It has been a vibrant start to our visit to Vietnam- from legacies of the past to experiencing the modern Vietnam. They have their version of Notre Dame. We were lucky to see the Sunday service in action - people attended the service by sitting inside or al fresco, on their scooters.
The city is undoubtedly living in the shaddow of 'Imperialist' conflicts with both France and the US in the last 40 years.
Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Museum provide a different perspective of the wars that have scarred the countries history. Victory over the imperialist forces remains the overwhelming message to the visitors. A focus seems to be on some of the atrocities that occurred during the war- the blame being attributed to US influence. Early in Vietnam's struggle however some of the acts were by the Vietnamese on their own countryman. Unfortunately, at both the Museum and the Tunnels, the sense of human loss- by each side- seems to be lost amist the focus on the victory over the US.
Shannon made it through the tunnel to experience the narrow passage ways that the VC lived in to avoid US detection. The tunnel complex runs come 250km through Vietnam with several levels going down to 8 meters deep. They should host a ultramarathon here - now, that would be interesting!
Looking to the future- HCMC has amazing energy. The roads are covered with scooters weaving in between both cars and pedestrians. There are no allocated times to cross the road- rather- step out, pick a line and go for it. It strangely works.
We love the scooter experience. As previously mentioned, they are everywhere. People carry EVERYTHING on it - from 4 person families to full sized air conditioning units to up to 10 live pigs stacked up. We even saw a "drive thru-Vietnamese style" with people selling dinner on the streets.
Randomly walking home last night we stopped in a park to see aerobics, Vietnamese style. With a stereo and three instructors about 70 women were lined up following the instructors as best they could- from 15 to 70 the ladies were put through their paces. With no inhabitions the ladies, in their work clothes, just joined in and left, as and when they wanted.
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