Guns and Roses

8am arrived quickly and we were off to the Cu Chi tunnels. Cu Chi was a central strategic point in the war. Due to its close proximity to Saigon, and its heavily communist population the Americans viewed Cu Chi as a key city. In response the inhabitants built tunnels. These were crawling tunnels, built so pettily that an American soldier dressed in full garb would be unable to penetrate them. Even I, smaller than the average solider in stature and in only shorts and a t-shirt, had a difficult time entering them. At the start of our time there we saw a brief film in which the Americans were referred to as “little devils” and “ruthless murderers shooting everything in sight.” Again, this shows two things; 1) the censorship in a one party country, and 2) the hardship that American weaponry and carelessness caused on this civilization. As we crawled through the tunnels and walked in the surrounding areas we learned that 10,000 people lived in bunkers placed sporadically throughout the tunnels. Such a hard life is unimaginable, but in guerilla warfare it is necessary. I shot my first gun, an AK 47, and it grounded me a bit. I shot it at the end of February, in shorts and a t, with ear clogs on; the soliders had to shoot mid summer, in full gear, with nothing protecting their ears. The difficulties it caused these solidiers suddenly became vivid. While the experience itself was amazing, the experience transcended time and was extraordinarily frightening in that regard.
As we left we discussed all this at a local restaurant, where I finally switched from Pho to Veggie fried rice. Once we were done, after a brief scare where the car would not start, we continued on to the Mekong delta.
Note: This part of the blog will be long; however, it will also be describing some of the greatest hours of my life.
We arrived at the delta and were greeted by a second tour guide whose specialty was the Mekong. We went on a small boat from mainland, across the delta, to Unicorn Island. Once we got off the ship and made our way through the swarm of harassing shop keepers, the lady opened a mystery wooden box. Suddenly, out flew hundreds of bees. They all flocked to the rows of flowers near by which, for the sake of this blogs title, we shall call roses. Luckily they were harmless, and she literally scraped the side of the box and we ate their amazing honey. We mixed the honey with tea, and ate some plain—it was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. They also gave us different candies made of honey; one was nuts honey and something else and tasted remarkably like Mom’s Purim candy (PS-please save me some of that and some hamantashen). As we were eating, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a snake in a cage. Being the man that I am, I asked to hold it. Turns out you can!! I felt like I was back at the fun place at a 10 year old birthday party freaking out. I manned up and did it. I’m a man, and I’m not even 40.
After seeing my life flash before my eyes, we continued down a narrow walk way to a table with like 10 different fresh fruits. These included, but were not limited to, star fruit, dragon fruit, papaya, and others that I can’t remember their names. They were so delicious, and as we ate them we were entertained by local traditional music. Can’t say the music was on par with counting crows, but it was definitely good. We gave them tips, and they let us climb the trees to pick the fruits: apparently I don’t go apple picking enough, because I stunk and got like 10 Star Fruit that were all premature.
With a full, very full stomach, we went through some shrubbery into a little canoe.  Only 4 people fit in these little boats that we rowed down a rather remote section of the delta. We went on this for about a half hour, through some of the most tropical landscape one can imagine. Truly a paradise. As we got off the boat we went to the coconut factory. Unfortunately, we got there a bit late so we could not make our own, but we had free samples, tasted the uncooked mix, and let me tell you, it was as delicious as I am.
From there we hoped on a horse and carriage. The driver said something to Hung, our amazing guide that made Hung crack up. Apparently he said, “Sorry if I drive this horse a little crazy, I’ve had too much banana wine.” Don’t be fooled by the name—banana wine is not wine at all, more like tequila. Luckily we arrived to our next destination safely.
This is where the story gets amazing. As we were walking down the road with many houses we saw the Budhist pagoda. Though it wasn’t on our itinerary I asked to enter, and the guide complied. As we walked in, the Monk had just gotten home. Not only did he show us around, but he sat us down, had tea with us, and told us all about himself and his temple. He had become a monk 15 years ago after he had started a family. He was one of only two monks in the delta and was very passionate. His message was about peace and serenity. You could tell he believed every word that he spoke. As I left he gave me a monk, and told my translator that he sees me being a monk one day. He also pulled my hair and said I would have to cut that off first. HA. These locks are turning into braids soon enough.
From there we headed back to the boat for another quick trip on the larger boat while watching the sunset. Then we got back in the van and headed to our hotel which was 2 hours away (closer to where we would be going in the morning). So, we were on our way…or so we thought. About 10 minutes into the drive the car broke down. Remember how it wouldn’t start before? Turns out that WAS a big deal. We got stranded in real rural Vietnam for over an hour.  Scary? Nothing compared to what would come next.
Eventually we got into a new taxi and we were back on our way. Until we got stuck in traffic. Weird part was that it was 11pm still in rural Vietnam. Turns out this wasn’t traffic at all, just a corrupt cop, stopping cars and making them pay to advance. So, our tour guide took us out of the car, we walked through with our heads down, not knowing where we were. We hoped on a ferry, headed to the other side of the water and got into yet another taxi. The sigh of relief I let out upon entering our hotel must have been louder than, well, use your imagination.
To cool off we went out for ice cream, and called it a night because tomorrow’s wake up was at 6am. When we woke up we headed on another smallish boat to what is called the floating market. This is the place where the masses of Vietnamese who live on boats go to get there food. It was incredible. Boats would just come up, hop on another boat and purchase whatever they need. We got some pineapple and it was delicious. Fun fact: 48% of the world lives on less than $2 a day. This is also true in Vietnam. But it doesn’t affect them, they are so happy and content with their lives. While we should always try and give them choices, we need not necessarily judge their life style.
After the market we headed back to Saigon and said goodbye to our main man Hung. Our time in Vietnam was basically over, but it was well spent. BUT WAIT, there’s more. We looked in our pockets and noticed 1,000 dong. Not enough to change back to dollars, but just enough to go to a water park! So we hoped back in and headed to Dem Sen water park. Once we got there it looked amazing. Well, almos all of it looked amazing. All except the sign that read “The park is closed on Tuesday March 2nd”. Darn. Well, we still had our 1,000 so we headed back to our beloved market. What could my $5 by me you ask. How about a pair of fake shorts, the notebook and up? Heck yes! O right, and also a glass of watermelon juice, and a glass of mango strawberry.
We headed back to the boat and called it a country. WOW. The country emerged from such devastation with such vitality. It still has a definite ways to climb, but it is certainly headed in the right direction. Part of me wonder where this country would be had the war never happened. Would it be a prosperous power house or a crippled communist state? Is it possible that in a backwards kind of way the way helped the people? No one will ever know the answers to these questions, but pondering them is interesting in itself.
Who would think that Vietnam could be so beautiful? As we head to India and wrap up Eastern Asia my time has been amazing. I realized on Friday night that I had spent the past 3 Friday nights in Japan, China and Vietnam. Now I have 8 days on the ship to soak it all in and make sure that the messages that I learned, and the feelings that I felt are not merely memories, but are integrals elements of my being. It sounds cliché but on a trip like this, the worst possible scenario is one where the magic is lost. Hope you guys enjoyed, stay tuned for some stories from the Taj…