Motorbikes, motorbikes everywhere! Ho Chi Minh City is craazzyyy. Also know as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh was our first stop on our whirlwind 2 week tour of Vietnam.
After a grueling 15 hours bus ride from Cambodia we finally arrived in the heart of the city. I was immediately overwelmed. The traffic here is worse than Bangkok, and I never thought I would say that. I have never seen so many motorbikes in my life. Its a constant stream of thousands of bikes, all of them beeping their horns and weaving their way down the crowded streets.
Crossing the street here is quite terrifying. As there are no real stop lights or cross walks you just have to take a deep breath, step off the sidewalk, and make your way slowly across, praying you don't get hit.
Who knew that motorbike helmets could be such a fasion statement??
The food so far in Vietnam is amazing. I have had delcious steaming hot bowls of Pho, fresh spring rolls, tons of fresh fruit and some of the best ice coffee. Yum!
While in Saigon we decided to take a day trip to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. Again, I know nothing about the history of Vietnam and know very little about the war so I was looking foward to learning a little bit while I am here. The tunnels were pretty fascinating.
Cu Chi is a network of tunnels that runs about 250km long. It consists of 3 levels, the third being 10m below the surface. The tunnels were all hand dug. 16,000 Vietnemese lived in the tunnels for almost 20 years to avoid being killed by the American soilders. Only 3,000 survived.
We were able to go into a small section of the tunnels. I could not believe how small the tunnels were! . The tunnels were built in clay soil which protected them from water and flooding, bombs and even American tanks. The entrance to the tunnels were very also very well hidden. Even if the tunnels were discovered the Americans would have a really hard time fitting through the small openings. We also got to see some of the weapons that they used against the American soliders. Visiting the tunnels was really interesting and I am so glad that I was able to learn a little bit about the war.
I have honstely had enough of the hustle and bustle of the big city and ready to try something smaller. Off to the beach town of Nha Trang.!
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