I can ride my Scooter with no handlebars
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Sun, Sea, Sand and Stress! Well the only stress at our stay at Jungle Beach was to turn up to meals on time. No chance of starving there as breakfast, lunch, afternoon fruit plate and dinner were all included, plus if you weren’t there for feeding time you’re hunted down. Food was delicious and included Tuna, Squid, Chicken, Tofu, Pork, Beef, Pasta and Morning Glory (woo) all served with copious amounts of rice and sweet chilli sauce!
We pulled the lucky straw and had our beach hut facing right onto the beach, absolute bliss and after almost 5 months on the road it was great for some proper r&r time. We also celebrated “Marry’s” birthday otherwise known as Barry here with more delicious grub, a beach bonfire night and swim in the phosphorescence. Basically it is plankton which reacts to movement and glows which we’ve never seen before and is spectacular, even if you do resemble Michael Jackson lighting up everywhere as you walk around. All made better by being able to drink Gin and Sprite in the sea!
We were dragged away from the beach for a long drive to Ho Chi Minh or Saigon city depending on who you ask. The outskirts start around 1.5 hours away from the centre and the swarm of scooters start, weaving in and out the traffic, beeping horns and carrying stuff that defies the laws of physics. Absolute mayhem and nothing can quite prepare you for the sheer numbers of people and scooters, in fact cars have a 100% import tax on them so unless you are rich and can afford to shell out around £30,000 for Ford Fiesta, you have to own a scooter.
First day here was spent with Neill and Kylie visiting the Cao-Dai Great temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels. The temple wasn’t a lot to write home about but arrived just in time for the 12 o clock worship involving music, singing and praying. Very cool to witness!
The Cu Chi Tunnels is an underground network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam war to hide from the Americans and once used to span around 250km. They housed hospitals, kitchens and armouries underground not to mention the various booby traps which I can ensure you look very painful. The tunnels are very claustrophobic even though they have been widened for the “ fat westerners” as called by our local guide(who also informed us that a virgin is no longer a virgin when she realises how big the banana is! How cultural!) The tunnels also have the opportunity to shoot real guns for $1 a bullet, hearing them was enough for me! It’s hard to comprehend the noise that would have rung out in this area only a short time ago.
Today we just had a wander around the city while trying our best to avoid being mowed down by scooters and visited the War Remnants Museum. As the Lonely Planet describes – “not for the faint hearted” and they are quite right! It houses relics from the war such as tanks and helicopters plus holds heartbreaking photographs from the war, well worth a visit though. To cheer ourselves up we had to do some more shopping with the last of our Dong purchasing a nice photocopied Lonely Planet of New Zealand for £3!
Cambodia awaits us tomorrow and cheery things to visit such as the Killing Fields and Genocide Museum, going to be a sombre few days with Simons 50th in the middle of it all!
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