Later, we returned to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool and on the beach. We put off going to dinner to play one more game of Cranium, and when we were all cleaned up and ready to go out, a lot of the restaurants in Mui Ne were already closed. We found a decent looking one and had a meal highlighted by Bryan sleeping in his chair and an obnoxious stray cat jumping on our laps and walking all over the table. We finished the night with a drink at a beach bar called Wax. They have big bean bag chairs set up on the beach that we intended to relax on, but there were none available. We ended up just hanging out on the sand, Bryan sleeping the entire time. On the way back to the hotel, Pete let me try out his motorbike on a nice open stretch of road. It was pretty awesome.

From the start, it was clear that Jenny knew what she was talking about. Halfway through our two hour drive to the tunnels (a 50km drive that was painfully slowed by traffic), the bus made a stop at a roadside art warehouse where we were given a three minute presentation on how the art was made and then ushered into the showroom where we had twenty minutes to browse and buy. There were about four other tour buses at this place, which quoted prices in US dollars and was the most expensive place I’ve seen in Vietnam, and Bryan and I were pretty annoyed to make this unannounced and unnecessary stop.

When we arrived at the Tunnels, our group of about 35 joined another group in what our guide called “the office”, a creaky old room with a cryptic but colorful map of southern Vietnam, a Vietnam flag hovering over a large portrait of Ho Chi Minh, a ten foot wide diagram of the tunnels that looked like a cross between an ant farm and a gigantic shoebox diorama, a television, and seating for about 80. Our guide gave a brief explanation of where the tunnels ran and how they were used and then played for us what he called “the document video film”, a ten minute movie on the tunnels that was at least 35 years old and still featured the violent anti-Americanism of the communist Vietnamese of a few decades ago. After the film, we moved outside into the blazing heat to begin our tour of the site.

We began at one of the original entrances to the tunnel as our large group circled around a small hole in the ground. It was interesting to see how small and subtle the tunnels were, but really that’s all we were looking at - a hole in the ground. After a short speech, our guide let anyone who wanted to with a waist size below 34 try out the entrance. Bryan and I squeezed in there ever so cozily. We then walked through the woods and saw a series of displays explaining how the tunnel dwellers lived, showing their kitchens, their weapons and their traps in the ground. We then came to a shooting range where visitors could buy as many bullets as they wanted and fire a machine gun, an AK-47, or any one of a few rifles. Bryan bought five AK-47 bullets for 100,000 Dong ($6 US) and had a go on the range. Then we proceeded to the most interesting part of the day, the tunnels themselves. We were allowed to walk 30, 60 or 90 meters of the tunnel, which was widened from its original size of 80cm by 60cm to 120cm by 80cm to allow more visitors to try them out. Bryan and I were two of a handful of people who walked/crawled the full 90 meters, bent over at the waist or crawling the entire way. It was a fairly exhausting and absolutely sweltering trek. The tour ended with a few more fairly cheesy exhibits, and then we boarded the bus back to Saigon. Although it was altogether unspectacular, I guess it was good to see the tunnels, and I’m happy to be able to say I’ve crawled through them.

When we returned to our hotel, we met up with Jenny to find out that her motorbike had been stolen late the night before. Aside from the logistical and financial issues that this poses for Jenny, it also meant that our original plan of traveling to the beach by train and motorbikes would not really work. So, after packing our things, checking out of our hotel, loading up on food and alcohol, we hailed a cab for Mui Ne, a 4 hour jaunt from the city. It was really pretty amazing to me that we could walk to the corner and have the first cab driver we saw agree to take us all the way to Mui Ne as nonchalantly as he did. In fact, 3 drivers were eager to make the trip and earn a nice big sum that night. We agreed on a fare of 1.1 million Dong (~$68) and set off. To pass the time, Pete and I played a drinking game (including drinking every time our driver honked, which was at least once every two minutes, and drinking every time our driver did anything reckless, which happened just as frequently, usually in passing three or four cars at once by driving into oncoming traffic), while Jenny resisted joining in and Bryan slept. Considering how absolutely insane the highways are here, this was a good decision.

We arrived at the Canary Resort in Mui Ne at around 1am and checked into our rooms. Before bed, we decided to play one game of Cranium, which turned into two and lasted until 530am, leaving us surprised to see that the sun had already risen. On our second (or third) winds, all of us thought it a good idea to go for a swim in the pool, a beautiful tropical respite shaded by palm trees and featuring a swim-up bar and cheesy Western music from the 1980’s. While the sun was still rising, we walked over to the beach and went swimming in the ocean, took some pictures, and enjoyed the breezy and mild weather. Finally, at about 730, after a long debate, we accepted that it would be best to get some sleep and retired to our rooms.

