Day 7 – Darkness
Today was an interesting day. Educational, to be sure, as I
ventured to the Cu Chi Tunnels. As an American, this was an odd tour to be on
because we are the enemy, the villain in the story. There were no other
Americans on the tour – though for a long time I thought a pair of German girls
were lying about not being American given how they seemed to speak English with
an American accent…
Anyway, I know we were the villain. I know it was a war with
no purpose. And I also know that seeing these areas, visiting these countries,
is part of the healing process. The Cu Chi Tunnel tour is a chance to see the complex,
demanding, amazing, tunnel system the Northern Vietnamese Soldiers created to
protect their pocket of Southern Vietnam they were holding onto. But it was
also a chance to get regaled about the history of Vietnam, why Saigon changed
its name (and the complexities still around that decision) and a lot more.
Anyway, I did the minimal tourism work prior to the tour
starting at 12:30. Despite calling itself a half-day tour, including travel
time, a late start due to a late (but really fun) night the night before, it
became a full day tour quite easily.
I got up and took a cab over to the center of old Ho Chi
Minh City. First was the old Post Office, a French Style regal old building. Next
to it was the Notre Dame Catedral, which sadly was having some work being done.
I took a lap of the Independence Palace / Reunification Plaza, a giant,
sprawling multi-block area in the heart of the city that was well hidden in
greenery. Finally, I took a walk over the my lunch destination, another one of
Ho Chi Minh’s more established craft beer emporiums – this one being a
two-level, high-ceilinged building called East/West Brewing Company.
To talk openly for a minute, all these places have been generally
started by Americans or Europeans. The beer options are quite large, nothing
too strange or inventive (that was more done in Taipei), but all of good
quality, and high ABV%. The ones I prefer are the ones that have more locals
than expats, which East West Brewing was not. It did have decent food however.
After lunch, I walked to the tour office to start the Cu Chi
Tunnel tour. It was a group of 24, mostly all Westerners, though again none
from America. It is sad how little we travel as a country. There were Germans,
Dutch, English, Australians, Russians, and others. Our tourguide Alex set the
tone early that it was going to be a fun, but illuminating day. He gave a nice
intro of the leadup to the Vietnam War, why Vietnam split into two at the
Geneva Convention in 1954. The teardown of Diem’s Southern Vietnam after repeated
intervention attempts, the partially CIA-baked coup that led to his
assassination and indirectly the Vietnam War.
All of it was informing – I know far less about the Vietnam
War than I should. This is what happens growing up in the USA in a public school,
and the general sense that History classes in high school basically stop after
WWII. The ride out to the tunnels took about 90 minutes with one stop at a art
factory. This was a bit more pushy than the ones on the Mekong Delta tour, but
watching the step-by-step process of putting the artwork (ceramics,
essentially) together was pretty good. The only downside is they didn’t sell
coasters.
We finally reached the Cu Chi Tunnels area and the first
reaction was just how jungle it all was. High, lush trees. Humidity in the air.
I can’t imagine the horrors that took place around these grounds, and also what
the American soldiers, largely forced into this ridiculous conflict, must have
had to face.
The first stop on the tour was actually a weird one, a
shooting range where we can pay to shoot military-grade weapons that were used
by the Vietnamese and US armies. I have to say, almost all of us (including me)
took that offer. The biggest takeaway is just how staggeringly loud the AK-47
was – ringing through even when wearing the headphones. Without the headphones it
was hellaciously loud. The tour guide greatly denied any idea that they played
up the noise.
After, we finally went to the tunnels, again in the middle
of the jungle. The tunnel tour itself was about 90 minutes through the jungle with
a few stops underground. It was amazing to see how small and tight these
tunnels were, but still leading into large rooms able to serve meals, hold
meetings, perform surgeries, etc. There was also a lot of examples of the
Vietnamese ingenuity – such as piles of leaves with small holes where
Vietnamese Soldiers could pop out of to sneak on American soldiers, or slits
cut into the ground that would pull an American down to a pit laced with spikes
dipped in Cuchi Tree poison.
The tunnels themselves are tiring to go through, which of
course was the point, as the Vietnamese soldiers are trained for low-ground
walking and combat, able to peerlessly go through these tight places. Even
going through a couple of them, about 20 metres each, was tiring and exhausting
enough that we all gladly took the tours offer of fried cassava root and tea at
the end.
Back in the bus, we started a long, traffic-filled, 2.5 hour
journey back to Ho Chi Minh. To some degree, having more of the tour take place
on a bus than not is not great, but much like the Mekong, this is a rite of
passage for visitors to Vietnam. Just wish it was closer to the big city.
Dinner would be another trip in darkness, as I ate at Noir –
officially termed Noir: Dining in the Dark. The restaurant has a bit of a
gimmick concept where you eat in a pitch black room, and have to use your other
senses to really enjoy the food (mostly smell and touch in lieu of sight). What
helps is just how well they execute it though. To add another layer of
intrigue, the restaurant employs a lot of sensor-disabled people in their waitstaff,
including deaf people at the front of the house using sign language, and an
all-blind waitstaff to escort you into the pitch-black room and serve you. Now,
one couild say this is layered on, but given how little employment opportunities
disabled people have in many countries, this truly was beautiful, and just
added to the experience.
The meal is served in through courses, an appetizer of four
small dishes (two soups and two salads), a main of four plates (mix of things),
and three desserts. All are placed in front of you, and you are to use your
mind, touch, feel to locate and eat. I can’t overstate how black this room is.
I have no idea how one makes a room so black.
What was great was the food I would have paid for even if
the lights were on and it was a normal restaurant. The starters was a galangal
soup, a miso soup with crab, a prawn salad and a thai beef salad. All really
good. The fun of the restaurant is they don’t tell you what you are eating. You
basically have to go through blind. At the end they will show you, but the
setup almost forces a nice little guessing game. I was fairly good at getting the
meats, and could tell if something was Thai flavored, for instance, but had little
chance getting more pure flavours. The whole meal was like being in a Top Chef
competition.
The mains were also quite good, a fish dish, a red curry duck
dish, a nice beef dish and then a salad. My only issue would be they had
nothing you could touch or eat with your fingers. They have two menu options, an
Eastern menu (what I got) and a Western menu (mostly French inspired) which
from the sounds of it from the table next to me had a few finger-food dishes.
The deserts were good as well, one ice-cream, one
dragon-fruit panacotta, and one other dish I now forget. Overall, the
experience was fantastic. I could do it again. It was a little unnerving at
first, but it was such a cool experience, it was so deeply dark (truly, you couldn’t
see a thing, and they make you keep all phones or devices that could give off
light in a locker), and of course the whole set-up is special with the sensory-disabled
waiting staff. Noir was a true highlight.
The night ended quite a bit later after another trek to The
Gin House, a brief stop at one of the more mainstream clubs in the city (Republic
– okay, but way too much electronica) and then ending the night at The Observatory,
which is a very heavy ex-pat hangout but a great time nonetheless. Overall, through
two days, I’ve done all the major checklist HCMC items and found them all quite
good. Over that, the food has absolutely lived up to expectations. Because of
my nature, I’m already feeling a bit sad knowing I have to leave in 36 hours.
But more than that sadness, I’m so glad I came back and am not sick this time
around.
