Normandy Adventures: Good Morning Vietnam!

Norm:

Today was the day we had both of our Saigon (or HCMC) tours. We woke up super early for the first tour, which was the Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels began during French colonial times when the Vietnamese wanted to hide their property and valuables underground from the French. Eventually, the network of tunnels grew and it was in that area where a lot of fighting between North and South Vietnam took place, the majority of which was between the Vietcong and the Americans. We took a one-hour speedboat to the Cu Chi area, which is actually significantly faster than driving there. The tour started with a video talking about fighting in the Cu Chi area (it was a very old black and white video, which made it very propaganda-y), but actually seeing the traps the Vietcong used and the guerrilla warfare tactics was really interesting. The traps were designed to maim and injure severely, rather than kill because caring for the wounded slowed down the enemy progression more. Even the methods used in addressing the American counter-measures of flooding the tunnels with smoke, water and chemicals were quite ingenious. The Cu Chi tunnels were very hot and very claustrophobic. It is no wonder that the American GI's did not venture into the caves - 200 km of weaving tunnels and tight spaces would deter even the bravest person.

Windy and cold speedboat ride

Excuse the poor quality

It's a trap!

Tunnel entrance

Bigger tunnel entrance

Mandy has a smile on her face but she feel claustrophobic

Tapioca snack

From then, we enjoyed lunch on the speedboat back to the hotel for a nap and rest for our next tour, which was a motorbike ride around Saigon with numerous stops for restaurants! Probably my favourite tour in Saigon, girls in motorbikes came to pick us up from our hotel and then drove around to various districts. Typically, most of the tourists stay in District 1 and rarely venture outside of it, so it was interesting to see how different parts of Saigon looked. Not to mention the tour was all you can eat and all the beer you can drink!

Food was average but we were hungry

Speedboat view

Our first stop was a street stand selling Vietnamese noodles, but rather than pho, it was a thicker noodle that was spicy. Then we headed to the Chinatown. On the way there, we drove past the Chinatown market, where fresh produce and livestock were being sold (including frogs)! Unsurprisingly, our next stop had frogs (both with skin on and skin off) on the menu. Also on the menu was goat breast, prawn skewers, and roasted okra.

Bun Bo Hue

Excited for the food

Kitchen

Goat

Okra

Prawns

Frog, skin on and off

From then, we stopped by District 7, which is the newest district in Saigon and very reminiscent of a developed Asian city like Hong Kong. Condos, fancy malls, clean streets stood in stark contrast to what we were used to in District 1. The difference was further highlighted when we went to District 4, which was the poorest district in the city. However, our guides told us that was where the best seafood in the city was. On a street side restaurant, we had crab, clams, and more prawns. It was also there that we tried the infamous balut: a partially developed embryo egg, served with salt and chili. The taste was actually milder than I imagined and tasted quite close to a hard boiled egg. After that massive meal and a decent number of beers we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we begin our last leg of our journey in South East Asia to Cambodia.