Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Going Tribal
Our busy day in Bangkok has concluded, and we're on our way to Saigon Vietnam (now called Ho Chi Minh City). Our early morning flight wasn't too difficult, as I booked the hotel that is literally attached to the airport -- a nice & simple walk down the hall into the terminal. We did cut it a little close, as I didn't anticipatethe inundation of travelers in line everywhere, very similar to what Kevin & I experienced in Kuala Lumpur last year.
Made the deadline for check-in with 5 minutes to spare. The flight and overall experience with Air Asia was great as usual, and I introduced Bobby to the ladies of Air Asia with a picture moment in the lobby. He's going to work on being a little more expressive on any Air Asia Girl photo opportunities on our next 6 Air Asia flights coming up. They changed their uniforms from the previous red business suits to a new, very casual outfit with jeans -- am I out of line by stating I liked their look more in the previous uniforms ?
Upon arrival in Saigon, we went through the Visa process in addition to immigration, and proceeded to the exit doors to find right about 500 Vietnames people waiting behind the gated
processional for the arriving passengers. It felt like the red carpet at the Emmys, so I made a grand entrance waving to everyone with jubilation, which of course was embarrassing for Bobby who didn't appreciate the strange looks on their faces like I did.
Once again, we hit the new country running, and went directly to the Cu Chi Tunnels to experience life and some history of the Viet Cong. At first I thought it was a mistake, as their had to be a 1,000 people there and lines of tour busses -- but it was run extremely efficiently and ended up being a nice experience. In addition to crawling through 40 meters of VC tunnels, they also provided some explanation of the methods and strategies that were used in the war by the Guerilla VC army.
The guide asked me where I was from, and upon hearing USA, he stated "that's good, we're friends now, no more war". There are exhibits of the various types of traps used by the VC, which were outright gruesome.
We proceeded to the shooting range, where they had a few different types of Vietnam era guns to fire for a fee. We heard comments that the minimum age was 18, but when I approached our guide, he spoke to them about Bobby being 12, he made it happen -- of course with money in hand and no signatures/forms ! Bobby fired 10 rounds on an M-16, and he loved it. He was in & out in 3 minutes -- only in Asia, right ? The picture below is actually a video of him shooting the M-16 -- click to view. Had this been home, first of all, he would have never been allowed, and if so there would have first been a series of legal disclaimers and a safety briefing for 2 hours. From there we made the 1.5 hour drive back to Saigon, to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum.
In addition to the several aircraft outside, there were 3 floors of exhibits, pictures and stories,
all from the Vietnamese perspective. Countless pictures of destruction as well as women & children killed, many that were graphic. Everything was presented to show what I perceived to be a skewed view of the war. I'm sure there are many other opinions and a great deal of controversy surrounding this period and there's a lot that I don't know.
I found it to be important to see multiple views of the war, and there's no denying the very unfortunate and tragic consequences that come with any war of this magnitude.
It was a sobering experience, and we saw some people crying while viewing the pictures. Bobby was disturbed by some of it, but it was a meaningful experience.
We then checked into our hotel, located right in the heart of the hustle & bustle of Saigon. 1 hour later, we were picked up by what has been one of our highlights of the trip thus far: the XO Tours Motorbike "Foodie" tour of Saigon. We rode on the back of vespa-type motorbikes throughout 5 districts of the city, while stopping in various locations for different food experiences. We were with a group of 8 people plus the guides, and we would meet up at each location, and given information about the food that was prepared for each course. This went on for 4 hours -- lots of great Vietnamese food & beer, good fun with new friends we made (including friends from Canada), and lots of laughs.
In addition to a couple more traditional Vietnamese dishes, we ate frog & goat among other items. Most memorable, and one feat I cannot share the bragging rights to, Bobby ate balut -- for those not familiar with it, it would be an egg with the undeveloped duck embroyo. I have video of him eating it, and he pledged that he was going to eat everything put in front of him. Wow ! He didn't eat the entire egg, but when she opened up the remaining piece, she confirmed the head is gone, so Bobby definitely ate the undeveloped baby duck's head ! He's claiming he kind of liked it -- I'm not buying that one. :-)
We both had excellent guides, and Bobby has another cute Asian girl in his memoirs. Another great day, this one spanning 16 hours. Next couple days will be low key, while cruising on the Mekong River Delta up to Cambodia.
P.S.: I have a bunch of video footage and a few minute video production completed on the fly, however, the internet connections aren't powerful enough to get it uploaded. We'll see how the next location pans out.
