The Devil Bombing Bastards!!!

Sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh

The apartments on the roof look like shacks that were added after construction was finished on the building

The brand new Bitexco Financial Center.

We were literally the ONLY people on the observation deck that day.

View from the tower!

Unfortunately, we had our first theft while staying in Ho Chi Minh...at the Sheraton Hotel! It wasn't anything major....like Andreas' girlfriend (the Canon), but we did have a $20 bill taken from our room. It was sad, but even sadder that the hotel did nothing about it. They came to our room and looked all over the place for the bill, then told us they did an 'extensive investigation' and they were able to clear the names of all of their staff members...therefore, we must have misplaced it bc no one stole it. For the record, if I had been less than 100% sure that it was taken, I never would have reported it. All I can do now is say that I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE SHERATON HOTEL HO CHI MINH!!!!! ;-)

That's a BAD Sheraton Hotel!!!!!

Best Burgers EVER!

On our very first night in Ho Chi Minh we met up with an old friend of Andreas' named Gebhard. He was kind enough to invite us out for a drink, which somehow turned into more drinks....shots, and then we found ourselves at a restaurant inhaling the BEST DAMN BURGER I've had in months! I'm not sure if it was really that great of a burger, if I was just too drunk at that point to even fully taste it, or if it had been so long since I sank my teeth into one that it was just amazing from a sheer lack of recent competition. Either way....it was yummy....even walked by the joint the following day to take a photo. I also remember a guy, sitting at the bar of this restaurant, (who looked like the spitting image of Porkie Pig) telling Andreas "Dude, you have awesome hair! Don't lose it." Porkie was bald and very drunk, but still made his way over to high five the dude with 'special hair', before leaving the bar. Just when you think the night can't get any stranger....we were taken to a bar called Sixteen Saigon (I think), and there was this pretty good Van Halen-like Asian Rock Band playing on a stage above the bar....it made for a pretty great end to the night!
Can't say the same for the day after...recovery was not pretty...and we kept seeing these damn blue penguins around the city!!!!

In case you needed the Porkie Pig visual....

Number 5 Bar.....Where it all started that night!

Mogambo Bar and Restaurant....Amazing Burger!

I swear they were following us....with that "I told you not to drink that much last night" smile on their faces!

Water Puppet Show and Dinner Cruise 
(Total Tourist Trap, but a we heard it was a MUST DO)

Arriving at the show...the suspense was killing us!

Puppet in a Speedo...hehehehe

VIDEO:
Water Puppet - Dragons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tmMFehqZp8

We bought 2 puppets....a fairy and a turtle

Our dinner boat...we found out, while on the boat, that one of these suckers sank a few weeks ago killing 11 people. Also, we sat with a lovely Australian couple....well, lovely, until the woman announced that she hates Americans....awkward silence......

Andreas was invited to play the cups in front of everyone....he gladly agreed to entertain.

Mekong Delta Tour
We decided to take a private tour through the Mekong Delta. This tour far exceeded our expectations. Our guide, Sun, took us to some very remote areas of the river and showed us some aspects of daily life. It was definitely an adventure for us city slickers.....

Brick Making Factory:
In this region of Vietnam, the women do most of the labor....and it sounded like they did most of the work in general. Our guide told us that most men sit around all day drinking wine...so we assumed that it meant that most men are alcoholics.  These women were really inspirational though...they work hard but haven't lost their ability to smile!

Inside the brick factory walls.

You see some men in the background, but they do not operate the machines or do any of the heavy lifting....only there to pour water on the clay to soften it.

The ovens they use to harden the bricks.

Working together!

Leaving the factory

Honey Bee Farm

Andreas was brave and stuck his hand into the bee hive to sample the honey, and guess what.....

I WAS ALSO BRAVE!!!!

It was really very delicious!

I had to go in for a second taste!

Coconut Candy Factory and PYTHON PETTING!

They make coconut candy at this little tiny factory along the river....the candy was really good!

Don't worry family....we bought candy for you all to try!

While at the candy factory a man approached us with a python and asked if we wanted to wrap it around our necks for a photo....Andreas was eager to try it on for size.....

Me on the other hand.....

well, let's just say it was like a bad nightmare....I visualized the sucker squeezing the life out of me while Andreas was too busy taking photos to see the panic in my face.

At this point I'm asking everyone to remove the snake as its slippery tounge is kissing my neck...

but Andreas insisted that I smile once for a photo before they take it away....this was my attempt at a smile....

All I can say is I'm glad I didn't piss my pants....

One thing you start to notice is that there are only little dogs (puppies) around the farm lands. Our guide said that once dogs are older they are used as food...even if you have a dog as a pet...when it dies of old age, you still will eat it. Lexi, Hunter and Sav...u better thank your lucky stars that you are from Houston where dogs are given proper funerals!!!!