We started with a public Ho Chi Minh City bus - nothing too different - which drove us to a bus depot in the south part of town. As we walked into the bus yard, our group was swarmed by men shouting at us, what seemed to be them pleading for us to take their buses. When we got on the proper bus, a local bus to the Delta, all the local peddlers came on desperately trying to sell us bread, gum, cigarettes, newspapers, and other random things. Bryan and I ate two loaves of bread each before the bus left the station. The driver of the bus was absolutely crazy and honked his horn (which was one of the loudest horns I’ve ever heard) and screamed constantly as he ran down motorbikes, bicycles, meat carts, and trinket sellers the entire ninety minute drive. It was interesting to see the roads outside of the city - they are lined with dilapidated old shops and poorly constructed homes, and it feels very much like the third world.

The bus took us to another depot, where we were swarmed by cyclo drivers looking for work. We hired 6 of them to take us to the beginning of our tour, a 15 minute ride in the blazing heat, for 10,000 Dong (about $.60) each. We all bought funny wicker hats, looked at some maps and got a brief history of the area, and then hired a motorboat to take us to one of the islands in the Delta (either Uniorn or Dragon Island, I don’t recall). After a brief walk through the island, we came to an area with some tables and local fruits set out for us. The Vietnamese love their fruit, and talk about it more than anyone I’ve ever heard. While we ate, the local band came and played some traditional songs for us before allowing us to mess around with their instruments. We have some video of their music which we’ll try to post soon. We were then taken through the island on a canoe, passing some of the most remote and modest houses I’ve ever seen. The canoe took us back to our motorboat driver, who was waiting to take us across the river to the Ben Tre province.

When we arrived in Ben Tre, we rented some bicycles (Bernadette, was very angry about the bikes, claiming they were not up to Dutch standards) and went on a 20km ride through the area. The roads there are usually not much wider than a small car, and almost everyone we saw rode a bike or a motorbike. Along the ride, we stopped at a rice factory, a rickety old barn with about 10 very large machines which seemed to just shake the rice around in different directions. I’m sure theres more to the process of getting rice from the field to the bag, but our guide was very quiet and I really couldn’t take the heat inside the factory. We also passed a school, where the kids were all very excited to see white people and take a few photos with Bryan.

We finished the day with some lunch, a quick tour of a coconut candy factory (I use the term factory loosely here - there were a few small machines to extract coconut milk and combine it with chocolate and three women wrapping the dried result at a table), and a brief python encounter (I didn’t really want to have a python wrapped around my body, but the woman at the factory didn’t speak any English. I’m still not sure why they have pythons at a candy factory, but that’s neither here nor there).

When it was time to head back, we took our motorboat back across the river (during the trip our driver disappeared under the boat very briefly to remove a water coconut from our rutter) and we took a cab back to the bus depot. When the cab arrived, three people, covered in sweat, ran next to us, banged on the windows, and ripped the door open well before we came to a stop. I still don’t know exactly what was going on, but we were taken out of the cab, there were about 2 minutes of crazy frantic yelling between the three people and our guide, we were put back in the cab, and then the cab sped out of the bus station in order to chase down our bus, which had apparently already left a few minutes earlier. This bus was tiny (probably a 13 seater in America), but somehow we managed to squeeze 29 people on. (There were seats which folded down into the aisle of the bus, which meant if anyone from the back wanted to get off, everyone in front needed to get off the bus too.) Obviously a very uncomfortable hour and a half ride back to Ho Chi Minh City. We then took one more city bus to our area of town through some of the most insane traffic I’ve ever seen, and the tour was over.

Check out our photo gallery to get a better idea of exactly what the Delta was like.

We arrived at the school (my pants were soaked), and while we were waiting in the lobby, I met one of Jenny’s friends who happened to play rugby at the University of Tennessee at the same time I was at UNC, which meant we had played against each other at least a couple of times. Very small world. Then, the school manager asked to speak with Jenny and informed her that Bryan and I were not allowed in the school, even though Jenny had told her multiple times already that we would be visiting and joining her in the class. Jenny was pissed off and we were all disappointed, but there was nothing we could do. In no mood to teach, Jenny decided she would take the afternoon off and show us around some of Saigon’s shopping markets.

After changing into shorts, we head off to Benh Thanh, a huge warehouse with hundreds of little shops selling pretty much anything you can imagine. I was sort of in the mood to buy some useless crap for hardly any money, and this seemed to be the perfect place. Especially as a foreigner, it was important to haggle down the price of everything we saw. I was able to buy some nice fake Oakley’s (after losing a second pair of good sunglasses in less than 2 weeks) for 150,000 Dong (originally quoted at 250,000 Dong), and 3 funny monkey statues for $8, originally quoted at $20. Fine work if I do say so myself.

We had a few more meals and then went to bed early in preparation for our trip to the Mekong Delta the next morning.

Entry tomorrow

Captions on all pictures coming soon.