I'm Canadian ... I swear

On my first full day in HCMC I took a 1/2 day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels, which is about 60k outside the city. The tunnels were were the Viet Cong hid out during the Vietnam war. The tour began with a movie about how the "enemy Americans" destroyed the peacefull little town of Cu Chi by dropping bombs on women and children and throughout the tour the guide kept referring to the enemy as Americans. Yep - I think this is the only time in my life that I'll think being a Canadian is better than being an American (I swear that comment is not directed at anyone in particular, honestly). This Aussie and Austrian were giving me a hard time about being American all throughout the tour and, well, I just had to laugh about it. We got to crawl around in the tunnels (which were pitch black in some parts and very narrow - kind of made me nervous at parts), see how all the hidden boobie traps worked and see a B52 bomb crater. We also had the option of shooting an M60, but for$2 a bullet I just couldn't do it.

Here are pictures of me crawling into one of the entrances (um - not sure why Im so excited about it), me (and the Aussie/Austrian) siting on a tank that Viet Cong blew up with a home made bomb killing 5 enemy Americans, the B52 crater and finally, me crawling around in one of the tunnels.

When we got back to HCMC I hit up the market where I picked up some snacks (candied ginger) and a couple souvenirs, including a conical hat. Yeah, I know it's touristy, but I love it and you better believe it's going to become my summer sun hat. Wait - Kristin, weren't you looking for a sun hat that wasn't so floppy? Brilliant - this may or may not be your souvenir! After the market I got a $10 massage and more pho bo. Here's a picture of my$2 dinner.