"I see a red door and I want it painted black..."

My Friend GT is on an adventure in Vietnam and I am vicariously living through him so I thought I would post one of his adventures here. I guess I find it funny because GT is a relatively big guy and the thought of him "Shawshanking it" through a tunnel made by the much smaller Viet Cong is actually a pretty funny visual.

We arrived in Saigon aka Ho Chi Min City Wednesday night after a flight delay of 6 hours. Thankfully, our hotel staff in Nha Trang checked the flight schedules before we left and we were able to avoid the wait in the airport. Upon arrival, we were a little bewildered due to the intense traffic and general business of Saigon. We thought the number of scooters in Hanoi was crazy but it was a mere blip onthe screen of motor madness that is Saigon. Of the 8 million people living in Saigon, 3 million own scooters. There are approximately 100 accidents per day resulting in an average of 20 deaths. This is all not surprising when observing a typical intersection in the big city.

Our highlights of greater Saigon took place outside the beehive with trips to the Chu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta. For those unfamiliar, the Chu Chi area is home to the infamous network of underground tunnels spanning 250 km. The tunnels had 3 layers delving as deep as 12 m underground and were home to the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (better known as the American War here). During the tour, we were given a small taste of life underground as we crawled 120 mfrom one entrance to
another. For those, like myself, who are slightly uncomfortable with small sweaty spaces, it was the longest 120 m ever. The tour also included an American War propaganda film circa 1960's that gave an interesting perspective on the US involvement.

The following day was spent touring the Mekong Delta which is the lush, soil rich, southern tip of Vietnam. A nice break from hectic life in Saigon, the Mekong Delta is home to various forms of agriculture and a simpler way of life. The tour started with the Mekong Delta River which, at this time of year, was brown due to the heavy rainfall and runoff between May and October. We took a number of boats from motored to row and visited a coconut/bee farm. We are now in Cambodia seeing the splendor that is Angkor Wat.