We spent just over a week in Ho Chi Minh City. First we explored on our own, then celebrated Carter's 30th birthday, and finally welcomed Carter's parents and then her brother and sister-in-law, who all flew over to join us on our trip. Highlights of our time in HCMC include finding and visiting Cafe Zoom (which we had been reading about since Cat Ba Island), subsequently signing up for Vietnam Vespa Adventures (whose office is in Cafe Zoom)'s "Saigon After Dark Tour"... by far the most fun thing we did in the city, renting a motorbike and driving ~70km out of town for a visit of the Cu Chi Tunnels, going to the War Remnants Museum, exploring the plethora of restaurants and eating fresh seafood, hearing live music, taking a speedboat ride on the Saigon River, going to Ben Thanh Market, and putting final touches on plans for our upcoming trip to the Mekong Delta with Carter's family.
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| Like Hanoi, a sea of motorbikes and often no traffic signals |
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| path leading to Cu Chi Tunnels |
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| bunker |
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| entrance down into the tunnel system |
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| body trap |
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| The tunnels have been enlarged for tourists. We could stand up as much as the picture shows, but the Viet Cong used to have to belly crawl through the tunnel system the ceilings were so low, and the walls were narrower. It's quite claustrophobic still (Carter nearly lost it) -- the bats swooping into our faces didn't help. Petty fears aside, it's absolutely unreal to realize a small fraction of what the people living in these tunnels had to endure. |
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| house on the Saigon River |
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| View from Saigon River. Notice the juxtaposition of stilted houses on the verge of collapse with sky-scrapers in the background |
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| Toasting the last day of Carter's 20's |
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| Robert giving the best gift ever -- 30 relationship highlights/memories for the 30th birthday |
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| Birthday breakfast on the river |
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| View of HCMC and Saigon River from the observation deck of Bitexco Financial Tower (supposedly the elevator to get up here is the fastest in the world) |
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| Aboard a speedboat owned by Saigon River Express for an afternoon tour of the river and its canals |
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| the family lives on this boat |
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| setting up a fishing net at low tide |
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| sunset from Carter's birthday dinner at a place called "The Deck" |
Us having more fun than words can express on the Vietnam Vespa Adventures "Saigon After Dark" tour...
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| Dell and Dixon have arrived!!!! |
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| Ben Thanh Market |
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| We had such a good time on "Saigon After Dark," we returned for round #2 with Carter's parents! |
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| Nelson and Elizabeth have arrived!!!! |
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