Vietnam
taher and i are on a little holiday. we're in Vietnam right now, and in a few days we will be off to Cambodia. here in Vietnam, we are mostly staying around Ho Chi Minh city (aka Saigon).
so far, the impression i am left with is how very un-informed i am about the vietnam war. it is mentioned so many times and yet my visit here is the first time i have tried to learn more about it. i suppose that when it comes to history that is, unfortunately, the case with me. it takes me actually having to be surrounded by history before i think to sort through it...
anyway. our first full day, we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. this was an amazing experience- the Tunnels are a very extensive and intricate system of underground tunnels, rooms, kitchens, etc, in which the vietnamese people lived when there was warfare going on up above. there is a LOT of information online about these tunnels, including maps and detailed descriptions- i don't want to overload this post with info.... but for us, the experience was incredible. and very sobering. the tactics, the traps the vietnamese thought up were so detailed and ingenious. and frightening. there were traps into which a soldier could fall, and end up with long, glinting, steel spikes through his body. there were all sorts of ways to be impaled if you didn't know the area. and besides these traps, there were covered entrances to the Tunnels, from which a vietnamese soldier could pop out and attack you without any noise or any warning.
it was a very intense look into war. bomb shelters, traps, tunnels, grenade triggers, all neatly blended into the forest-scape. i was intrigued but also very alarmed. not often have i ventured into former battlegrounds. or crawled through hot, winding, dusty, rough tunnels, knowing all the while that this tunnel through which i was crawling was specially widened and cleaned up and aired out for tourists. it was miserable down there, and i knew that the real thing, the genuine, untouched tunnels, were far worse.
so. we also visited the Mekong Delta, which is a large area near Ho Chi Minh that encompasses the Mekong River as well as endless rice fields- the stereotypical images of people working the rice paddies, triangular hats upon their heads, were probably born of this region. our visit was just a day long but it was long enough to get a feeling for the kind of peaceful life this must be- quiet forests, lots of winding streams, and only one method of transportation: canoes.
speaking of transportation, our main one while in the city has been a bicycle taxi; a guy on a high bicycle, pushing an attached buggy in front of him. you sit in this buggy and watch the world whiz by you as you chug chug slowly along the street. this ambling pace is fun for us, since we are able to take everything in and just kind of enjoy the scene.
right now, in preparation for Chinese New Year, everything is in an uproar. the city is decorated in red lights, making it seem a bit seedy on smaller streets. but in the center of town, it's all dragons and roosters (this year will be the year of the rooster) and lanterns and lights and people- there is a huge traffic circle in the middle of town, around which all of these people and cars and motorcycles zip- combined with the multitude of lights, the effect is very swirly and dizzying.
anyway. our one trip to the history museum here in HCM hasn't exactly saturated me with knowledge, so i will keep reading and trying to inform myself of the history of this place. in my next post, i'll let you know how far i've gotten ;)
taher and i are on a little holiday. we're in Vietnam right now, and in a few days we will be off to Cambodia. here in Vietnam, we are mostly staying around Ho Chi Minh city (aka Saigon).
so far, the impression i am left with is how very un-informed i am about the vietnam war. it is mentioned so many times and yet my visit here is the first time i have tried to learn more about it. i suppose that when it comes to history that is, unfortunately, the case with me. it takes me actually having to be surrounded by history before i think to sort through it...
anyway. our first full day, we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. this was an amazing experience- the Tunnels are a very extensive and intricate system of underground tunnels, rooms, kitchens, etc, in which the vietnamese people lived when there was warfare going on up above. there is a LOT of information online about these tunnels, including maps and detailed descriptions- i don't want to overload this post with info.... but for us, the experience was incredible. and very sobering. the tactics, the traps the vietnamese thought up were so detailed and ingenious. and frightening. there were traps into which a soldier could fall, and end up with long, glinting, steel spikes through his body. there were all sorts of ways to be impaled if you didn't know the area. and besides these traps, there were covered entrances to the Tunnels, from which a vietnamese soldier could pop out and attack you without any noise or any warning.
it was a very intense look into war. bomb shelters, traps, tunnels, grenade triggers, all neatly blended into the forest-scape. i was intrigued but also very alarmed. not often have i ventured into former battlegrounds. or crawled through hot, winding, dusty, rough tunnels, knowing all the while that this tunnel through which i was crawling was specially widened and cleaned up and aired out for tourists. it was miserable down there, and i knew that the real thing, the genuine, untouched tunnels, were far worse.
so. we also visited the Mekong Delta, which is a large area near Ho Chi Minh that encompasses the Mekong River as well as endless rice fields- the stereotypical images of people working the rice paddies, triangular hats upon their heads, were probably born of this region. our visit was just a day long but it was long enough to get a feeling for the kind of peaceful life this must be- quiet forests, lots of winding streams, and only one method of transportation: canoes.
speaking of transportation, our main one while in the city has been a bicycle taxi; a guy on a high bicycle, pushing an attached buggy in front of him. you sit in this buggy and watch the world whiz by you as you chug chug slowly along the street. this ambling pace is fun for us, since we are able to take everything in and just kind of enjoy the scene.
right now, in preparation for Chinese New Year, everything is in an uproar. the city is decorated in red lights, making it seem a bit seedy on smaller streets. but in the center of town, it's all dragons and roosters (this year will be the year of the rooster) and lanterns and lights and people- there is a huge traffic circle in the middle of town, around which all of these people and cars and motorcycles zip- combined with the multitude of lights, the effect is very swirly and dizzying.
anyway. our one trip to the history museum here in HCM hasn't exactly saturated me with knowledge, so i will keep reading and trying to inform myself of the history of this place. in my next post, i'll let you know how far i've gotten ;)
...Natural is the static
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