It’s been a wonderful trip but this morning we must go our separate ways. Dan and Martha fly home to San Francisco via Seoul. Jim and Monique extend their time in Vietnam, heading to Phu Quoc Island for some beach time. And William and I go south to Kuala Lumpur for new experiences. It’s hugs all around before we separate at the airport.
 
Our flight to KL is uneventful and we quickly pass through Immigration then collect our bags. This is Sunday and the roads are generally not congested, but it still takes 50 minutes for us to arrive at our Airbnb condo. It’s a very nice one bedroom on the 17th floor of 37 story twin buildings right in the central business district. The 6th floor connects the buildings and is home to the pools, exercise room and squash court.
 
We walk to the nearby Avenue K Mall for some food (the Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken chain has outlets here) and get caught in one of the famous Southeast Asia downpours.  I have a rain jacket on but my slacks and shoes are sopping wet. Oh well, welcome to Malaysia!

Today we visit the Cu Chi District Tunnels. This immense network of tunnels was used by the Vietnam Cong soldiers during the American-Vietnam War.

​The drive to the tunnels from our hotel is approximately two hours. Along the way Linh tells us more of her compelling personal story. In summary, her father (a supporter of South Vietnam during the war) died when she was young. Her family was very poor, somewhat shunned due to her father’s support of the South, but worked hard and she was a good student learning some English. She took the exam for college and passed. Somehow her mother was able to provide a little money and convince the extended family to also contribute for her tuition. She rented a spot on the floor of a family’s kitchen for her housing, and often went hungry. She successfully graduated from the University, the first in her family to do so.

We arrive at the Cu Chi Tunnels visitor center and first go through the exhibit of weapons and bombs used during the war. Linh leads us out to the area of the tunnels where we have an opportunity to try out the hidden entrances and the tunnels themselves.

​There is an exhibit of the various booby traps that the Viet Cong built. Unfortunately for many supporting South Vietnam, the booby traps were very effective inexpensive low tech which was commonly used.

​Other examples of the Viet Cong low tech solutions are the manual sewing machines used to sew their uniforms. They also built sandals from old tires, with the soles designed to look like they were walking the other way.

​After the tunnels we have a nice lunch and then relax during the drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. Back in the city we stop by Notre Dame Cathedral. Saigon’s Notre Dame Cathedral, built in the late 1880s by French colonists, borrowed most of it’s design from the iconic French landmark. It is one of the few remaining strongholds of Catholicism in the largely Buddhist Vietnam.

Near the Cathedral is the former US CIA headquarters which was one of the scenes of helicopter lifts at the end of the war in 1975. Across the street from the Cathedral is the Post Office. It was completed in 1891 and is commonly attributed to Gustave Eiffel as an architect, though it was actually fellow Frenchman Alfred Foulhoux.

In the evening we have tickets to the A O Show at the Opera House. We arrive early for a short tour of the impressive 1898 building designed by French architect Eugene Ferret. Of course it has gone through extensive restoration, most recently in 1996-1998.  We thoroughly enjoy the A O Show which tells the story of Vietnam through acrobatic acts and music.

​After the show we have a delightful dinner at an Italian restaurant a few blocks away. On our way back to the hotel we pause by the illuminated statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of City Hall.

Happy Valentines Day! Linh and a new driver pick us up for our trip to the Mekong Delta.  The Delta produces the bulk of Vietnam’s rice and other vegetables. Along the way Linh tells us that her family is from a village in the Mekong and that she lived there for several years. She also tells us that her father was a supporter of South Vietnam and that he did not go to the US at the end of the war because her mother was pregnant with her. Interesting!

Our first stop is Vinh Trag Pagoda, a Bhuddist temple. The pagoda was first complete in 1850, but has been rebuilt and restored multiple times. When we arrive we are greeted by three giant Bhudda statues and lovely gardens. We walk around, admiring the statues and garden for a while then enter one of the buildings. There is chanting and ringing of a gong, which I assume is recorded. I’m surprised and delighted when I round a corner to find a monk going about his prayers doing the chants and using his gong. Also in the building is a large bell that was cast in the late 1850’s.

