Huge update 2: Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I was planning a trip for a while and decided that I would kind of vagabond the trip. I was not going to make any plans ahead of time other than the flights. So I departed Taiwan on July 1st and knew I was going to be gone until August 7th.

I had really a strange feeling about leaving Taiwan, it hurt to leave but I knew I wanted to see more countries. This really told me how much love I have for this country that I was leaving. Taiwan has become my home. I decided that I would travel alone and meet people as I go. Disclaimer: South-East Asia is not a place to travel to alone because most people travel in groups and there are few hostels, so it is hard to meet people.

But my first destination was to Vietnam, a country that I really wanted to visit and was very interested in seeing what it had to offer. My flight left Taiwan and was headed for Malaysia first, when we landed I wanted to see the Petronas Towers since I had about a 10 hour layover. So I got off the plane and went to the train station that was going to take me there. I ate a little then had to take a subway out. The problem was I didn't have enough money so I went to the ATM and my card was denied, called the bank so they could add Malaysia to my bank card so I could get money out and by the time they did... all the ATM's were closed for the night (I think for security reasons). So I had to 'sleep' in a train station with homeless around me. Needless to say, I didn't sleep.

When the station opened back up I got back to the airport and waited to head to Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon.

First meal in Vietnam:
pho bo, with my favorite Saigon Beer.

I could talk for hours and days on all of this, but I won't I will be brief and to the point (but it still might be a little long). I land in Ho Chi Minh City and it seemed like I was landing on a dirt runway. It didn't feel the safest but I landed fine and got out and grabbed a cab to the hostel I wanted to go to. The hostel was great, I loved it and stayed many nights. It was the NGOC Thao Guest House. The people were so nice and helpful. I highly recommend them.

Ho Chi Minh was a very crazy city, with way more motor bikes than Taiwan. The funniest thing, and possibly the most dangerous was that they have to wear helmets there. But they get around that by using 'Nike' hats with a little padding inside and a chin strap. I have to say, they did look pretty cool and I wanted to buy one but they were not going to save you from a crash. I traveled around a little to see a bit of the area I was in, which was District 1; otherwise known as the party district. I didn't plan that but didn't really mind either.

Mr. Bean, sad story this man has he wishes everyone
just forget about the war. He has been writing a diary
since he was in the war and will publish it once he dies.

A couple days after arriving I went on my first trip, Cu Chi Tunnels tour. The Cu Chi Tunnels were tunnels that the North Vietnamese (now just Vietnamese obviously) made during the war against the French for independence and then continued during the 'American War' or the 'Vietnam War' as I know it by. We had a guide for the tunnels, Mr. Bean. This man has an extremely sad story, one that is a real tearjerker. He was a soldier for the United States during the war and then finished his tour of duty in New York. Upon leaving he burned his passport and said he would never come back to the US because he told us, 'I am not an American, I am Vietnamese'. The love he had for his country was great, as do all Vietnamese. Very few, if any, hold a lot against US tourists or the US in general. As Mr. Bean told us, they want to move on and so should the US. He said both sides were wrong and should not have gone to war. From most that I talked to, they didn't care what the government became, as long as they were still Vietnamese at the end of it. The tunnels were really cool but sad, we saw tanks that were blown up by Vietnamese, weapons the Vietcong used and heard stories of how the sides tried to outsmart each other.

One story stands out to me the most. The VC taught their dogs to smell Americans, because Americans smoked Marlboro Cigarettes. So the VC taught the dogs to sniff out Americans by that smell. Eventually the Americans caught on so they would drop their cigarette butts in the tunnels and the dogs would turn on the VC thinking them to be Americans. Another story was that the VC didn't have shoes or lots of weapons. So they would cut up tired and make shoes out of them. During the night they would sneak into the American base they dug under and steal their weapons and ammo. The only problem is that tire tracks have treads on them to show which direction people are coming. So the VC would wear them in one way and walk out with them on the other way, so it would seem that the VC never left the base. To me, this was all a mental game, who is smarter.

VC sniper pit, a tight squeeze

While on the tour I was able to go into a sniper pit that the VC made. The pit was so tight and small, pretty much everything in the country was small and showed just how to outsmart the Americans during the war. Make things small and Americans can't come in. We also saw many, many booby traps. Some of the most disgusting things to see but I have to admit, they were highly inventive. The highlight of the tour is going into the tunnels. Tourists are not allowed in the real tunnel because it is too small. There was one part of the tunnel that was carved about 3 cm bigger to accommodate Westerners. Having that said, they were still very, very small. Americans during the war would have to crawl on hand and knees to fit through, some on their stomachs. It was a game of hide and seek. While in the tunnels I got extremely, extremely claustrophobic. The tunnel we went through only lasted 100 meters but had levels that you went down, first was 3 meters down, then 6 meters, then back up to 3. At each drop there were emergency exits, I thought of taking them whenever I saw one. Luckily, I made it out at the last exit. At the end of the tour we were brought to a shooting range where it is one of the only few places you can shoot some weapons. I shot the AK-47, first gun I have ever shot, and let me tell you, I am a horrible shot. The very end of the tour is watching a 1960's propaganda movie, which is obviously propaganda but still very cool to see.

View inside the tunnels

AK-47

After that tour I headed to the War Remnants Museum. Which used to be called the 'War Crimes Against US and Puppet Government'. This was just the beginning of all the sad museums I was going to see on the rest of my trip. This museum contains many vehicles that were shot down by the VC and North Vietnamese during the war and some land vehicles too. Inside the museum, which is another propaganda place but really none of it is false, shows all the chemical crimes, physical crimes, and other crimes the US did during the war. Granted the crimes the North Vietnamese did were not shown, but the museum hits close to home too because it shows US soldiers who have had children with deformities due to Agent Orange.

Meeting with Thuy Ngoc in the park across from
my guest house

A couple days later, while traveling around I got lost and was trying to find my way back when a huge downpour happened. I managed to hide under a balcony and after standing there for a bit security came out and tried to help me. He found I knew no Vietnamese and called someone younger out to help me. This girl told me her name was Thuy Ngoc to come inside and she could help me. This was the nicest thing because when I came inside I found it was a college and she and all the students embraced me and loved the chance to speak English. They taught me some games until the rain stopped and then I went on my way but decided I would meet up with the girl before I left Ho Chi Minh city and buy her a drink. One thing to note about Vietnam is that everything is cheap, but to Vietnamese it is still expensive. So to buy someone something really is a grand gesture of friendship that they don't forget.

War Reunification Palace, a chopper like this blew up
two areas of the building and the government
wants people to know about it.

A day or so later I went off to the Reunification Palace which was the site that marked the end of the Vietnam War. When the Americans up and left, the Vietnamese were still fighting and eventually the war ended by the North Vietnamese storming this Palace that, if I understand correctly was the home of the President of South Vietnam. There were a ton of cool rooms to see here and reminded me a lot of the White House tour I went on in December. At the end you get to see another propaganda film, which I always love seeing so I watched it all.

Ho Chi Minh City Post Office

Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh

Stay tuned for Huge update 3: Dalat, Vietnam