We arrived in the big city of Saigon at 4:30pm, to our VIP treatment that we have come to enjoy. We were scheduled to visit the famous Co Coi tunnels, but as we were 40 minutes late and the tunnels were 1.5 hours away, our guide recommended we postpone it. We agreed and went to the hotel. As we were driving, the first thing you notice is the packed streets with motorbikes. They were everywhere - weaving in and out of car traffic, beeping their horns, and piling up at lights. I was glad to be in the car with some personal space and clean air.
Our hotel is in the heart of the city, 2 minutes from the night market. We checked in and Anna researched a good place to eat dinner. We found one called Pizza 4Ps, literally meaning, pizzas for peace. It was about 7 blocks away, 1 block parallel to our hotel. Some reviews said it was tucked away from the main street, so I scribbled down the address. We headed out and walked to where we thought it should be. When we realized we had gone to far, we double backed but still couldn't find it. We were getting hungry and grumpy. We found a cafe with free wireless internet and checked the address and map. We headed back, going up a side alley, turning left and there it was at the end of the alley. It was a small place, quiet, with a rustic Italian feel. The walls and concaved ceiling were all made of brick. A wood stove was off to the side. We sat down at one of the small tables, with a candle on it.
Looking at the menu, we wanted to try everything. We settled on a procciutto pizza with a large piece of mozzarella cheese in the middle that you cut open and spread over the pizza, once it comes out of the oven. It was likely the best pizza we have ever tasted. We devoured it. There was an apple pizza for dessert - which was the only one we got a photo of, as they were so good!
The next morning our guide picked us up for a 3 hour trip out of the city to the Mekong delta. We were expecting to join a tour boat, but were pleasantly surprised when we arrived and had a private boat all to ourselves, with a driver, waitress, and our tour guide. We travelled up the delta to a floating market. The sellers post their food on top of a pole on their boat. They live on the boat all year long. When a child is 3 years old, they go to school with their grandparents while the parents continue to run the business.
We stopped at a small village making various foods, including a version of rice crispies squares. We sampled them with jasmine tea. They also make puffed rice.We also visited a brick making small business.
Then it was lunch. It was a traditional multi-course meal. We were enjoying it, until they brought the main dish out - a fish with its full body intact, complete with the eyes and gaping mouth. Anna lost her appetite. We ate as much as we could bear. The meal was finished off with rice and then native fruit.
We travelled back to our car, enjoying the sights and sounds along the river way. We arrived back in the busy, hectic city traffic to our hotel.
As we had been munching all afternoon and had a late lunch, we were not hungry. However we did find a nice cafe across the street from the hotel. It was on the second floor, away from the loud street noise. It was a 'Michael and Anna' kind of place: there were vinyl records hanging on the wall (some from Russia in the 1960s), exposed brick walls, and vintage decor. There were a lot of young people here, and we remarked that most of them were probably on their first date. It brought us back to our first date, and we enjoyed reminiscing about the past and thankful to be beyond that stage in our relationship.
The next morning we were up and ready to go by 7:30am. The tunnels were 1.5 hours north, along the Mekong river. The tunnels were built in the 1900s, first for the French wars during colonization, and then used as a communist stronghold during world war II. The Co Coi tunnels are an elaborate network of underground passageways 3 levels deep. The first level was for soldiers, the second for living quarters, and the third for storage. The first level was 3 meters underground, the next 6 meters, and then 9 meters. This was the perfect place for building tunnels, as the soil was very hard clay, it was above sea level so water drained out, and the people knew how to live in them. The tunnels also had secret entrance doors, booby traps, and air ventilation.
The Americans built a base just 5 kilometers away, not knowing they were so close to the tunnels. At first they didn't think anyone was there, but then they started seeing soldiers. But the soldiers would disappear all of a sudden, through secret doors, and confound the Americans. The people would come out at night, gather shrapnel to use for weapons, booby traps, and for digging. They were very poor and didn't have any supplies themselves.
After learning about the tunnels we got our experience of them. As Vietnamese are smaller people in size, some of the tunnels have been widened to let international visitors in. We crouched down and went into a hole about 1 meter high by half a meter wide. Anna mentioned right away that she was getting claustrophobic. We went slowly for 40 meters and then took break at an entrance/exit hole. When we got to the next hole, it got smaller after that. Anna decided to go up to the ground level, and I carried on. The tunnel narrowed, and I started crawling on my hands and feet. Its not that the tunnel was so small, I was too big! After 20 meters I popped out and joined Anna.
After passing through the gift shop we went straight to the airport to catch our flight to the small southern island of Pho Quoc, Vietnam. This will be a time to enjoy island life and relax on a beach before heading back home. Our Southeast Asia trip is almost finished.
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