Hey all!
10/12/2007 - We had an early start in Saigon, having arrived in the city at 6.30 in the morning on the overnight bus. We had a little wander round trying to find a cheap hostel to stay in and eventually found one in the backpaper area of Pham Ngu Lao. We grabbed some breakfast before heading off to the Reunification Palace - this was formerly the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace until tank No.843 (now parked outside in the palace garden) came through the gates, and the Vietnam War ended on 30th April 1975. We had lunch at a local 'hip & happening' restaurant/bar, which surprisingly was very lively for a weekday afternoon, with dance music pounding out of the speakers, movies on big screen TV's and a young crowd. However, our mood and the general atmosphere became more sombre upon entering the War Remnants Museum. The outside the buildings there was a collection of tanks, helicopters, airplanes, artillery and other armaments, while inside the warehouses were thematic exhibitions and graphic photographs of the victims of American war crimes. There were also foetuses in jars, and a video showing the effects of Agent Orange, the gas used by the Americans to clear trees and covering foliage. As a result of the musueum, we did start questioning how supposedly 'civilised' nations could commit such atrocities - although the museum was biased in that it had no exhibition of North Vietnamese war crimes.

11/12/2007 - The next day, we continued our tour of Saigon by visiting the Cu Chi tunnels, an extensive underground network, used by the Viet Cong as shelter during the Vietnam War, just outside of the city. We were led around the park area, showed the traps used by the Viet Cong to capture or kill enemy soldiers, and then invited to venture underground into a stretch of tunnel. We all went in, with the aim of crawling about 40 metres. However, Nikki and Leanna hadn't banked on the fact that the tunnels would be so tiny and dark - there was no room to stand so it was either squat down and shuffle along bent over or crawl on your knees. They both started feeling claustrophobic and Leanna was about to have a panic attack so they exited as soon as they could. Meanwhile Zak was unfazed and carried on until abut the 100 metre mark, where he emerged sweaty and dirty, but satisfied he had lasted so long (he states that is just one of his qualities ;)). After the tunnels, we went down to a shooting range where we were given the opportunity to fire assault rifles used by both sides in the war. Nikki and Leanna went for the weapon of choice for the Americans, sharing the famous M-16, while Zak went for the classic AK-47, one of the most common rifles found on earth. Fortunately for the girls (and surrounding audience), the guns were attached to the wall, otherwise who knows where the bullets would've ended up - Leanna was screaming even before the gun had fired! On the other hand, Zak was at ease with his weapon, even hitting the target a few times (at bloody last, eh?!:P). We headed back to downtown Saigon in the afternoon, and after lunch the girls headed to the Benthanh Market, while Zak spent his afternoon and early evening watching 'Bee Movie' and 'Lions for Lambs' at the local cafe. After hooking up for dinner in the evening, we decided to have an early night again - we had to be up at 5.30am to catch a 6.30 bus to Siem Reap in Cambodia! Angkor Wat awaits!