in the kind you step on and check how much you weigh and they will charge others to step on it. I dont know the rate for this service but every time I see one ( and last nights was the kind you find in the doctors office and some woman was wheeling it off which I am certain must throw the scale off ) I think...no way...never in America!
Ok, time for a shower and a big bottle of water. Will and Wei are back at the house getting their drunk on....better to check in on the menfolk. maybe Jin (the wife) and I should go out tonight and leave the boys at home....
willandCODY
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