We walk into the main building to find multiple alters with statues of Buddha and beautifully carved wood panels. The grounds also contains a small graveyard for the monks who maintain the temple.

Then we are on to explore the river. We take a boat to an island which specializes in honey. From there we go to the small village of An Khanh on another island for a look at coconut candy production, a walk, and a ride in horse-drawn carriages. There’s a clear diversity in the quality of the housing that we pass and Linh explains that some of the people have relatives who have immigrated to other countries and send them money.

Back to the boat for our next stop. The path we follow at the end of the ride takes us to a pavilion where we’re served fruit and listen to traditional Vietnamese songs. Refreshed, we’re off to small boats which are paddled through a stream giving us a chance to put on traditional Vietnamese hats for a photo op and to feel a cool breeze under the shade of the trees. After the ride the path we follow takes us back to the river and a rickety gangplank to our first larger boat for a ride to lunch.

The family-run lunch spot is a favorite for small and large groups. There are pavilions of various sizes. Our set-menu includes a whole elephant head fish which the server uses to make spring rolls. Fun!

​After lunch we have a nice 20 minute boat ride on the very wide Mekong River to our waiting driver and air conditioned van. The drive back to Ho Chi Minh City takes about two hours. We stop for a few minutes at the Opera House to buy tickets for tomorrow, then to the hotel we go for rest and relaxation.

​In the evening we go to the mall to find a restaurant for dinner. It’s hard to figure out where to go, but we choose a Japanese restaurant where we cook the food ourselves at the table. It’s a little crazy to see a server walking around with super-hot coals that slip into the grill at each table. Jim and Dan expertly tend the food on the grill. It’s an experience!

This morning we say goodby to Cambodia and return to Vietnam. Our 1 hour 10 minute flight to Ho Chi Minh City arrives 20 minutes early and we must call our guide to tell her we are waiting at the airport. The heat and humidity hits us in waves as we wait curbside outside. Linh finds us and 15 minutes later we are loading luggage into a van.

​Linh introduces herself as we drive to a restaurant. We have a good multi-course Vietnamese meal at a restaurant that is popular for tour groups. A bus of ~ 40 people arrives as we are eating Goi Ngó Sen Tôm Thit (lotus rhizomes shrimp salad).

We’re a little tired and according to our printed itinerary, we should have gone to our hotel before lunch to avoid the heat of the day. But we roll with it when Linh says we are going to visit the Reunification Palace. It was completed in 1966, replacing the old palace after two rogue helicopter pilots revolted against the South Vietnam President and bombed the old palace. This was the residence of the President of South Vietnam during the American-Vietnam War. It was also the site of the end of the war in 1975 when a North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gate. We walk through the rooms, ultimately going down into the bunkers. Here we see the equipment and charts used to command the war. A very interesting. but non-air conditioned history-filled building. We’re hot.

The next stop is the War Remnants Museum. This museum tells the story of the American-Vietnam War from the perspective of the victors - North Vietnam. When we arrive at the museum William isn’t feeling well. The driver will not run the van air conditioning in the parking lot, so Linh arranged for the driver to take him to our hotel while the rest of us go through the museum. I start with the tanks, planes and replica of the imprisonment system used by a South Vietnam, then move indoors. It is a difficult museum for us to go through, feeling so one-sided (and obviously not our side), though it is promoted by the Vietnamese government as fact-based.

​After I’ve seen most of the museum I receive a text from William that he cannot check into the hotel. Turns out that he is at the wrong hotel - oh oh! We all agree we’ve seen enough of the museum. Off we go. Linh has the driver pickup William (and all of our luggage) and we all go to the correct hotel sporting the exact same name just a few blocks away. We all have a chance to relax in our rooms, by the pool or in the lounge to chill and decompress.

​For dinner the hotel recommends La Cuisine, a French restaurant about 8 blocks away. We have a wonderful meal in a room with only the six of us for most of the evening. The temperature in evening is cooler and much more pleasant as we stroll back to our hotel.