chúc ngủ ngon! (Goodnight)

Things just continue to get more and more wild here in Ho Chi Minh. This city is incredible... it is so large and each day I see new things that completely blow my mind! First of all, there are motorbikes EVERYWHERE! Our tour guide said that bikes here outnumber the people three to one, and I don't doubt that for a second. The locals criss cross in and around each other and basically anything goes in terms of traffic rules. The people appear to be good drivers because I have only seen one person  on a scooter get hit! They also pack anything and everything they can possibly fit onto these bikes. We have seen entire families crammed onto these tiny little things, as well as huge loads of beer and even many roosters! Our tour guide Lu is hilarious and he described scooters in Vietnam in a very interesting way. He said "if you spend $10,000 or more on scooter, you have money bike. With money bike you can get a new girl every night here in Ho Chi Minh. Women love money bikes" I wish you all could experience this man. Although our faculty instructors told us were weren't aloud to participate in the scooter craziness, my roommate Gavin and I did so anyways, and it was hands down the most incredible experience on the trip so far. Three grown men all spooning each other on a tiny motorbike was something even the locals were laughing at!



Ben Thanh Market! It was packed this full everywhere! 

As for our non-scooter activities, yesterday as a group we just walked around the city, visited their famous Ben Thanh market, and slowly made our way out to see the Saigon River. Since this was our first real trip into the city we didn't really have any set activities in mind but I was able to see some pretty eye opening things. First of all, their were some seriously horrible smells. If any of you know my gag reflex, you wouldn't be surprised to know that I was fighting the urge to vomit almost the entire time inside Ben Thanh. That place was raunchy, and every square inch was covered in vendors trying to hawk mostly useless items to white boys like myself. The poverty in Ho Chi Minh is also extremely prevalent, and the people seem to be able to take naps basically everywhere. Nobody seems in huge hurry to get much work done. Many of the men simply sit on the side of the road, smoke cigarettes or play mahjong with their friends.After finally making it out to the Saigon River we were somewhat disappointed. Much like the rest of the town, this river was dirty....very dirty. Yesterday's adventures overall were very eye opening for many of us who decided to go. We walked down many streets and got to see the city really well for what it was.





The whole group sitting around a Vietnam War tank.
We just finished a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnel Complex!

Today provided a whole new opinion for me, this time much more positive. I began to fall in lovewith this crazy place. We started off bright and early in the morning by paying a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels. For those of you that don't know what those are, they are the tunnels that the VietCong used to fight the Americans during the Vietnam War. They are, to this day, the longest tunnel complex in the world! Lu, our tour guide, took us through the entire compound where we learned all about how they dug the tunnels, lived in them, and the weapons and strategies used to kill Americans. Some of the traps that these VietCong built were quite scary! Towards the end of the tour as a group we were actually able to crawl through the original tunnels dug by these men nearly 40 years ago. The tunnel we were in went down nearly 30 feet and that was only the first level! It is incredible to imagine people spending days in a place so small. Afterwards we were able to tour the Reunification Palace, the former home of South Vietnam president. It was a very beautiful building..although somewhat boring for my ADHD problems. Next we toured the Vietnam War museum, something that I found extremely interesting. It was an entire museum told from the viewpoints of the Vietnamese, and as an American was somewhat hard to swallow. They had an entire exhibit over the effects of Agent Orange that was dropped by American troops over the jungles. Some of the pictures I saw were so horrifying. In Vietnam they are still feeling the effects of this chemical through genetic mutations that have been passed on from each generation. After the War museum we were able to attend mass at a Catholic cathedral known here as Notre Dame. I didn't understand a single word, and the whole thing was rather strange to me... but at least the building was extremely beautiful! We also toured the Post Office, a HUGE building that was made by the French nearly 200 years ago. They still use it as their post office to this day! We finished off our night by deciding we were going to go to a SkyBar. Initially we showed up and they told us we were underdressed so some friends and I went back to the room, changed our clothes, and were then admitted! The view from the top of this skyscraper was INCREDIBLE. The pictures I will include do not do this thing justice. Relax Mom, I was with three return missionaries. We all got waters.

One last thing before I head off to bed. Lu our tour guide gave us a really incredible insider view of life in Vietnam today on our bus ride back from the Cu Chi Tunnels. As a tourist simply visiting the county it is hard to see the communist oppression that is still very much prevalent in the lives of citizens everyday. He told us "I cannot speak my mind at restaurant because if they turn me in I can go to jail. The police here are still super corrupt. They pocket all money that they take from you. My family has left Vietnam because of the corruption. I am try too but it is very expensive." After hearing his words my eyes were opened a little. You will see here that the police drive very expensive cars, nearly every cop I saw was driving a Lexus! As always though, Lu had a positive spin on things. He put it this way... "Drink and cock fighting, those are my hobbies. It's simple, and they won't even let me do that!"




Inside a phone booth at the Post Office

I apologize for the book I just wrote for you guys. Hopefully I didn't bore you too much. With it being my first time overseas, cramming two days worth of experiences into short paragraphs is extremely hard. I have also included many pictures to go along with all my various stories! Until tomorrow! 

chúc ngủ ngon! (Goodnight)

-Tanner