The Củ Chi tunnels.

Ok, get the giggles out - it is a pretty funny name.

Last weekend Branden and I drove our motorbike the 70km from Saigon to Ben Dinh, and got a taste of rural Vietnam along the way. After a flat tire [Twice. Before we even left Saigon.] and pulling over multiple times for directions, we somehow managed to make it to the tunnels.

The Cu Chi tunnels were very successfully used by the Viet Cong during the war, and are a network of tunnels that spanned over 75 miles. There are 2 areas near Cu Chi that have been preserved for tourists to visit - and even get a taste of life in the tunnels. We visited Ben Dihn - the more "authentic" of the two. After walking through a bit of jungle, seeing examples of many of the traps the VC fought with, and bomb craters left from the Americans we took a break before going into the tunnels.

And by break, I mean that we visited the firing range. Not your typical firing range, we each took 5 shots with an AK-47 and Branden had a try with a 9mm. All for a buck a shot. Insane. Completely insane.

After we ran out of money [no really, we had to barter with them so that we got that many shots] - We headed to the tunnels.

Most of the tunnel network is about 90cm high and 60-70cm wide. For my American friends - that's just shy of 3 feet high by 2 feet wide. Throw in pitch black and damp and it's a claustrophobic's worst nightmare. Oh, and then there is the bottle neck section. The VC had areas of the tunnels that narrowed even more - further discouraging the Americans. Here, we had to crawl on our hands and knees.
We went just 100m. It felt like a hell of a lot more than that.

I really can't describe it. It was absolutely the coolest thing we have done so far in Vietnam. Amazing.

Check out the Cu Chi Tunnels set in my Flickr.

Excuses for being a slacker.

Ok, so I admit, I am most certainly not the most reliable blogger out there. I have yet to do even one post about happenings in Vietnam - which is by far the most exciting thing about me. Up and moving to Ho Chi Minh City for 3 months has definitely given me enough material, I just haven't taken the time to write about it.

One thing that I have been good about keeping up [well, recently anyway] is my flickr.

I tried to add some highlights here as well, but Blogger is not cooperating for me. Here are links to my current Top 5. Most of these were taken from the back of our motorbike while driving the 70km from Ben Dihn back to Saigon. Nothin' like some scooters, adorable little kids, and high-speed photography.

1. A glimpse of rural Vietnam.
2. Mom and son on bicycle.
3. Dreaming of the big-kid bike.
4. Running.
5. And my all-time favorite: Goldfish.

Enjoy, there's a lot more on my Flickr if you are feeling ambitious.

Motorcycle Diaries - Saigon

The population of Saigon is unofficially around 8 million people. Approximately 6 million of them own scooters - I've been counting.

With all those motorbikes,it's near impossible to cross the street in Saigon - let alone travel any distance on the road. So, if you can't beat them - join them. Here's our morning commute - Branden drives, I hold on.