Vietnam Part II

The French occupied Vietnam, or French Indochine, between 1887 and 1954. There is a definite French mark left on the city. In the morning, you can buy baguettes at street stalls and the boulevards in the centre are broad and French-styled. There is even a French opera house. In this picture I managed to capture the Cathedral and a couple taking their wedding pictures.

Me and Daniel in front of the city hall.

Vietnamese food is delicious and healthy. I hadn't seen this many green food items since I left Holland. In the picture you see a crunchy pancake and watermelon juicy. I had the best juice EVER that weekend; strawberry apply juicy! Maybe I'll try making that when I'm back in Holland. :)

On our way to the Mekong Delta rivers, we stopped at a temple complex. Interestingly enough, the temple is Buddhist, Confucianist, and Taoist. All these elements are combined to form some stunning temples.

A HUGE statue of Buddha stood next to the temple.

We went to turtle and coconut island by boat, and then we took a traditional fisher's boat to traverse across the island. Only 6 people fit on the long boat and 2 people steer the fleet through the narrow passageways.

During lunch, we were served "elephant fish".

And before we left Vietnam, I got a manicure. The manicurist was able to create the nail art within 15 min. on all my 10 fingernails and the cost was 7 EUR in total.

If you want to travel to SE Asia, skip Thailand and head to Vietnam instead.

Vietnam Part I

Vietnam far exceeded my expectations. The people were nice, I felt safe on the streets, the culture is charming, and the food is delicious!

This image is shocking. I definitely learned a lot about the Vietnam War and its lasting consequences. We went to the War Remnants Museum and there was an area dedicated to the harmful effects of Agent Orange that can still be seen 3 generations later. Note: though the museum rightfully depicted the horrors of the war on the Vietnamese people, there were also obvious signs of propaganda by this Socialist Nation. After all, Vietnam "won the war and the communists were victorious".

Myself and my Swiss travel partner, Daniel Dudler, in front of one of the American fighter jets lefts behind in Saigon.

We visited the Cu Chi tunnels which were used extensively during the war. These tunnels are located in the jungle (though the jungle had been severely bombed during the war) and extend some 200 km. Whole villages lived in the tunnels and guerillas fought the Americans by placing traps with bamboo arrows throughout the region and popping up out of unexpected hatches. "The Americans never saw the Viet Cong while fighting", because they strategically remained underground. After this visit, it was obvious as to why the Americans would never have won. Those of the Viet Cong who killed an American (for instance, by piercing his body with bamboo sticks as those in the picture) were proclaimed "American Killer Hero".

In the jungle. It was VERY hot!

Guess what this is? Poison? Nope. It is snake-scorpion wine. Perfectly safe to drink. Illegal to export to Singapore. I wonder why.