Vietnam has been involved in many wars in the past, colonised by western powers, and governed by communists. Physical war was terrible at any circumstances for they destroy lives and haunt you for the rest of your days even if you lived to tell the tale. Ask any veteran and he will tell you they hated war – done with pride and bravery, but fearsome and cruel too. During the years of embargo, the people of Vietnam suffered indefinitely. There were no news, information, nothing could go out or come into the country. Vietnam received no help and had no one to rely on but themselves. Left without choice, the people hard-pressed by hunger had to plant their own food, mainly rice, and reared livestock and ate all sorts of animal such as rats, all for survival. There was no business to be done, only hardship and pain to face.

When the embargo was removed, Pepsi-Cola was first to appear, and then Coca-Cola followed by McD, but the Vietnamese refused – thanks but no thanks. They are not fast-food lovers. Fast forward into the 21st century, Vietnam is no longer in hunger. In fact this country now produces rice for export and with the money, rebuilds the country to what we can see today. They have excess rice to be sent to Cuba as aid, for free. Bill Clinton and Gill Gates set up funds to help clean up the city and established platforms for unemployed and handicapped people to earn a living – by making handicrafts, for example. As a result, there weren’t anymore beggars on the streets.

These were related to the visitors on the way to Cuchi tunnel this morning by Mr. Binh. He told us many stories. He told us how Vietnamese disliked burger as they can’t fit into their small Asian mouths. He told about his life. He was an officer, lieutenant rank, served the American side during the wars. He killed not a soul but was shot twice and counted his blessing that he is still alive today. A man, solid despite his age, weathered in emotion telling about the past, one could believe his stories, of things that have happened, without a doubt. He told about the war and timeline of significant events. He told about his people – smart, skilful, resilient, kind and always a smile to offer. He could have an easy life if he had chosen to follow his comrade back to US but Vietnam is his home. He was a playboy in his youthful days, but chose to settled with a local woman, whom he loves very much although not beautiful as he said quite matter-of-factly. The government does not trust him because he served the American during the wars. They wouldn’t offer him job; he tried as an English teacher but rejected. He can fly a chopper, educate, serve the military and many more but none was appreciated. He was refused again and again. He had to smuggle goods at one time to earn money; to survive. Now, for almost two decades he works as a tour guide, just like this, telling stories and showing tourists around. He is now working on a book based on his diaries, and will be published in a few years time with the help of his brother. He once lost contact with all his siblings. They all fled and because of the embargo, he had no idea where they went or how to find them. He’s retiring next year, and we were glad to be on board with Mr. Binh this morning.

Earlier today, the guesthouse served breakfast of toast bread with strawberry jam, and bananas, gulped down with a cup of coffee (or tea). The journey from Saigon to Cuchi tunnel took about 2 hours with a short stop at the handicraft-making place. The place is run by the government to help the poor, and victims of wars, some handicapped by mines or chemical effluents. If you buy things here, it’s like doing a charity to help these people. And they are skilful people, making exceptional products ranging from lacquer ware to traditional shoes. The merchandise here are really really good, as one can see the details of work and effort they put into making any one item, and they are not considered expensive. Quite cheap, really, if you put things into perspective, accounting for the quality and size. We continued our journey, all the while Mr. Binh telling us stories and jokes.

Cuchi tunnels are the complicated underground network covering kilometres in total, hand-dug by the locals and soldiers to fight the enemy. During the wars, this place was rigged with mines, booby traps, hidden doors, escaped ways and many more. The tunnels are very small, just right for the Vietnamese in those days for a great trouble for westerners. If you were in Saigon, Cuchi tunnel is a recommended place to visit. The entrance fee was about RM16 per person and an extra $5 per head for transport with guide. The visit includes a chance to go through a 130m stretch narrow tunnel and firing real gun (you need to buy the bullets, of course). Guide will explain many things along the way – about what they do, military tactics and also something about the role of women in the camp. Mr. Binh said every group of soldier there were 2 women and they had four roles. 1) To cook, 2) To sew, 3) To fight enemies and 4) for ‘honeymoon’ purposes. The tunnels were completed in 3 levels down to 90m deep and in those tunnels were rooms designated for meetings, traps, escaped ways, cook and also to make love. He also accused Vietnamese women of overpopulating Vietnam because they are like baby making machine. Ahem, it is only fair that I report on Vietnamese girls like I did for Cambodian girls. I think I agree with Mr. Binh’s findings, that Vietnamese girls are skilful and also beautiful, in general. They can cook, smart, mostly educated now and attractive. So you see, I don’t mind following Mr. Binh’s footstep. As far as I know, Chunaki agrees too.

We fell asleep most on the way back – thirsty, tired and hungry. When we arrived, it was about 3pm already. We don’t know what to eat so we walked around looking for something simple and we ended up eating bread and it was like the most delicious sandwich we ever tasted. The filling was a variety of ham and meat and plentiful of greens to go with. Other bread weren’t that bad either. The cost was only about RM2 for each type. It was really really delicious.

Feeling more energetic, we proceeded to Benh Than Market by foot. It was a very conducive place to buy things because there are so many choices and best of all, you can bargain. All of us bought some nicely designed Adidas and Nike imitation t-shirts there, only for RM14 each. Since I did not buy the handbag in Cambodia, I was determined to get at least two because mum asked me to, and I did just that for RM12 each.

Quynh, met up with us and joined us for a little shopping spree. Unfortunately we can’t stay long but nevertheless she was still willing to come. We got back to our guesthouse, collect our luggage and took a cab to the airport. Quynh apologised for not being able to take us to more places. We felt bad because we were the ones who didn’t stay long enough in Saigon. We’re sorry Q, and you’ve been so nice to us. Thank you so much! See you again!

No, it wasn’t time to go home yet because our next destination was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Thanks to Ha (and her cousin that we never met), we flew Vietnam airlines for $100 per person. It was my first time flying in Boeing 777. Everything about it was nice – the seats, the interactive screen, the food, the temperature, and of course the air hostesses. We were flying over 900km/h, with an outside temperature of -50 deg C over thousands of meter above ground, when the food came. It was a simple bread and ham meal but it was great, that we asked for one more each. Being greedy, we also asked for juices, milk and water, and once finished we did that all over again, just because they are free! Wait no, actually we paid for it, so might as well make our money worth.

We touched down at about half past ten at night. Ha and her bf was already waiting for us. I hope Ha’s family won’t be reading this….=P =P. Dear readers, there’s something I should explain and also this beautiful girl named Ha, is an interesting subject. If you want to know more, see the subsequent post. Her bf, Da (or so it sounded), is a very nice guy and he can speak mandarin because he studied business and management in Beijing for 6 years. So we spoke with him in mandarin and Ha, in English. Both of them were very sweet and welcoming, always smiling and looking after us. We went to a café at the airport to have some food but we were afraid that it might be costly so we ordered the cheap selections. We never wanted to go to fancy places but we must be polite, right…?? Da was the one who paid eventually, and we felt bad. It was already very nice of them for their hospitality, and now they paid our bills, not only this time but for many other things.. sigh..paiseh paiseh. They were just too nice to us.

Anyway, we parted ways back in the airport as Da can’t fetch us all back to Ha’s place, for two reasons – one, a car cannot fit us all and luggage, another one was….see next post please. We took a cab and reached Ha’s home about 40 minutes away. Her mother welcomed us into the house and showed us into our rooms. Kelvin and Jesse slept in Ha’s room, and Chunaki and I, in her younger sister, Lynh’s (spelling unsure) room. See next post for more stories. Suffice to say now, Ha and her family was very very nice to us and our stay in Hanoi was truly fantastic, thanks to them.