Ho Chi Minh

After Phu Quoc we flew back to mainland Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh city as our first destination. If you read the previous blog post about Phu Quoc, you might remember I mentioned that our passports were stamped for a 15day free visa exemption on arrival into Ho Chi Minh airport. This was purely because we had to go through immigration to collect our bags and check them in for our second flight, despite this being a transfer only. We needed to stay in Vietnam longer than 15days however, as we had booked a flight from Hanoi to Japan at the beginning of April. Therefore we had applied for our 30day e-visas prior to travelling to Phu Quoc, which would then be validated on re-entry back into mainland Vietnam from Phu Quoc. However, this did not go to plan at all. When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh airport once again, we entered as a domestic arrival, which meant our e-visas could not be stamped. Immigration officers told us our e-visas were only valid as an international arrival, and the 15day stamp in our passports was our only valid visa. You cannot fly directly from Phu Quoc to mainland Vietnam if you wish you enter on an e-visa. Basically this meant the $25 spent on the e-visa was wasted as it was void. They told us our options were either to leave Vietnam internationally and return, to get our e-visas validated or to apply for an extension on our existing 15days via the immigration office in the city. This conundrum led to days of trying to figure out what to do. We enquired at a local tourism office which advertised visa extension services and were quoted $230 each to extend until our desired date. This price was not well received. After this ludicrously priced option No.1, we looked into where we could fly internationally for relatively cheap as option No.2. The problem again came down to price and risking leaving our baggage at the hostel. In the end we went with option No.3, which was to do a visa border run to Cambodia and back again. This was by far the cheapest way we could extend our visas. It did mean scrapping our e-visas and instead paying for a visa entry letter, which cost $45 each. We acquired this through another tourism office, who do the leg work for you when it comes to the bedlam that is immigration. The bus to and from the border was cheap and took around 2-3hours each way. We also had to add the cost of paying for a visa into Cambodia again which is $35 each and an entry stamping fee of $25 into Vietnam. Altogether this toted up to $232. Although it is extremely frustrating and disappointing having to waste money on a mistake like this, we were just relieved to finally get it sorted after a stressful 5days. 

Having sorted the visa shambles, we booked a day tour to go see the Cu Chi tunnels.   These tunnels were used by the northern Vietnamese, the “Vietcong” during the war.  In Vietnam the war is referred to as the American War. Our Vietnamese tour guide informed us, that at that time many northern Vietnamese believed that the southern population needed to be liberated of US influence. The Vietcong used the tunnels such as the ones preserved at Cu Chi, to literally hide their activity underground and travel over a great distances whilst remaining concealed from their enemy. As we walked through the site, we were shown some traps which the Vietnamese forces constructed and used successfully in the forest. They are pretty gruesome and were made not to kill but to seriously maim anyone who was unfortunate enough to step on one. They also used land mines, but the forest we were in thankfully has been cleared, though we were warned to strictly stay on the marked pathway despite this. Luke and I both volunteered to wriggle into an entry hole and close the door – which was actually more like a little wooden lid covered in leaves. The hole was the original constructed size, therefore truly tiny as the average adult at that time using the tunnels was between 30-50kg. The tunnels were used for everything, this meant sleeping, cooking, toileting, meetings and storing weapons. We learnt more about the war as we carried on the tour, observing the incredible architectural considerations the Vietnamese forces implemented here. One example of this being the chimneys, which were built very low against the ground and not directly above anything in the tunnels, so that if this was bombed then no one would be harmed. Cooking was only in the early morning when misty or late at night when dark. Most of the activities here happened at nighttime to provide cover from enemy planes. We enjoyed some tea and tapioca which was a root eaten regularly by the tunnel inhabitants. The last part of the tour was to actually go down into the tunnels. The tunnel we were brought to was 70% in likeness to the original, with minor adjustments made to make it slightly larger and dimly lit inside. Luke managed to crawl 50meters and groaned for days afterwards about having sore legs. I on the other hand only managed 25meters before my heart started racing and I decided this was not my cup of tea. It is still very dark, stuffy and cramped despite the alterations. It is incredible that people managed to live in these tunnels 24hours a day for many years. 

We really enjoyed our day at the tunnels and felt we gained some knowledge about the war that ravaged this country for a total of 17years. To learn even more we went to the war museum in Ho Chi Minh city which takes hours to get round if you read absolutely everything. Mostly we walked around and looked at the photographs taken during thus awful time. Some are truly horrendous and upsetting. We learnt about chemical attacks used by the US forces, one in particular called “agent orange” which stills affects generations today. This chemical has caused profound disabilities and birth defects in many. Outside you can walk around to see some of the planes and vehicles used by the US forces. 

Ho Chi Minh is a massive city which we explored on foot and by taxi. Near where we stayed was the backpackers street which is unsurprisingly full of bars. Whilst in the city we indulged in some shopping and went to the cinema. Other nights we just relaxed at our hostel, though I was put off hanging out in the common area when one of the Vietnamese staff had duck foetus as a snack one evening. Disgusting but according to him it’s a delicious delicacy. By the end of our unintended extended stay here, we were ready to move onto somewhere a little less chaotic. From here we flew to Danang, a smaller city by the coast.