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On Tuesday we finally made it to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)! Over the last 3 weeks we've travelled over 1000km down the coast all the way from the Capitol, Hanoi. But our time in Vietnam is not over as tomorrow night we head for the southern Vietnamese Island of Phu Quoc before crossing into Cambodia on the 27th November.
We have spent the last few days wondering round the city, enjoying the sights and sounds of Vietnam including the war remnants museum, a fairly harrowing experience, a trip to the local cinema to see the new hunger games film and exploring the old Viet Cong tunnels in nearby Cu Chi.
At the height of the war, the tunnels stretched for 350km and included hospitals, meeting rooms, kitchens and living quarters. The tunnels were tiny but a few have been "widened" and you could crawl through them. An extremely claustrophobic experience as it was almost pitch black and only about 3ft by 3 ft wide, 10m below the surface. The Viet Cong would live in the tunnels for up to 3 months at a time and it is estimated that almost 26,000 Vietnamese died in the area during the war. The whole experience was made even more surreal by the fact there is a shooting range next to the tunnels so the whole time you are walking about there is gunfire in the background!
As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow night we get a sleeper bus to the southern coast and then swap onto a boat for the 1.5 hour trip to Phu Quoc where we plan to lie on the beach for 4 days, dive and eat cheap fresh seafood. It's going to be a tough couple of days.
- comments
Grandad and Nana Wonderful take care, enjoy the sea and beach x
Pat Nelson Jonny& Sarah, I have just looked at your Blog. The tunnels sounded very creepy.I hope your bus ride was OK. Lets have some pictures while you are relaxing on the beach. Lots of Love to both of you. Nan/Pat