Vietnam

Sunday, February 8, 2015

We docked this morning at Phu My, Vietnam and by 7:30 we were in a bus on our way to the CuChi Tunnels. The bus trip to the tunnels was three hours long and, because of the uncertainty of the road conditions, Tim took a Dramamine before departure. Combined with an antihistamine this resulted in Tim sleeping most of the way. Lynda reports that the two lane road that we took was an endless stream of small shops. There were small, dirt alleys that led to housing behind the shops. Very occasionally we went by rice fields.

The CuChi Tunnels are located northwest of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City. There were over 300 kilometers, 180 miles, of these tunnels that the Viet Cong used in 1964-65 during the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong pretty much lived in these tunnels and would pop out, ambush American and South Vietnam soldiers, and then jump back in. A few of these openings have been maintained and would have been virtually impossible to detect. A very small section of the original tunnels, about 20 yards have been expanded by 50% and we were given the opportunity to go down in the tunnel. Before descending into the tunnels we were told that there was no light in the tunnel and there still remained sections where we would almost have to crawl through. Tim had no interest in going into the tunnel. Lynda started down and came to a small landing. When she realized she had to descend further she decided climbing back out at the other end would be a problem so she went no further. We talked with several people who did complete the short trip through the tunnel and found they all thought it a very strange experience. We were also shown several different types of traps used by the Viet Cong to kill or seriously injure enemy soldiers as well as below-ground rooms that served as hospitals and meeting rooms. The Americans eventually formed a unit known as the tunnel rats that would locate these tunnels, drop into them and kill anyone found in the tunnel. To give you a sense of the size of the tunnels, a soldier had to weigh less than 100 pounds to qualify for this unit. The Viet Cong had purposely located these tunnels near an American base, close enough that the Americans could not bomb the tunnel area without fear of bombing their own base by mistake. It wasn't until the base was abandoned that the Americans were able to bomb the area and thus neutralize the value of the tunnels to the Viet Cong. We both found this to be an unsettling, almost eerie experience. But we also agreed that we were glad we had experienced it. Interestingly, at one point our Vietnamese guide told us that, while it was called the Vietnam War, that was only because it took place in Vietnam. He said it was really a war between the Americans and the Chinese.

After stopping for lunch, our return trip to the ship took us through Ho Chi Minh City. The most striking feature about Ho Chi Minh City was the traffic. Well over 50%, maybe even approaching 75% of the vehicles on the street were motorbikes. It was not at all uncommon to see a small child standing in front of the seat holding onto the handle bars as an older person actually drove the motorbike. Several times we actually saw a family of four on one small bike. Not surprisingly, we saw many shops selling motorbikes along the streets.

Monday, the 9th, was spent at sea. We use these leisurely days to write our blog and read. We both have lost track of how many books we have read. On Tuesday the 10th we docked at Chan May in Central Vietnam, the ugliest, most forlorn pier we have ever experienced. Seriously, there was a dock only large enough to accommodate our ship, a large office building and a parking lot. No village or shops. The main attraction at this port of call is DaNang. Before the cruise we had discussed just taking a cab into DaNang and exploring on our own. We have done this in the past with great success. Once on board we went to the excursion desk to discuss this option with the people there. We were told that we would have great difficulty finding a cab at the port and additional information that Hoi An, a small town near DaNang, was actually a better choice for what we had in mind. The ship offered a bus transfer to Hoi An with 5 hours of free time to explore. Fortunately, we decided to take this option because there was nary a cab in sight at Chan May. Those of you who grew up during the Vietnam War will recognize the name, DaNang, and the Mekong River upon which DaNang is situated. DaNang is about 50 miles south of our port located on the South China Sea. Hoi An is another 10 miles or so south of DaNang. We saw little of interest as we drove through DaNang on our way to Hoi An. For whatever reason Hoi An suffered little damage during the war. It is located on the Hoi River and has lots of wonderful little shops to explore. As with the previous tours, on arriving in Hoi An we were subjected to a compulsory visit to a shop, this one being a workshop specializing in silk goods. There was an interesting display and explanation to how silk is produced, a quick demonstration of the machine that weaves the silk and then, unfortunately, a chaotic rush through the showroom where goods could be purchased. We actually saw a silk table cloth/napkin set that we would have been interested in looking at further but were not given the time. From the workshop our guide took us to a 15th century Japanese Covered Bridge. This was to be our meeting place after our free time. Once we were given our meeting time we were on our own. Confucianism is the main religion of this area and we visited a lovely temple. We also visited a home that had been built in the 17th century and still owned by the family that built it. Otherwise, we shopped. The Vietnamese currency is the dong and there are approximately 21,000 dongs to an American dollar. Tim went to an ATM and withdrew 2 million dong, just under $100. We felt like we were spending Monopoly money. We bought a lot of gifts (!) and also found a piece of art for the lower level. Lynda was once again thrilled to be dickering prices with the merchants we visited. We felt very decadent when we finally figured out we had spent over 7 million dong in a little over 4 hours of shopping.

Our ship has several specialty restaurants for which you pay an additional fee and must make a reservation in order to dine in them. To celebrate Tim's 29th annual 39th birthday we went to one of these restaurants, dining on Chateaubriand and enjoying a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Tim enjoyed a dark chocolate souffle for dessert. It was an enjoyable end to a wonderful day.