See you, Saigon Part II

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Note: As mentioned in previous post, these are recollections of what happened more than 4 (!!) years ago since past Alexia was too lazy to finish blogging.

My second day in HCM, my aunt's family friend (who picked me up the other day when I got off the bus) took me to the Cu chi tunnels which I really wanted to go - learning about the Vietnam war.
Prior to the start of the tour, the tour guides are in militia uniform so it's already a little intimidating. He showed a group of us (a Scottish family and myself) an informational video/propaganda where the beginning was a scene of a young girl chasing a butterfly through a green field. Then it pans out to show a bomb falling out of the sky to hit the village where the girl was playing. The narrator continues to say how the Americans were heathens etc. Yikes After the video was over, the tour guide asked where everyone was, and I said 'Canada'.
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It was slightly scary when the tour guide said there still could be bombs out there so be careful in not wandering off. One of my all time favorite books is Tim Obrien's The Things They Carried which centered around the Vietnam War and the effects thereafter. I can see how jungle warfare can make people crazy. They covered their underground tracks and entrances with leaves. It was crazy how well camouflaged it was. Everything was so small. I could barely fit my child-bearing hips through the holes!

After that, we drove back to town. I pretty much fell asleep the whole time we were in the car. I'm a horrible guest. Once I got back to my aunt Janice drove me around the city showing me some places where parents' families used to live. 

Aunt Janice took me to a nice shopping mall where I got a lot of souvenirs - mainly coffee and the famous shopping center where I got my brother a Vietnam soccer jersey...that's spelled Vietnam wrong T_T.

My other aunt also took me to get my nails done - probably the best they've ever been done. 
Second day all in all a day of history - visiting the cu chi tunnels, visiting some of the places where my parents, grandparents, aunt and uncles grew up.


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