Ho Chi Minh City
More pics...!
The overview...
Our first day in Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon) was scheduled as a relaxing catch-up day!! Good timing for me because it was my turn to feel a wee bit dodgy...must have been something I ate, but luckily only spent one day feeling pretty rough and unable to do much, and now I feel fine.
Went on a "Happy Tour" :) to Caodai temple and Cu Chi Tunnels yesterday. Our guide, an ex-soldier for South Vietnam was excellent...really informative and a great sense of humour. Caodaism combines religious and secular philosophies of East & West, and is represented by a tri-colour flag with a "divine eye" in the centre. Taoism (blue), Buddhism (yellow) and Catholicism (red) are the primary religions represented. This temple in is the largest of 400 Caodai temples in southern Vietnam, and prayers are conducted four times daily. Hundreds of priests dressed in white garments participate every day, and those higher in the hierarchy (having practised for longer, and now known as Caodai priests) are dressed in a colour representing one of the three primary religions.
In the afternoon we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, which were fascinating. Hard to believe that the Viet Cong (VC - southern Vietnamese who supported the north via guerilla warfare) hid and fought in these tunnels for 25 years. We saw the bomb craters left by U.S. air forces, booby trap mechanisms used by the VC, and an old U.S. tank stuck from a delayed land mine in 1971. This is me squeezing through a hidden entrance to the underground tunnel, then we all crawled through a 70m section (which has been enlarged to accommodate Western tourists!). The original tunnels were 80cm high and 20cm wide...another reason they were of great disadvantage to American soldiers.
This ingenious tunnel system allowed the VC to mount surprise attacks on the South Vietnamese and American land & air forces, as well as disappear into hidden trapdoors without a trace.
They started building the tunnels in 1948 during the Viet-Minh War, and the Cu Chi network alone covered 250km. Three levels at varying depths included living, eating and cooking areas, trap doors, weapon factories and hospital rooms. The lower two levels were for fighting. Bamboo stalks (hollow) were stuck into the ground all over the system to allow ventilation through, and there were numerous traps for the enemy. A select few American soldiers known as "tunnel rats" (the small skinny ones :) ) were specifically trained for combat in these tunnels. The VC also used to collect the tyres from U.S. army vehicles and make them into rubber sandals, which lasted for ages! A really interesting day.
The overview...
Our first day in Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon) was scheduled as a relaxing catch-up day!! Good timing for me because it was my turn to feel a wee bit dodgy...must have been something I ate, but luckily only spent one day feeling pretty rough and unable to do much, and now I feel fine.
Went on a "Happy Tour" :) to Caodai temple and Cu Chi Tunnels yesterday. Our guide, an ex-soldier for South Vietnam was excellent...really informative and a great sense of humour. Caodaism combines religious and secular philosophies of East & West, and is represented by a tri-colour flag with a "divine eye" in the centre. Taoism (blue), Buddhism (yellow) and Catholicism (red) are the primary religions represented. This temple in is the largest of 400 Caodai temples in southern Vietnam, and prayers are conducted four times daily. Hundreds of priests dressed in white garments participate every day, and those higher in the hierarchy (having practised for longer, and now known as Caodai priests) are dressed in a colour representing one of the three primary religions. 
In the afternoon we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, which were fascinating. Hard to believe that the Viet Cong (VC - southern Vietnamese who supported the north via guerilla warfare) hid and fought in these tunnels for 25 years. We saw the bomb craters left by U.S. air forces, booby trap mechanisms used by the VC, and an old U.S. tank stuck from a delayed land mine in 1971. This is me squeezing through a hidden entrance to the underground tunnel, then we all crawled through a 70m section (which has been enlarged to accommodate Western tourists!). The original tunnels were 80cm high and 20cm wide...another reason they were of great disadvantage to American soldiers.
This ingenious tunnel system allowed the VC to mount surprise attacks on the South Vietnamese and American land & air forces, as well as disappear into hidden trapdoors without a trace.
They started building the tunnels in 1948 during the Viet-Minh War, and the Cu Chi network alone covered 250km. Three levels at varying depths included living, eating and cooking areas, trap doors, weapon factories and hospital rooms. The lower two levels were for fighting. Bamboo stalks (hollow) were stuck into the ground all over the system to allow ventilation through, and there were numerous traps for the enemy. A select few American soldiers known as "tunnel rats" (the small skinny ones :) ) were specifically trained for combat in these tunnels. The VC also used to collect the tyres from U.S. army vehicles and make them into rubber sandals, which lasted for ages! A really interesting day.
posted by Mhairi
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