Made the deadline for check-in with 5 minutes to spare. The flight and overall experience with Air Asia was great as usual, and I introduced Bobby to the ladies of Air Asia with a picture moment in the lobby. He's going to work on being a little more expressive on any Air Asia Girl photo opportunities on our next 6 Air Asia flights coming up. They changed their uniforms from the previous red business suits to a new, very casual outfit with jeans -- am I out of line by stating I liked their look more in the previous uniforms ?
Upon arrival in Saigon, we went through the Visa process in addition to immigration, and proceeded to the exit doors to find right about 500 Vietnames people waiting behind the gated
processional for the arriving passengers. It felt like the red carpet at the Emmys, so I made a grand entrance waving to everyone with jubilation, which of course was embarrassing for Bobby who didn't appreciate the strange looks on their faces like I did.
Once again, we hit the new country running, and went directly to the Cu Chi Tunnels to experience life and some history of the Viet Cong. At first I thought it was a mistake, as their had to be a 1,000 people there and lines of tour busses -- but it was run extremely efficiently and ended up being a nice experience. In addition to crawling through 40 meters of VC tunnels, they also provided some explanation of the methods and strategies that were used in the war by the Guerilla VC army.
The guide asked me where I was from, and upon hearing USA, he stated "that's good, we're friends now, no more war". There are exhibits of the various types of traps used by the VC, which were outright gruesome.
We proceeded to the shooting range, where they had a few different types of Vietnam era guns to fire for a fee. We heard comments that the minimum age was 18, but when I approached our guide, he spoke to them about Bobby being 12, he made it happen -- of course with money in hand and no signatures/forms ! Bobby fired 10 rounds on an M-16, and he loved it. He was in & out in 3 minutes -- only in Asia, right ? The picture below is actually a video of him shooting the M-16 -- click to view. Had this been home, first of all, he would have never been allowed, and if so there would have first been a series of legal disclaimers and a safety briefing for 2 hours. From there we made the 1.5 hour drive back to Saigon, to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum.
In addition to the several aircraft outside, there were 3 floors of exhibits, pictures and stories,
all from the Vietnamese perspective. Countless pictures of destruction as well as women & children killed, many that were graphic. Everything was presented to show what I perceived to be a skewed view of the war. I'm sure there are many other opinions and a great deal of controversy surrounding this period and there's a lot that I don't know.
I found it to be important to see multiple views of the war, and there's no denying the very unfortunate and tragic consequences that come with any war of this magnitude.
It was a sobering experience, and we saw some people crying while viewing the pictures. Bobby was disturbed by some of it, but it was a meaningful experience.
We then checked into our hotel, located right in the heart of the hustle & bustle of Saigon. 1 hour later, we were picked up by what has been one of our highlights of the trip thus far: the XO Tours Motorbike "Foodie" tour of Saigon. We rode on the back of vespa-type motorbikes throughout 5 districts of the city, while stopping in various locations for different food experiences. We were with a group of 8 people plus the guides, and we would meet up at each location, and given information about the food that was prepared for each course. This went on for 4 hours -- lots of great Vietnamese food & beer, good fun with new friends we made (including friends from Canada), and lots of laughs.
In addition to a couple more traditional Vietnamese dishes, we ate frog & goat among other items. Most memorable, and one feat I cannot share the bragging rights to, Bobby ate balut -- for those not familiar with it, it would be an egg with the undeveloped duck embroyo. I have video of him eating it, and he pledged that he was going to eat everything put in front of him. Wow ! He didn't eat the entire egg, but when she opened up the remaining piece, she confirmed the head is gone, so Bobby definitely ate the undeveloped baby duck's head ! He's claiming he kind of liked it -- I'm not buying that one. :-)
We both had excellent guides, and Bobby has another cute Asian girl in his memoirs. Another great day, this one spanning 16 hours. Next couple days will be low key, while cruising on the Mekong River Delta up to Cambodia.
P.S.: I have a bunch of video footage and a few minute video production completed on the fly, however, the internet connections aren't powerful enough to get it uploaded. We'll see how the next location pans out.
- comments
Brian Mc Namara Happy New Year on that side of the world
candy Happy New year Bobby I could never eat the egg you are braver than I am
Carla S. Bobby is quite the ladies man!! Thanks for the blogs, I love reading them. Have fun 'cruising' into the New Year! Looking forward to Cambodia.
Rosanna Wow, the pictures are terrific. Looks like you are having a great time. I couldn't imagine eating goat or frog so hats off to you guys for being able to do so. I have eaten balut once but only once. Hope the good times keep rolling your way. Love and miss you both very much, xoxo.
Terry Looks like you boys are having a great time!! Happy New Year!
Sue Oh my, Ryan will be jealous when he sees this one! :) hee
Sue Way to go Bobby!
Sue Looks like you guys are having the absolute time of your lives ... a lot of credit goes to your AWESOME resident travel agent! Unbelievable. What an incredible experience.