Hanio

26-10-2013 Time to leave the hussel and bussel of Saigon to explore Hanio.  Arriving at our hotel which was a tad disappointing and then we were told the only room left was at the very top, and of cause this hotel has no elevators, just our luck.  By the time we made it to the top our legs were killing us but the room was clean and cosey.  Back down we walk only to be told a room just became vacant on the bottom level so back up we go to collect our bags, fuuck. Once settled in we walked the town which seamed not as chaotic as Saigon with less people and bikes.  Doug was ours travel agents from the Motel we stayed at and he organize all our tours, one thing we learnt was the cheaper the hotel the cheaper the tours.

 

This is a good example of the traffic regulations relating to children in Vietnam sitting 2 to 4 abreast on a scooter and it doesn't phase them at all.

 One of the many alley's we walked through dodging scooter as we explored Hanio shops and cafes.

 We meet this couple while out on the town one night and we all hit it off, so much so we ended up walking around the canal bumming a lighter off of someone to have a naughty smoke.  The next morning Des freaked out and flushed it down the Lou.

It was crap anyway!

 The unlicensed corner bar were all the Aussies meet, got plastered and run a muck while yelling the slogan Aussie, Aussie, Aussie until the cops turned up and everyone scatted.  If the owner didn't have the drink you asked for they would run to the closest bar to satisfy our needs, now that's what I call service with a smile.

The New Day Restaurant our favorite along with every other tourist in Hanio, the food was soo yummy and very cheap as they all are.

Mojeto at 55,000 dong, was my drink with just a little mint please, god knows how many of them I had they were so moreish.  

1 USD = 21 VND

We would order what is called Set Menu consisting of 3 to 4 different dishes and Des never left a bite.

Our next trip was to Hoa Lu - Jam Coc (nimbin) in Ninh Bing.

The Cuchi Tunnels

25-10-2013  On our way to tour the Cuchi Tunnels stopping at the Handicapped Handcraft which the government created after the war in 1976 for the war victims of Agent Orange.

 These people are truly inventive, this handicap is using egg shells crushed into tiny pieces to create many amazing art design.

This particular art piece blue my mind, as I gassed at this piece of art my thought was, how many hours did one handicap person take sitting in the same spot gluing egg shells onto a board, such talent and patients.

The Cuchi Tunnels

The tunnels are a true indication of the determination for survival these people had, going as far as making thongs backwoods so the Americans thought they were walking in different directions and always striking from behind due to the lack of fire arms.  Communist forces began digging a network of tunnels under the jungle of South Vietnam in the late 1940s, often dug by hand.  At its peak the tunnels in the Cu Chi district linked VC support bases over a distance of 250 kilometres, from the outskirts of Saigon all the way to Cambodian border.
 

Des sits on one of the tanks left behind after the Viet Cong War. 

These traps were disguised to look like grass until an unsuspected person fell through and onto numerous punji stakes. There were many Traps only in different shapes and sizes set up around the tunnels just waiting for its next victim. 

 The Door Trap

How would you like that door coming at you, not nice.

The Viet Cong under ground making Ammunition from  chrapnil they collected, this was their only means of defense against the enemy. 

 The tunnels were built over a period of 25 years that began sometime in 1940 during the war against the French.  As we sat and listened to the history of the tunnels it was hard to imagine what these people endured and the conditions in which they were forced to live.  The tunnels were used to avoid aerial attacks, house troops, transport communication and supplies.  More than 43,000 Vietnamese died defending the tunnels.

Bombs and Shells of the US Army abandoned on Cu Chi Land.

Ho Chi Minh City Saigon

23-10-2013  Ho Chi Minh, the city of scooter's, just crossing the road becomes an adventure of it's own, no stopping for pedestrians here, just close your eyes and pray you don't get run over, walk and don't stop.  At some intersections they have, what you would call security guards to guide you across the roads, although it was just a matter of getting use to the traffic but on most occasions we would follow the locals who were more than happy to guide us across the there hectic roads.

24-10-2013  We decided to walked to the war museum thinking it would be a pleasant walk taking in the sights along the way, well! we got hassled the whole way, you look madam, you buy madam, you take ride madam, if I get called madam one more time I'll scream.  We made it to the museum only to be confronted with hundreds of screaming noisy school kid, just our luck.
The museum consists of many photos and I gotta tell you they tug at your heart strings, with tears in my eyes, we continued on when I noticed many woman with the same sad eyes.

 The M79 Chemical Grenade Launcher's.

The girl that would always be nine running away from her village in Trang Bang Vietnam wailing "To Hot! Too Hot!.  She was naked after blobs of sticky napalm melted through her cloths.  This photo went down in history as one of the most famous photos ever.

The mixture of two herbicides, 24-D and 245-T mixed with kerosene or diesel along with the extremely toxic substance, dioxin was known as Agent Orange.

This 23 year old man is one of many victims who cannot stand up straight. 

Incidences of cancer and abnormalities in their offspring were blamed on Agent Orange.

Many Bombs dropper from a C.13 cargo plane now stand as displays at the entrance to the museum.

Tanks and the twin engine, tandem heavy-lift helicopter CH-47 Chinook left behind after the war.

On the way home a local stopped us, you take photo with me and before Des could say no he was holding his carry basket full on coconuts.

With his hands now free he quickly chopped the top off of a coconut and handed one to Des and I before we could say a word and of cause we had to pay for them, Des got conned, he couldn't believe it and I couldn't stop laughing.

 
Some of the locals doing it hard in the streets of Saigon.



















The menu consist of the Authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice and Geylang Famous Frog Porridge which was surprisingly yummy, I just hope to god it is Chicken.

Displayed in the street markets were these well groomed chickens, I wouldn't eat them but they looked cool.

A great example of safety (OHS) in this wonderful City, "NOT".