From one city to another

Today aboard a painfully old refurbished boeing we left the bustling town of saigon on the way to hanoi.

Yesterday in saigon we took a day trip to explore the tunnels of cu chi. Those who are history buffs will know these tunnels to be those used in virtually every military event in this country most notably of course the american war (what they call the vietnam war). Although originally thousands of miles long very few of them are still habitable however several have been restored to show what they were originally like. The sections we went through were no more than three feet tall and approximately two feet across. One might think of crawling but locals explain that fighters and residents actually ran headlong into the darkness. After just a few hundred feet our backs expressed pangs of protest. It was absolutely spellbinding the intricacy that went into these mazes including traps and intricate masquerading methods. It is more than slightly uncomfortable to watch their short 'informational' videos that depict americans as such monsters. Although I know our behavior ran close to barbaric at times it is still hard to watch given my national pride.

An amusing annecdote came from our tour of the independence palace, original seat of power of south vietnam. This was the home of president diem whom the us supported. Keep in mind he was so loved by his own people that his own military dropped three bombs on his home (pictures to follow later). In fact over 13 changes of government happened all while us supported this regime. Can we say oops. Wait didn't we support sadam hussein in iran/iraq war? Do we see history repeating itself?

The food thus far has been both identifiable (a huge plus) and quite palitable. Although not always as flavorful as american vietnamese food we have high hopes as we leave the very commercial city to the north. Along that thought, vietnamese absolutely love having things in bottle of alcohol. The most abhorant to me is a king cobra with a scorpion in its mouth. It is thought the venom when mixed with the alcohol will make one more vibrant. Ladies, I am NOT putting this to the test.

Very similar to europe of old, absolutely no one in this country is over weight in fact everyone is painfully fit. The customary outfits are basic pants and a flowing shirt that goes down to their ankles yet split completely up to their waists. It is very form fitting and complimentary to their form, virtually always complimented with high heels. Men on the other hand choose the more comfortable route of simple leather sandals, wool or cotton pants and simple cotton button down short sleeve shirts ubiquitous to middle east and other developing countries.

Our flight is landing so more updates to follow.

Matthew Stein