HCMC

The land of the lost. This place used to be called Saigon, until the North took over, then it became Ho Chi Minh City, named after the leader who led the Vietcong.

The war memorial in town was powerful, I was embarassed to be from the US. It had all the letters from leaders around the world pleading for the US to leave Vietnam. It also had a display on Agent Orange and all the damage it had done during the war and since. There was a very cool room dedicated to the western journalists that died during the war. Definitely one of the most moving places I've been on this trip (or any trip).

We also visited the CuChi Tunnels (funny name I know). These are tunnels that people who were secretly in the vietcong, built and lived in for 26 years. They are so small, if you sit on your butt, your head almost touches the roof. They are so intricate, they have some at 3, 6, and 10mtrs. The ones at 10 mtrs go underwater when there is a high tide, so it would drown anyone not knowing. We crawled through the tunnels, it was creepy. We also saw tons of booby traps that were set for the G.Is as they are called. They are evil things, but necessary when peasants are fighting against a superpower.

The other trip we took was to the Mekong Delta. Here we cruised around in boats and canoes and saw the locals ad their way of live. It was a good day out of the city, but nothing too special.

HCMC is a modern Asian city, full of capitalists, despite being in a communist country. All Vietnam is a free-market society, but none practice capitalism more than the former Saigon.