Today was a very confronting day as we heard the Vietnamese side of the war. I'd always understood that we (the USA and Australia) were the "good guys" in the war and North Vietnam were the "bad guys". I guess they really were as they invaded South Vietnam, but our guide Loi, who is from South Vietnam, often referred to America as "the enemy".

Our first stop was the Cu Chi (pronounced Gucci) Tunnels. The tunnels are a system of underground tunnels originally built by the North Vietnamese to invade South Vietnam many years before the 1956 to 1965 war, but then became a way of fighting the Americans during the Vietnamese war. They run almost three hundred kilometres under ground linking dining rooms, meeting rooms, kitchens and sleeping quarters.

As the Vietnamese people are tiny so are the tunnels. The ones on display have been widened to accommodate the big tourists. The tunnels were built on three levels, the lowest ones to withstand heavy bombing by the American B52s. The dirt from the tunnels was either dumped into the river, used to fill craters left by the bombs or moulded into fake termit nests. The fake nest had ventilation holes in them and the smoke from the kitchen was diverted 200 metres through one of these holes.

Rather than give you misinformatioin, I'm sure Wikipedia can provide lots of information if you want to know more.

As the South Vietnamese people were farmers they didn't have any weapsons, so ironically made booby traps from the shells from the bombs dropped on them. Some of them were pretty gruesome, but I guess this is what happens in war.

We moved on to the War Remnants Museum where photos showed the effects Agent Orange and Napalm had on the landscape and the people. Still today two generation on babies are born with deformities attributed to these cruel chemicals. To a lesser degree now, but it still happens, land mines and unexploded bombs are an issue and many people have been maimed many years after the war has finished. An fitting memorial for war photographers from both sides who died while recording the war. was a display of the photos of the war.

I remember seeing news stories in Australia showing GIs singing with the local children but the museum showed many upsetting photos depicting another side. Now I'm not so naive to think the either side is telling the truth without their own spin on things, but it is disturbing to see photos of so-called civilised people (Americans and probably Australians too) holding up a mutilated Vietnamese body by the leg, or a skull of a local on the entrance of an army tent. Again I had the same feeling as when I was in Anne Frank's house...how can one human being be so cruel to another?

Oh yes, you're probably wondering did I crawl through the tunnels? I did!!! I only managed the forty metre tunnel which seemed like forty kilometres at the time. Remember that the tunnels were widened to accommodate tourist, but we still had to walk doubled over mostly in the dark. I almost went back at the beginning, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) Naz was behind me so rather than cause a scene I took some deep breaths and continued on. It was quite terrifying and my heart was racing but I calmed down a little when I reached a vent hole and got some fresh air.

We visited what was once the royal palace but is now a museum. It was partially ruined when two bombs were dropped on it during the way. It is very elaborate inside and it seems a shame that it's not in use today.

Our last stop was at a lacquer factory created for people who had been affected by Agent Orange or disabled by exploding land mines and bombs. It was very sad to see how these people were still suffering so many years after the war. As they didn't have the candle holders I wanted I salved my conscience by leaving a donation to assist with the running of the factory.

After a delicious lunch at a local restaurant, we moved on to see Notre Dame Cathedral, built by the French a hundred or so years ago when they ruled Vietnam. We also had a quick look around the Central Post Office which I'd seen on my fist day in Ho Chi Minh City.

Then it was on to dinner at another restaurant, only three hours after lunch, but as we had to catch a plane to Da Nang it couldn't be delayed. It was yet another delicious meal, and I swear I'm not eating anything tomorrow.