Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Today was our second day in Ho Chi Minh City. The city is an interesting mix of old traditional buildings and ultramodern skyscrapers, of French and Vietnamese cultures and of motor scooters buzzing by from every direction. The city is mixed with wide French style boulevards and narrow alleyways typical of large Asian cities.

Today we took a Viking optional tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Remnants Museum. This was a very somber tour looking back at the Vietnam war from the Vietnamese perspective. Enroute to the tunnels we made a stop at the Quang Minh Lacquerware handicapped handicrafts studio. This is a facility where individuals that are handicapped as a result of Agent Orange design and craft lacquered artwork that include hand painted, inlaid mother-of -pearl and inlaid duck eggshell art. We were able to see the artist at work and given an opportunity to buy the finished product.

We began the tunnel tour just outside the village of Cu Chi. Cu Chi is only 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Saigon. During the war the US had a sizeable firebase located outside of Cu Chi and the Viet Cong operated a 75-mile-long network of tunnels in the area that housed approximately 20,000 people.

The tunnels are part of a larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country and likely reach into Cambodia. The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the war and were the Viet Cong’s base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968.

The government of Vietnam has turned the tunnel complex into a war memorial park where visitors are invited to crawl around in the safer parts of the tunnel system. Conference rooms, kitchens, and work areas have been restored/reconstructed to give the visitors an idea about life in the tunnels. There are also displays of booby traps that were used to deter US and ARVN forces from entering the tunnels.

From the Vietnamese perspective it was the tunnel system and the guerilla tactics supported through them that allowed for the defeat of South Vietnam and the US forces.

After our visit to the Cu Chi tunnels, we had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant before heading on to the War Remembrance Museum.

The visit to the War Remembrance Musuem is very sobering as it depicts a very negative view of American involvement in, what the Vietnamese view as a civil war. The two biggest criticisms against the US military are the use of chemical warfare, defoliates – agent orange and others, and war crimes, more specifically murdering noncombatants in incidents like the Mei Lai Massacre. There are large displays dedicated to both topics painting a very negative picture of the US. Vietnam claims there are fourth generation birth defects attributable to exposure to Agent Orange. The museum also had an extensive display of US military equipment that was left behind when the US military pulled out of Vietnam in 1973.

Our final stop of the day was at Roof Top Garden Bar at the Rex Hotel. The Rex Hotel has hosted many dignitaries over the years, but during the Vietnam War it was the daily gathering sight for news reporters to receive the daily briefing referred to as the “Five O’clock Follies.” Fifty years ago, this fifth-floor roof top bar was one of the highest points in the city offering a panoramic view of Saigon. The bar still offers great views of the central city, but it is now dwarfed by the skyscrapers that dominate the city skyline.

Tomorrow we are taking a tour of the Mekong River Delta.