Chapter X: June 2009

It was an interesting cultural experience. The roads there are like full of motorcycles! Ratio of motorcycles to other vehicles ir probably 50:1 or more. No, i'm not exaggerating. That's just how it is. Motorcycles are their main mode of transport. Even if it is just across the street, they drive their motorcycles. Be it shopping at the street side or night market, they drive their motorcycles as well.

The local guide told us that Vietnam has 2 乱: 电线乱, 车乱. Vietnam also has some 没: 没有麦当劳，没有肥的人，没有雨伞，没有人走路，没有狗，斑马线没有用. The diet there isnt very fattening. Good place to be at if you want to slim down. Nobody uses umbrella there, only ponchos. Why? Becos their main mode of transport is motorcycles, you can't ride a motorcycle while holding an umbrella when it rains. You can't really see any stray dogs on the street as eating dog meat is legal there. The zebra crossings no use at all, everytime you cross the road, you are making a gamble with your life. The trick to crossing the road there is to never take a step back and avoid the vehicles. The motorcyclists will avoid you.

The language there has 6 拼音 and they use the english alphabets. However, they do not use the alphabets F, J, W and Z. The missing alphabets are replaced by combinations of alphabets. Like F is replaced by PH. The Vietnamese used to use chinese characters prior to the invention of the Vietnamese language. The Vietnamese language was invented by the French.

Boarding Pass

Arrival

First Stop - Govt House. No permission to enter. So just took photos from outside the gate

Next - A very old Cathedral. Built in 1880 to be exact.

Next to it was the old colonial post office.

The spring rolls which the local tour guide said was well known. Shop is located in Diamond Plaza, which is also beside the old colonial post office, behind the cathedral. Basically, before you eat, dip it into the fish sauce.

My mum said he looked like chong

电线乱

Insane, imba amount of motorbikes

Dinner!

Apparently, they have the habit of using common chopsticks to take the food. Eating was a chore since we do not have the habit. The meals after this, i decided to not use common chopsticks.

After dinner, it was down to watch the water puppets. And we were told that it is rather famous. I've never heard of it though. Very interesting show to watch. It's in vietnamese though, so i have no clue what they were performing about. No subtitles.

They can blow smoke..

Breathe fire.. I have no idea such sparklers can be lit underwater.

Nice smoky effect.. using dry ice.

The puppeteers.

Day 2.
Breakfast buffet.

First Stop - Some chinese temple. I forgot the name.

八仙

Water guns.. Very old ones.

Next was a long drive to the Mekong river.

Doesnt this remind you of SG in the late 70s. Market by the roadside.

The highway built by the taiwanese..

Our pitstop after a long drive.

Lots of this kind of shops along the roads. This is where the locals take a break after long hours of driving. The hammock is there for them to take a nap.

After a few hours of driving, we finally reached our destination.

That's our local guide.

Took the boat and arrived on a small island..

Bees! The local product there was the honey. About 2 or 3 small teaspoon of it, some hot water. Add something like chrysanthenum into it and finally the lime juice. The taste is quite... different. It's not hard to drink though.

They even keep a pet python. -.-

Local candies..

They make and wrap on the spot.

Walk to... some place where they serve fruits. o.O

The fruits in question.

They do performances for tourists who come.

A wandering 豆花 seller. Classic.

After that is a litle boat trip back to our boat.

My dad having fun rowing the boat

Coconut drinks as refreshments for the hot day.

Buddhism is their main religion.

Lunch!

Of course there were more dishes than shown. Busy eating ah..

The prawns there are those type u catch when prawning. Makes you feel like going prawning.

The new housings in the new district.

War museum. Which war? The Vietnam war.

Various pics and items on display.

Little explanations for the pics on display.

Dragging of dead bodies.. blown up viet soldier..

Water torture.

They even have statistics!

The aftermath of using the infamous Agent Orange.

Deformed foetuses from the result of using Agent Orange.

Pics of victims of napalm and white phosphorous. Serious burns.

This famous pic is there too. The photo on the bottom right is the young girl in the picture.

