Nhuan Duc

The first pictures show just a little of the atmosphere here - and that we are enjoying ourselves.

We had seen a scooter pass by several times with a high rack on it - we were quite disagreeing about what was hanging on the rack. I thought it was dried flatfish. Not entirely correct and not entirely wrong either. On the way home from the city, we passed one parked on the sidewalk. Then we got it cleared up - he was selling dried squids. Allan had to taste it, so the seller produced an example, gave it a good whack with a club (it was dead already, of course 🤣). Then they turned up the small grill flame and the creature was turned over the fire.

Finally ready for tasting - and it tasted quite horrible!! There’s not much I can't eat, but this squid tasted like burnt feathers and something else indescribable and was as dry as particle board, so I only had the tasting sample. There wasn't much jubilation from the others either, and I think Allan this time overlooked his principles against food waste :-)

Speaking of scooters. There are just over 100 million inhabitants - and over 77 million scooters - in Vietnam. It doesn’t take much mental calculation to figure out that they take up space - of course not like cars, but they have to be somewhere while their owners are at work or out shopping. Therefore, they are parked on the sidewalks, forcing pedestrians onto the road. And the parking attendants sit on small stools, watching over their area and collecting parking fees. No electronic permits here.

The scooter is used for all kinds of transport - goods as well as people. Families of two adults and 2-3 children can easily fit on the same scooter. Some have baby seats mounted between the handlebars and the seat - others carry the baby on their arm and steer with the other. It’s fascinating to watch, but also somewhat anxiety-inducing for us who are used to high safety standards for our children (and ourselves).

It’s also incredible how much can be stacked on a scooter in terms of goods - you just tie or tape things down, and off you go. There are also trailers, so longer items like bamboo sticks can be transported. Apparently, there are no rules about how much and in what way things may be transported.

Today we had booked a trip to the tunnels in Nhuan Duc - about 1.5 hours by speedboat via the Saigon River. It is located where there used to be jungle, but now there are paths made for tourists.

Our guide picked us up in the morning - a sweet little girl who spoke good English. A bus took us down to the river where our boat was waiting. A fairly large speedboat with a 200-horsepower outboard motor. We were our small group of four, so we could really stretch out with plenty of room. It was lovely to be on the water, where it felt cooling in the nearly 35-degree heat of the morning. When we were supposed to head back a few hours later, the guide said it was measured at 43 degrees. But by then, I was also in total meltdown 🥵

Despite the fact that the area in Nhuan Duc is heavily developed for tourism, we got a good insight into how the Viet Cong managed to adapt so they were invisible on the surface, could quickly launch a surprise attack, and then disappear back down into the holes again. The entrance holes (or rather descent holes) were very small channels straight down to a transverse tunnel. The hole was the size of an A3 - 26x42cm. Few soldiers other than the Vietnamese could easily slip down them. And just the thought of going down there without knowing what awaited must have been daunting enough in itself.

Several of the tourists we saw jumped down into the holes and had the lids put on - and all of them we saw made it back up again. The guide said that each day in the high season there are tourists who get stuck and need help to come up. Often even being dug out. We declined the offer to try.

However, we could enter the tunnel system via some more accessible descents. Jarl and I stayed up - the guide didn’t think Jarl’s size was good down there and I, because claustrophobia was already making itself known on the second step. So we two missed that experience.

After the tunnel trekking, we were shown various traps - here some of us had to move quickly along. Just the thought of the poor young men who were ripped apart in that devil’s cupboard - yikes! That also made Allan and I lose the desire to see the war museum. We could probably have done that - according to our travel companions, it was very enlightening, and there were warnings for the rooms that are gruesome.

Instead, Allan and I had time to walk around the city looking for tourist gifts - I won’t say what 😇 The weather again was melting for me - so siesta in cooling locations ❄️❄️❄️ A bit later, meeting with the others ‘on the roof’ - that’s where the pool is located… and the cold drinks 🥃🍺

Dinner was this time in a French restaurant - delicious food with red wine, but also by far the most expensive menu we have had on the whole trip: 2..100.000 - converted, that’s 530kr for four people. We splurged and rightly so :-)

Next to the French restaurant was a Vietnamese restaurant that has been on the Michelin list for two years in a row - though not awarded stars, but there was lively customer traffic in there. Afterwards, we found out that it is mentioned in the book 'The Tour Goes to Vietnam'. So perhaps more because of that…

Goodnight