Last day in Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City

13.07.2009

On our last day in Phnom Penh we had a 'Seeing hands' massage which is a massge by a blind person. I had never been for a massage before and this was definitely an experience! It's a really great way for blind people, who wouldn't normally be able to get a job, to have their own way of earning a living. Seeing Hands centres were set up all over Cambodia to train and give jobs to blind people. We put on huge green pyjama type things and had an hour of relaxation! It was great! And apparently a lot safer than the ones that call you off the street shouting 'laydeee, you want massage?' the guidebook said that you might get a bit more than you bargained for with those!! We went out that night with a group of people from our guesthouse for a birthday celebration and had a really good night.

After a very smooth border crossing from Cambodia to Vietnam by bus, we made it to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Our first stop was the war remants museum which was very interesting but very shocking. Not that I know a lot about that period of history, it's very different learning about a war from 'the other side'. The museum had some horrific photos of the people who had been attacked, tortured or affected by the chemical warfare. Included in this museum was the preserved foetuses that had suffered the effects of the chemicals dropped on Vietnam. Unimaginable.

On a lighter note, we experienced our first 'cyclo' which is basically a huge tricycle with a seat big enough for one person on the front and the 'driver' at the back. There are apparently over 50,000 cyclos in Ho Chi Minh City so it's a really good way to get around, our 'driver' looked about 70 and cycled with 2 of us squashed on one seat, they're all very fit! Today we have been to see the Cu Chi tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong during the war. Bearing in mind they had widened the tunnels for the bigger framed westerners, they were still really really small - About 40cm wide and 1m high. There is an aboslute maze of tunnels that stretch for miles and miles where the Viet Cong would eat, sleep, cook, make weapons and it even had a 'honeymoon sweet'!! The Viet Cong had managed to dig a tunnel into the American base and they used to go in in the night and steal weapons and beer!

This evening, I'm experiencing my first night bus! We're off to Nha Trang for a bit of chilling out on the beach and hopefully some mud baths and hot springs too