As we drive along the roads in our completely unnecessary cushy sleeper bus, we watch daily Vienamese life unfold. People lounge lazily in their stores awaiting their next customers. Men herd cattle across the busy roads as vehicles kindly swerve to avoid them. Hoards of school children with their crisp white, navy blue and red uniforms gather at the end of another school day, bound for home. Women in conical hats brave the afternoon heat to sell the wares they carry in baskets precariously balanced on their shoulders. And motorbikes galore cram the streets, making use of every available inch of asphalt to hurry to their next destination. It's organized chaos, but it works.
In Saigon, we stayed with a family in their small guesthouse. In fact, they only have one room to rent out. Their flat is down a side alley off of one of the main tourist streets. We found it when the woman of the house greeted us as we descended the bus, asking in broken English if we needed a room. The family sleeps downstairs in an area that also serves as their kitchen and living space. The family consists of a husband and wife, their son who is disabled and cannot walk or talk, and their grandson, who is two years old. Their other two sons live nearby and one just got married on March 10. The mother proudly showed us a special photo album of her newly married son and his wife in various poses and wedding outfits. It's customary for a married couple to dress up in various wedding costumes, including the actual bridal gown and tuxedo before the actual wedding day and have their photos taken. We've seen many couples doing this in almost every major city park we've passed in Vietnam.
Although our room was a little noisy since our window cannot close and faces the busy alley below, we really liked the experience of sharing space with this very kind family. They were excited that we stayed for three nights.
Yesterday, we did an organized tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels, a famous Vietnamese War landmark. Used as a hideout for local people, a military post and a communications hub, its intricate network of underground tunnels span some 250 km and are organized into three depths, each built for specific purposes, whether it be daily life, preparing for battle or hiding from the enemy. Although the trip was very touristic and we felt a bit like herded cattle as we were shuttled from sight to sight, it was still impressive to see and imagine what the war was like. And a highlight was having the opportunity to crawl through one of the narrow tunnels (Netty required Aki's moral support to make it through just one small stretch of the pitch black claustrophobia-inducing passages). Considering that the Vietnamese are smaller than the average Westerner and even though they enlarged the size of the tunnels to accommodate tourists, it was still pretty narrow.
That afternoon, we went to the War Remnants Museum, a propaganda-filled recount of the Vietnam War and it's aftermath. The curators didn't leave out any of the gory details. The images and stories on display are chilling and the mood imbues a feeling of how horrible war can be.
Today, we embarked on a two-day Mekong Delta tour. Our first day was spent cruising the Mekong River and making various stops to observe village industries, including the making of coconut candy and honey. We also enjoyed tropical fruits, traditional music and cycling on Unicorn Islands. We're spending the night in Can Tho, which is one of the bigger cities in the Mekong Delta. Tomorrow, we'll check out the popular floating markets along the river and head back to Saigon around suppertime. The following day, we're off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, our 7th and final country on this trip.
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