Aerial photograph after the bombing run of B-52s.

A real gullotine.. the blade is 50kg. Dropped from that height.. shd be a smooth slice.. i hope.

A prisoner in a cell

After the museum, we visited this shop that sold crafts made by the victims of the war.

Explanation of the process

Workshop

The Last Supper

The works on sale.. lots of them.

Dinner!

This prawn paste noodle is nice!

The way they cut the watermelon and serve is great. Idea.

Day 3.

A real Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) site.

After a few hours of driving we reached this site which was preserved. It was once a battlefield during the vietnam war.

Feels like travelling back in time.

Brochure.

The little shed where we watched a video and had our guide give us explanations.

One of the staff there demostrating.

Entrance to the network of tunnels.

It's really small.. the bigger size americans would have difficulties using this tunnel.

One of the many traps..

Tank that was destroyed

Traps that were used

They forged their own weapons

Time to fire the AK-47! The bullet is expensive la.. chop tourist one. 10 bullets $SGD16. -.- My dad and I shot 3 rounds each. My bro shot 4 rounds.

If I could, I would have bought some of these as souveneir. But I dun think SG customs will allow.

Another demonstration by the staff there. That' how they make the rice paper during the war.

This is how they dug the ventilation for the tunnels. This hole will be covered up but with a pipe connected to the surface.

Another demonstration. They make slippers from the tires of vehicles.

It comes in various sizes..

One of the craters from the B52 bombs. It's actually smaller then it used to be.

This is the tunnel they made for the tourists. It's bigger so that tourists with bigger built can crawl through it smoothly.

Field hospital

Meeting room

Field kitchen

The smoke from the kitchen is channeled away so as not to give away their positions. The large amount of smoke from the kitchen is managed in a way such that only a little at a time is being released. It's managed so well that it is comparable to the smoke given off when smoking.

Lunch! It's held at this garden where alot of soon-to-wed couples will come to have their wedding photos taken.

When the local guide said that we would have to drive in, i tot it was very deep in. But it was only 5mins walk max.

This is the restaurant.

The brides..

This is their traditional costume.

After lunch, it was a long drive to the coast.. 3hours drive. South China Sea.

Our hotel for the night

The room with a view

Seafood Dinner!

Big prawns.

After that, it was night shopping in the nearby area.

After which we returned to our hotel. But some of us went to the stalls by the beach to take a look.

It felt like it was going to rain with all the lightning and thunder in the distance. Then my bro asked me to try to take a picture of lightning which is near impossible.

Day 4.

Drove to this white villa where the last emperor stayed.

The first floor housed all the various pottery salvaged from a shipwreck.

The second floor just has the furnitures used at that time. Nothing interesting there except for the fabulous sea view.

Next was the 观音庙

More birds, more luck

Mother Mary was just beside the temple.

But the main highlight is this. Climb to the top of the hill into the Jesus monument.

Steps...

after steps...

and more steps...

Finally reaching there...

Inside the monument..

Very narrow stairway

After a long wait, finally reached the arms. They installed nails to prevent any daredevils from climbing too far out.

The view is great

The little island which is only accessible at low tide.

Names of exiles engraved on the benches.

Various statues

After the climb and descent, went to this whale temple. Legend has it that this whale saved people who were in danger at sea. So a temple has been built in its honor.

The bones of the whale.

Lunch

Then it was back to the hotel for an hour rest before the 3 hour drive back to Ho Chih Minh City. The amusement park which we were told that Cambodian tourists love.

Then it was a stop at this shop for buying local goods.. prices in USD. Feels like 黑店

After visiting the shop, went for a little sight seeing..

It looks better at night with the lights.

After that, we went to the night market. The market is mainly catered to female shoppers.

Motorbikes driving through.. scary.

Food..

Dresses and accessories..

Footwear.. they make a pair for you on the spot.

Fruits as well

In the vicinity is this shop where in 2000, then US president Bill Clinton patronised this shop. The beef noodle here is said to be good. But I can't eat beef in the presence of my dad. =/ The 红豆冰 there is nice though.