good evening vietnam

after shutting down the lap top this morning it was time for breakfast.

the watermelon juice was so delicious. i took a hard boiled egg, then saw the omelet station with many selections of vegetables. i only chose chilly sauce and the egg lady gave me strange faces for this miserable selection, but it turned out real good. i tried 2 types of noodles with soy sauce, 2 kinds of rice, dim sum with something yellow inside and then some more watermelon juice which was still delicious. we all enjoyed breakfast and then it was time to hit the road. but instead of going to town we booked on the spot a tour to gu chi tunnels.  

the ride is only 50k, but takes an hour and a half through crazy Vietnam traffic. toun the guide explains about life in Vietnam and says little when asked about the ruling party. we see various government building and a military academy on the way, and most of the way is urban. towards the end , green is starting to show, with various fields, much nicer view.

we reach the tunnel and the guide takes us through a forested area where the humidity is super high and the heat weighs on us. we start the tour by seeing a very nasty traps that the VC used to wound Americans.  this entire tunnel complex of 250 kilometers is an underground city that fought and survived the Vietnam war with countless dead on both sides. these traps were interesting, in short don't walk on anything,you could easily impale your foot, body or face against something sharp, in a very creative way. we went into some of the tunnels taking tourist type photos and in some areas crawling to the other side. in the mid way point they had a gun range to sample the various weapons used at the time. the whole Forrest is filled with tunnels, ventilation tubes, sample of the weapons used, tool used and method used to survive.a very interesting tour. we rode back then stopped for lunch ad Pho 2000. a place visited by Clinton at they year 2000. i tried beef with noodles and vermicelli. and i don't really know what it is and it was good after removing all the access onion. i tried jack fruit shake- it is a new fruit for me, texture like mango or papaya, but better tasting than mango which i don't like.

recharged, we walked around the city passing several buildings of the french occupation. an impressive post office building, the Notres dame cathedral, the city theater and a few colonial hotel. 

in the morning before the tour we tried to cross a big road and somehow made it alive to the middle square, if you wait for anything to stop you will die from hit stroke. the mopeds five way to you if you just walk. but cars and buses don't care, move it or be hit. by the after noon we are experts and walking with complete disregard for the traffic. we take photos of the inconceivable numbers of bikes in this city.from the walk we take a cab to the Chinese quarter and quickly go through one of its market, then walks for close to an hour passing several Pagodas. mostly closed ,but the biggest one was opened and i got some nice photos.

next to the pagoda was a school and next to it was a huge like of bikes, this its the local idea of school pick up, all by bikes. it was an impressive site. while filming the hoard of 2 wheels. the pagoda keeper told us to beware of purse snatchers, which come in a moped as well, but with this traffic, i don't know where they would go. we take a cab back and now with school out, the horrible traffic doubles and you cannot believe how many bikes can cross one intersection on a single green light segment which lasts half way through the next red light. completely ignore traffic rules.

we got back to the center and walked in the small but very crowded market just as it is beginning to close and i felt very special. lots of T shirts just for me, souvenirs just for me and many vendors that have exactly what i am looking for. i got nothing.

then it was shower time, so much sweat today.... soon dinner and bed time, tomorrow we fly to phai hong

good evening Vietnam