Friday, December 12, 2008 . 23:54

yes of course i should post about the vietnam trip. Here goes.

So vietnam wasnt reallyyyy, especially, particularly fun. But i must say it was quite interesting. Everything there is different from singapore. And i shan't go into details because i made a silent promise myself to keep this short.

The first day. First look into vietnam. The very obvious thing which stands out would be their roads. As in, you know, traffic. I could have sworn in my 5 day stay, i saw only 5 or 6 traffic lights. Maybe im not so observant. But even then, in the short time i was there i couldnt make out any traffic system at all. It was like free and easy. Almost like walking. Except with different lanes of course. So anyway, we were quite jittery the first time we crossed the road, with all the motorcycles zooming past. But we soon got over that, we realised they will just avoid us. We arrived there rather late in the afternoon, so we didn't do much but just explore and shop. (shop!) The hotel didn't look like much from the outside, i will admit that. It was probably 7 stories, one block. And the front desk was rather small. But the rooms weren't too bad. Almost like any other average hotel, in fact.

The second day was a guided tour to Mekong delta. Don't look at me with questioning eyes cause half the time i didn't bother listening to the tour guide. And the other half i couldn't make out what he was saying. All i know is that, its some island with. jungles and stuff. So whatever. it was still an interesting experience, even though i had no idea where i was. Dinner was at a nearby food shop, where i finally tried beef pho.

this is taking too many words.

Third day was cu chi tunnels. This was, by far, the most interesting day. some background history, the tunnels were an underground system used by soldiers in the Vietnam war against American/French forces. They were small, narrow, and covered much of cu chi. So anyway we saw a lot of cool stuff. Like underground hideouts and traps. We even got to fire a real gun with real bullets. (something i will never forget. especially the sound. I think my ears are still ringing. but it was fun.) And we got to go 100m through the tunnels. As sweaty and dirty and claustrophobic i got, it was still quite something.

Forth day was going to the palace and the history museum by ourselves. Palace was boring, nothing more to say. The history museum on the other hand, was a good choice. Provided much insight into the vietnam war, and have you realise how cruel war is. And also they had models of tanks and planes and guns which, of course, is always a plus. Rest of the evening was spent shopping! hooray.

Fifth day. We didn't have much time, so it was a quick visit to the cathedral which we missed on sunday because it was closed (we ended up making an impromptu visit to the near by post office which lasted 6 mins because there was really nothing to see). I was rather looking forward to this, and i must say it was worth the wait. First of all the inside looked rather awesome. Though we were barred from like half the place, it was enough to take in the grandeur. the statues and stations were quite amazing too. Soon after, we found ourselves back in Singapore.


Damnit I'm never able to keep a long post short.