I met several girls in the hostel over breakfast and we took to the streets. With motorbikes dominating the roads and sidewalks, we quickly learned that crossing the streets would be an absolute mission, even with the help of traffic lights and pedestrian walkways! We began our day by perusing the market - fresh fruits and flowers overwhelming our senses, the smell of raw seafood drifting through the air and anyone and everyone grabbing our arms and asking us to try their clothes, jewelry, food, etc. After escaping the chaos of the market, we walked past the cathedral and stopped for iced chai teas to cool off. We passed the afternoon at the The War Remnants Museum, primarily containing exhibits relating to the American phase of the Vietnam War. The museum focused much attention on Agent Orange, a mixture of herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam War. Even generations later, disability and suffering incurred by this product are evident. US military equipment is displayed outside the museum. We ate dinner with the locals, sitting curbside on a busy road, barely able to squeeze into the plastic "lawn-furniture" chairs that were given to us.
The following day, a friend and I joined a few other travelers on a day tour. We spent the morning driving to Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh where we observed signing and praying amidst the midday service. The temple is brightly colored and filled with beautiful dragons, statues and symbols. The religion is a mix of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. We spent the afternoon at the Cu Chi Tunnels, an immense network of connecting underground tunnels used during the Vietnam War. The complex system, containing three levels, stretches over 75 miles from Saigon to the Cambodian border. I crawled through the tunnels, ducking and shimmying through the narrow space, dripping in sweat and relieved to finally see the light of day again!
