Ho Chi Minh, VietNam

We were so lucky to have two great girls come and stay with us for a few days.  PeiWen and Yunong came to visit from Guangzhou, China.  They have English names, too, but I prefer their Chinese names, so that is what you get!

Of course we took them to TGIFridays.  I have to say that when we lived in the US, I don't think I ever ate at TGIF, or maybe once, but here, we go when we have visitors because they all LOVE cheeseburgers and Friday.  It is pretty funny.

A week after the girls left, it was Lunar New Year, so we had a week off from school.  

So we went to Ho Chi Minh, in VietNam., formerly known as Saigon, but still referred to it as that, sometimes.  Here is the view of the city and the river, which is called the Saigon River. 

Looking the other direction.

The street near our hotel.

Because it was a holiday (Tet), pretty much everything was closed for a few days, so we were able to just walk around and sight see.  If you remember, the Tet Offensive was an attack by the North Vietnamese on the Tet holiday.  For us, it was just a quiet time. 

This is a statue of Ho himself, in front of the City Hall, which you can see behind him.  It is kind of ironic that this communist revolutionary leader now shares a street with Louis Vuitton and Chanel,  but I guess that is the sign of progress and prosperity. 

Here the kids are in front of some statues for good luck.  

We had heard that a river cruise couldn't be beat, so we booked one through our hotel.  We didn't realize that it was the same boat we took to get back and forth to get to town each day, or that it was scheduled between drop offs and pick ups, so here we are.  

So we went to this floating temple, and because it was Tet, there was about a thousand other people there.  

Huge coils of incense.  You might think this would smell great, but this much incense is a bit much.  

What a great picture, right?!?

On the floating temple island, there are all kinds of things you can buy for good luck.  One of them is birds.  You buy them and set them free (and then they fly back to the owner, who sells them again tomorrow).  This bird decided he really wanted freedom and hitched a ride on Gary's backpack all the way to our hotel.  That is really the best luck. 

A market and apartments near our hotel. 

This is the American War Museum, or the War Remnants Museum.  

It is a very strange place to visit as an American, and one that really makes evident the idea that there are two sides to every story.  If you know me at all you might know that I love peace, and I hate war, however, I do like to know both sides of it.  

So the museum starts with lots of planes and tanks and seems pretty harmless until you go inside.  And once inside it is full of the horror of war, and everybody in every picture is hurt and dirty, and kids are disfigured, and the POW camps are on full display, and all in all, each of us cried for the misery that happened, regardless of who was fighting whom.  

And rather than show all of that awfulness, here is a picture of a kid in a former forest, after it was sprayed with agent orange.  And you can know that this is one of the nice pictures.  

So after that we spent the rest of the time walking around Ho Chi Minh, looking at the sites.  

Right in the same block is the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office.  

Here is Notre Dame, with a pigeon on her head.  Sorry, but we needed a bit of levity after the War Museum. 

Here is a photo of Uncle Ho in the Post Office, which was designed by Eiffel... the tower guy.  

A balloon seller outside the post office. 

A bustling market.  

The next day we went to the CuChi Tunnels.  If you don't know anything about them, here is a link with some info:

http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/cu-chi-tunnels

Anyway, if you don't have time for that:  to combat American and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong (VC) dug tens of thousands of miles of tunnels, including an extensive network running underneath the Cu Chi district northwest of Saigon. Soldiers used these underground routes to house troops, transport communications and supplies, lay booby traps and mount surprise attacks, after which they could disappear underground to safety. 

Can you see R-Man?

Now these tunnels are opened up, but I can imagine how strategic they were at the time. 

Inside the tunnels is TINY, and dark and cramped.  But they went on for hundreds of miles, in some cases under US troops.  Regardless of what you think politically, these tunnels are amazing. 

And so, this marked the end of our trip to Viet Nam.  This place is truly beautiful.