Army Surplus - by Ryan

December 7, Saigon (HCMC), Vietnam

The market where we found our goods.

My brother Taylor and I went to an army surplus market where people were selling left over army gear from the war. We came for one simple reason, to find a ghillie suit. We showed the first man we visited the picture of the ghillie suite, but he laughed and thought it was an alien with a very hairy body. So we moved on to the next shop. The lady said there were no ghillie suits in this market but we continued our search anyway.

The next ten people we asked also responded "there are no ghillie suits in this market." My brother and I decided that since there were no ghillie suites we would look for other things.

Taylor bought a Marine helmet and Army vest. I decided to either buy a suit off Ebay or make my own when we get home so all I bought was a Marine helmet, glasses and a helmet net.

Once we finished we walked back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel we rushed in the room with our Army gear on. Cameron was so amazed at the helmet and vest that he wanted to go and get some Army gear but there was not enough time to go that day.

Even though we didn't find any ghillie suites we still had fun. Some times you never know what you'll find.

Happy consumer

Saigon Pedistrian Crossing

If you go to Saigon, Vietnam be careful when you cross the street because the traffic there is crazy. It's crazy because traffic flow is not organized like back in Anchorage. There are motorbikes going any direction they want even if the light is green or red.

First, you walk up to the road and look around at the traffic. You need to figure out when to cross the road when the traffic is going the right way for you to cross. The cars follow the traffic lights but the motorbikes don't.

Next, you cautiously step into the road. Then, you look for a space between the motorbikes and slowly walk across the road. You may get freaked out at traffic coming straight toward you, but don't run because you will get run over. Instead, walk slowly and calmly across the road. The traffic just goes right around you. It's kind of cool.

Finally, rejoice when you get across the road because you were victorious.
I actually had fun crossing the road in Saigon. If you ever visit Saigon, Vietnam I hope you enjoy crossing the road too.

Vietnam Unification Express - Danang to Saigon

Saying goodbye to our lovely South China Sea town of Hoi An we boarded the train headed for Saigon, a 15 hour overnight journey on the Vietnam Unification Express. The name express is quite contrary to its travel time. I read that the VUE holds the record for being the slowest traveling trains in the world. Lets see, boys here's a relevant math problem...

Outside the Hoi An Station

15 hours to travel 580miles = 39 miles an hour. Yup, pretty slow. In fact the boys say that's slower than the Alaska Railroad.

The rail was first constructed by the French when they ruled Vietnam as part of Indochina, divided when Vietnam was split North and South in 1954 according to the Geneva Accorrds, targeted and bombed during the Vietnam-American War then fully restored in 1976 when Vietnam was united after the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Boarding the Train

We boarded the train and found our berth with empty coffee cups and muffin wrappers and the bedsheet unchaged. I guess there had been other travelers heading South from Hanoi that departed in Danang where we got on board. The boys were up in arms disgusted at their accommodations. Said with total attitude, "Mom why did we have to take the train? I told you I wanted to fly." My response, " I wanted the adventure of the train."

Schooling them in the art of calming down so you can think about handling the situations was not the easiest but in the end Taylor asked the steward to clean our room and refresh our linens. I will say that even with this improvement the whole train was dirty and kind of smelly, especially the toilet. Whew Wee! We were all glad we are traveling with sleeping sheets.

Linens Refreshed and Berth Tidy

Our 15 hours were spent exploring the rest of the train, eating in the small somewhat unsanitary dining car, watching a movie on the computer, reading and sleeping. We discovered that our berth was the nicest on board. Others had six people sleeping in one berth, ours had four, and then there were three cars packed with people sitting in dirty, uncomfortable, broken seats for 15 hours. At least they had entertainment - Michael Keaton starring as Batman (1990ish) with an annoyingly high pitched Vietnamese lady voicing the whole movie, all parts. That gave us a good chuckle.

Boiled Egg Purchased from the Food Cart. Great Appitizer.

In the end we were all glad for the experience and will take the train again. I can guarantee this train trip will not be our last.

Arrival in Saigon 5:00am Friday, December 3, 2010

CuChi Tunnles

At the American Surplus Market

Me and My Bros Hanging with the VietCong.

The Cu Chi tunnels were constructed during the second world war by the Vietminh, who were predecessors to the Viet Cong ,to relay messages to and from villages and to fight occupying forces. It took 25 years to construct 120 Km of tunnels using only hand tools. The tunnels were finished in the early sixties just after the Vietnam War started. When tension started to build in Vietnam the Southern Government started the SHP, or the Strategic Hamlet Program. The villagers would position bamboo pikes in the ground 20 times deep to protect the village, but when the Viet Cong built the tunnels they could capture villages by going underground and resurfacing on the other side of the Hamlet. When the Vietnam war broke out in 1959 the Cu Chi area was declared a free zone so bombers could drop extra bombs before returning to base and U.S. troops could shoot at almost anything.

On My Way Down the Secret Hole

On the fourth day we were in Saigon we drove out to the Cu Chi tunnels, an hour and a half out of town. When we first arrived our guide took us to the information hut and showed an "documentary video on the area". As usual the whole movie was propaganda. It showed the Viet Cong living peacefully and the bombs from America were destroying their lives, but it didn't show the Viet Cong doing anything to the American Troops. When we were done with that horrible movie we explored all around the site. I got to go into a secret entrance, we also saw live traps working. There was one trap, that when walked on, would  flip over and push you into a pit with metal spikes. We then walked to the shooting range and you could shoot any thing from a M60 to a K63 hand gun. I shot a M16 and a Carbine. The range was pretty pathetic because the guns were bolted to the stand so you couldn't feel the kick, or aim at the target. We walked to the entrance of the tunnels and  crawled 100 meters. The tunnels were bigger than I expected, it was widened for westerners, because the Vietnamese are so small.