Bamboo Mat Making

It was incredible how hard these women worked...and in such intense heat.

They were nice enough to allow me to sit with them and patient enough to teach me how this craft was done.

Let's just say they were VERY Patient!!!

Lunch is served... 
We were served an entire buffet of assorted Mekong Delta treats....one treat was this elephant ear fish....Andreas was also served a meat dish. He was eager to serve it up and take a bite....when we asked what the meat was we both heard different answers....he heard SNAKE....I heard CAT! Either way, bad news for him!!!!

And suddenly I'm no longer as starving as I thought I was.....

If this trip has taught me anything: it's that you ALWAYS bring your own lunch on day trips!!!!

Little Boat Ride Along the River

I LOVED these hats...they kept you cool and the sun completely off your face. I wanted to buy one but they were far too difficult to travel with for the next month.

The guide gave him this hat...said purple was HIS color!!!

Rockin' the hat after he almost rocked me out of the boat!

This was the boat...looking back, I'm shocked we didn't capsize at some point!

This little boat trip was a highlight of our tour! However, the entire experience was exceptional! It was NOT touristy....which means there were not a lot of other tours going on around us...and also means that I had a few "'oh shit, I almost died" moments along the way. There are no safety restrictions for tourists in this part of the world....the guides are told not to let boats sink bc it's bad for tourism...but falling off bridges while riding bikes, eating cat/snake, capsizing in a mini boat or possibly being killed by a python are not frowned-upon activities! ;-) We loved it...however, mom, its not a tour for you.

Sights of the Mekong River Delta

Through Andreas' eyes.....Enjoy

The pregnant fruit! hehe

Floating Toilet....they showed us this and said that the people in this area use EVERYTHING they can to live off of....that the floating toilet is over a stream where fish eat the waste....we were served a Mekong Delta fish for lunch....do I need to say that I didn't eat any of it???

Looked a little like snot...tasted better than snot...but only by a small margin.

Sun told us a very sad story about the women of this region. It's a very poor area of Vietnam...most people make around $40 a month to stay alive. Due to the 1 child restriction in China and Taiwan, and their preference for having a boy instead of a girl, Sun said that it's been a growing trend for men from those countries to arrange marriages with women from the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The women agree to this because they want to help their families who stand to gain around $300 from the arranged marriage. The sad thing is these women leave their families, with no education, bound for China & Taiwan and are oftentimes in abusive marriages, or even worse, they are sold into the sex slave business by their new husbands immediately upon arriving in their new country. Sun shared that most of these women find that the only way out of those circumstances is then to commit suicide! Something is really wrong here.


Cu Chi Tunnel Tour
On our final day in Ho Chi Minh, we took a day trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnel....it was an interesting experience...

We arrived at the Cu Chi Tunnels and were told to sit down and watch this video before taking the walking tour around the grounds. After hearing about the "devil bombing basters," the Americans, a number of times....I was beginning to regret the USA Track & Field backpack I chose to bring with me that day.

This was the size of the original tunnel entrance....

This guy tried it...and made it through....

So, naturally, I had to try as well!

Almost all the way in...

I looked around and saw nothing but darkness....which was my cue to climb back out. The guy that went in before me walked all the way through to the other end....but later told me that this particular tunnel was filled with bats....probably bc most people don't pass through there in a given week.

A USA tank

Our guide through the tunnels took this photo and called it our action shot!

That's correct....u can shoot guns at the tunnels...for a "small" price of course!!!!

Choose your weapon....we chose the AK-47

Andreas aims, shoots.....

but hits nothing!

I give it a "shot".....

I hit worse than nothing.....I couldn't even follow the bullets that came out of my gun....probably because my eyes were closed!

Woo Hoo....one for the Americans!

VIDEO:
Going into the Cu Chi Tunnels....the entrance was made much larger for tourists...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si2aNqFABPs

Andreas climbed out early and left me in there alone....it was very scary and you were crawling on your knees to get to this exit point!

Right On! Another one for the Americans!!!

Ho Chi Minh, and its surrounding areas was interesting, but without many sights to check out within the city limits, people watching became the preferred activity for us. Southern Vietnam has been amazing, and we will most certainly return one day soon. With the exception of the missing $20, our experience was that people here are lovely to interact with, and really friendly...always offering up a smile in your direction.
From here we travel up to Ha Noi for a quick lay-over before taking the 3.5 hr car ride to Ha Long Bay. From there, we will take a 3 day / 2 night cruise around the bay.

Hope you all enjoyed the post! I'll post pictures from Ha Long in the next few days.

xoxo ~ Shan & Andreas