Day 78

Saigon, Vietnam

We arrived in Saigon at 6am today. The city was renamed as Ho Chi Minh City after 1975 but many still use the old name of Saigon.

Our tour guide was to pick us up at 7am. It was a long drive to our first stop and all aboard was 5:30pm. Eric, our guide was waiting for us outside the port at 6:30am. We waited for the cruise director to make the announcement that we were cleared to go and the gang plank is located on deck such and such on the port or starboard side. No such announcement was made. I called down to guest services and they responded with a “yes, you can go ashore”. The announcement finally came as we were getting off the ship. Another lack of communication incident.

We met Eric and driver David just outside the port gate. Our first stop, the CuChi tunnels were about a 2.5 hour drive. Distance wasn’t the issue, the roads and traffic were. Eric shared with us a comment that we heard in Shanghai. The government here is communist, the economy is capitalist. It was obvious that capitalism was at work here as we passed business after business after business.

These kinds of one story businesses lined both sides of the road almost the entire time as we traveled.

A development we passed along the way.

The roads were ok but the closer we got to Saigon the more traffic we saw. Lots of cars but even more scooters and motorcycles.

The woman dressed with the helmets and face coverings were called “ninjas” according to Eric. They can barely see what is going on around them and weave in and out of traffic.

We arrived at our first destination at 9:30 am. We were set to see the tunnel system that the Vietcong used to attack American forces and then retreat to hide. A very elaborate 3 level system with its own water system and ventilation system. There were living quarters, cooking facilities, meeting rooms, uniform production rooms, weapons production rooms.

There were a lot of tourists and it was very warm.

I did go into one of the entrances. Quite a small opening but the Vietcong were malnourished and very small. Inside this space I saw a tunnel moving down into the earth. Eric said that the VC would create several passages inside an opening like this. If “GIJoe” followed a VC into a tunnel, he would not know which way to go. Booby traps were common. A tunnel may lead to a den of scorpions or snakes.

250 km of tunnels were all dug by hand. The small hoe and basket were the tools used. Ventilation was achieved by using bamboo tubes pushed through the ground to the tunnel. The tubes were camouflaged with termite hives. We were able to crawl through a 100m tunnel. Not tall enough to stand up so one had to move through bent over.

The passage contained other passage connections but all traffic went one way.

There was a video at the beginning of the tour. I’m sure it was very anti-american. Eric suggested we don’t waste time with it.

The tunnels were incredible. The next displays were many different traps set by the VietCong to kill GIJoe.

The North Vietnamese was no match for the might of the USA. No air force and no navy. The USA had complete control of the skies and the seas. The VietCong could not match the weaponry the USA had. What they could do was hide amongst the people in South Vietnam and develop effective traps with items they could easy get. Aluminum from American aircraft was melted down to make new weapons. Unexploded ordinances were cut open to retrieve the explosive power to make new explosive devices. They could easily ambush American soldiers on patrol and then hide in the tunnels. They could not win out in the open. They needed to deceive and create fear. I can understand why this took a mental toll on GIs.

There were kitchens and meeting rooms. Thatch roofs were added after this became a tourist attraction. They were originally covered with earth.

We learned about the VietCong diet. They add the cassava plant. A root similar to a carrot or potato. Two small pieces per day was the diet. Not much food.

We spent about two hours here. Our time was limited by the distance to the port. We left the tunnels and back to Saigon for lunch.

Here we were served shaved beef, onions, rice noodles, peppers, garlic and other vegetables. The waiter each brought us a good sized bowl of boiling water and we put our meat in and watched it cook. Noodles next and then veggies. Chopsticks were a must because of the heat. Delicious. We also each had a smoothie to go with it. Chopsticks force people to put their head into the plate. It is just the way it is.

Next stop was the War Remnants Museum. Eric already tried to prepare us for what we were going to see. All anti USA propaganda. No wrongs committed by the Vietnamese. Outside there was a large collection of things the USA left behind.

Maybe Nixon followed the Biden method of withdrawal. Inside the museum started with what the French did before the Americans got involved.

Whenever there is French history, the guillotine is always there. The American involvement started after the French. Some famous pictures. Kids running down the street after napalming, students shot at Kent State. A lot of photos of how the world was protesting what the USA was doing in Vietnam. Our friend Castro in Cuba and our buddy Brezhnev in the Soviet Union had prominent pictures.

On the second floor was a display of how agent orange was used in Vietnam. This was developed by Dow Chemical in Michigan as a defoliant. It contained large quantities of dioxin. The side effects on people were awful. Many GIs complained of problems when they came home. There were other chemicals used also. Agent purple was another. I saw a picture of a bomb and it was labeled the Purple People eater. I seem to remember the Tittabawassee River in Saginaw being polluted with dioxin from Dow.

The third floor had more agent orange photos. We had enough and decided to see what would could in Saigon and head back to the ship.

We made just a few stops. We saw the administration building for the President of South Vietnam, the opera house, the Post Office, the Notre Dame Cathedral and decorations for the lunar new year.

It was 3:15 and time to head for the ship. Traffic is the big concern. The ship was only 37 miles from here.

There were some major traffic jams on the way back. We arrived back at 4:45.

We did do dinner in the dining room and then trivia. Not a whole lot to talk about here.

The evening entertainment was violinist Dennis Lau. He played an interesting looking electric violin.

He could obviously play but I just didn’t enjoy his program. There was one cover that he did where the house band joined him. Some great solos by the pianist and drummer. The guitarist always relies on distortion on his solos and the bassist plays the same solo on every tune that he solos on. He has the same proud look on his face when he is finished.

I gave the performance a 6. Terri flashed another 2. I would have thought she would have given a higher number as it was obviously good sleeping material.