Set to Crawl Inside the Tunnles

When we finished the Cu Chi tunnels I thought that the visit was just mediocre. I thought that it was too touristy and everyone was saying "don't go far!" when we were crawling through the tunnels, and were freaking out that three "helpless" kids can't use common sense and save themselves, but I say "nothing ventured nothing gained."

Bowling in Saigon



Swanky Bowling Alley



The first day in Saigon we went to an arcade in a mall that is behind the Notre Dame Cathedral. The arcade had an awesome, cool, rad, legit, bowling alley. We played one game and I lost. Then we played some video games. I got ripped off on this one dinky claw game. Whenever you pick up a stuffed animal with the claw the machine makes you drop it on purpose.

Cool Shoes Too

Earlier that day we went to the historic post office. It is bigger than the Saigon train station. It's looks like a bank. There are lots of windows of differnt mail companies like Fed Ex, UPS, Vietnam Postal Service and believe it or not the United States Postal Service. There was a big Christmas tree in the entrance. On each side of the Christmas tree there were stores that sold souvenirs. I bought an amazing wooden US Army Jeep for my Lego and Galactic Heroes guys.

Notre Dame Cathedral

The person who designed the post office was the same guy who designed the Eiffel Tower and helped work on the Statue of Liberty, his name is Gustave Eiffel. The reason the post office was built by a French guy was because the French occupied Vietnam from the 1860s to the 1950s. The French were able to occupy Vietnam because Napoleon III sent his Navy to conquer Vietnam in 1857. The war lasted five years and in 1862 the Vietnamese signed a peace treaty with the French because they had no high tech weapons to defend themselves, so they lost.

Inside the Post Office

The Hanoi Hilton

Hoa Lo was built in the late 1800’s by the French Colonials in Vietnam. At the time France controlled Cambodia, Laos, parts of Thailand, and Vietnam. The region was then called French Indochina.

Hoa Lo was used as a death camp for the Communist political heads that tried to overthrow the French. In WWII when the Japanese controlled Indochina they used the prison as a POW camp and a hospital for the wounded Japanese soldiers.

 After the war the French took the prison back until the Vietnamese overthrew the French and “freed” Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh who was in power in North Vietnam turned the prison into a POW prison camp for the American pilots that were shot down. The Pilots would be worked to death or starve to death. The Americans that survived called it the Hanoi Hilton because it was the “best accommodations you could get in Hanoi”  After the war most of  it was destroyed except for the front of the building which is turned into a museum.  

When we visited Hoa Lo I immediately saw the propaganda. The most of museum was showing when the French controlled the prison and was showing the Vietnamese suffering and dying. Yes the Vietnamese did suffer but the museum was making it sound like it was a living death. Also the museum showed nothing of the American POW camps. In one year more Americans than died than the Vietnamese did in one year. The few pictures that they did show were of Easter and Christmas and everyone was “happy”. The museum also had a exhibit that showed nothing but protesters and people lighting themselves on fire back in the U.S.A. because they hated the war. The exhibit also read that the American people were against the war, and the big bad military was the only enemy.

 As we finished the visit to the Hanoi Hilton I realized that both sides were wrong. First North Vietnamese were wrong to spread Communism. Some people may argue with me, but look at all the Communist powers, the USSR fell in 80 years, the  PRC' (China) Communist Dictatorship  lasted for only 30 years (even though it is still Communist), Yugoslavia lasted for only 15 years! there are a bunch of examples, to many to name.  When the Americans came to invade the north they had victory after victory, but if you start a war you need to finish it. The south forces fought for five years until the politicians hated the war and called the US Army home. We then left the south Vietnamese to rot and see their homeland dissolve as every American troop took a step back.

Other Hoi An Activities

Our time in Hoi An was not all about visiting tailors and having custom clothes made. We did have a blast doing many other things. Here are some of the highlights...



A Guided Bike Ride through Hoi An Ancient Town



Visiting the Locals

 

 


Water Buffalo



Motorbike rides back to the resort

Full Moon Festival - November 21. The town celebrates the full moon every month. Shops and restaurants hang lanterns, people send floating candles down the river and bridge is all lit up. It was so beautiful.

Fishing Boats in the River



Lantern Shop



We took a canoe ride down the river through "coconut water". Coconut water is what you see in the background of the second photo.  It's a forrest of tall palm branches that root in the water. Our guide explained that during the war Vietnamese would hide out in these groves to find refuge from the bombs being dropped by us - Americans. Normally the water is ankle - knee deep but being the rainy season the water is chest deep.

Our Canoe and  Captain

Coconut Water

At Cameron's urging we played tennis. We finished breakfast and made arangements to play at 11:00am. If we were REAL tennis players we would have known not to book court time at 11:00am in 80 degree weather. We were sweating profusely 20 minutes into our hour. I hate to admit that we chased after more balls than we volleyed. None the less we still had fun.

Cameron with the Serve

Celebrating a Nice Volley



Taylor's Cool Down Sportswear

And of course we can't forget to add our favorite activity of the two weeks. Swimming and Beach time.



Hem Gap Lai Hoi An, Vietnam. That's Vietnamese for See you again Hoi An, Vietnam. We had Vietnamese grammer lessons from our lifeguard friend Thun.

Tam Biet - Good Bye