DAY 2: HOOKERS AND AK47s

Our first night out in Vietnam turned out to be a woozy leading to a 48 hours stretch without any sleep. So far on this trip if you haven't noticed weird experiences 2 sleep 0. Adam and Nick got into HCMC and met up with us around 11pm. We went went for a few drinks, a cab ride that went nowhere, my first amazing bowl of pho, and more drinks. When the boys felt tired and retired for the evening Michelle and I stood on the street corner debating the age old question of the still 20 something..."To be responsible and go home to sleep for our 8am tour or go out and have some more drinks" Drinking 1 Responsibility 0. We went to some random bar across the street from an even more random neon sign of a buffalo and met a fun group of Irish and Brits. Joining us later was a Israeli Diamond dealer ( Mom and Dad- Don't stop breathing; he liked Michelle not me). After Michelle shinned as a Canadian Alanis Morissette impostor the Israeli told us about some upstairs club that we should check out. It didn't seem like much in the area but we decided to go and check it out. Drinking 2 Responsibility 0. We go to what has to have been the weirdest club experience to date. The entrance is guarded by all of these armed security officers who are not letting anyone in, despite people huddling outside the door and arguing about entrance. The Israeli pulls some magic and gets us in. Inside of what looked like nothing are a good group of people dancing under bad neon lights to a bunch of songs from 1992 remixed. We settle in and start dancing. Shortly into the night is becomes very obvious not only are we the only two western girls in the club, but we find out that every other girl inside is a Vietnamese Hooker. I am sure right now our parents are reading this and freaking out, but let me assure you they are the nicest hookers anywhere (all be it I don't know any others) Hooker with a heart of gold had to come from somewhere right? The night continues and we meet a slew of interesting characters from Italians, to She Boys (one even gave me a flower:) It was a great night filled with interesting dancing and drinking that could only have been in Vietnam (where else does an 18 year old boy insist on slow dancing with you like you are at your Junior High dance???) While a great night it was after 6am and the 8am tour was looming over us quickly.

We got back, rapidly showered, packed up, eat breakfast and met back up with Adam and Nick. We had booked a driver to take us out to the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels. It was a long drive outside of the city but we saw some great sites and had some great conversations. We passed a wedding on the side of the Highway at one point and tried to confirm with our driver if indeed it was a wedding, speaking no English he replied to our questioning faces "He love her, She love him" and brings his hands together. We get to the temple with about one minute to spare before the ceremony begins. It is amazing- a church brought together on the merging of four different faiths. You hear that it looks like Disneyland on acid, but only being there does this really make sense. Can't wait to show pictures. You get to stand on the balcony of these enormous temple and watch the ceremony take place...they even let you take photos!

Our driver brought us to lunch after. It was a place on the side of the road with no menu and served only two things, Pork Pho and Pork Springs Rolls. They fill our table with platefuls of food, condiments, rice papers, soup, chilies, and a plate of 7-8 different herbs so enormous it looks like a forest is growing out of the middle of the table. We try to make our spring rolls and are failing miserably. The women from the kitchen comes over to our table and walks around making one for us on our plate one at a time. She just keeps rotating around the table as we eat! It was hilarious. We pull out of the restaurant and the entire family stands outside waving goodbye to us.

The Cu Chi Tunnels were awesome! We snuck in and joined a tour group going through a variety of different stops showing you the torture tools used, booby traps, uniforms and explanation of how the tunnel system was build and lived in. The tunnels were build during the war and existed of three underground levels. The Viet Cong lived and fought through this elaborate tunnel system. Babies were even born underground. While the info and exhibits were interesting the highlight was definitely the shooting range and an opportunity to climb through the tunnels yourself. We each got to shoot five rounds from an M16 and AK47 left over from the war. Rambo Power!! While thrilling safety was not a top priority. We saw a 4 year old boy shooting off rounds on a AK47, I got hit in the nose with a shell flying from Michelle's gun ( I was totally fine and even got this on video), and a smoking shell landed on one of our backpacks and threatened to catch fire. The tunnels were widened to be twice the size that they originally were but when we went through them they were still so short I had to crawl on all fours to get through and even then I still hit my dead on the top. At one point I almost got stuck and had to turn on my side and use my arms to pull me army style through the opening. The tunnel is small, completely dark except for an occasion small light added and totally dirt. You get dropped down into the ground and have to crawl or "tunnel shuffle" up and down drops 100m long. I am happy to report, while filthy, sweating like crazy ( no idea how hot it gets down there), and exhausted we all made it the entire way without bailing at several of the bailout options along the way for people who freak out when they get down there!

We were really late getting back to the car and subsequently really really late for the driver to get us to the airport. He had to sit on his horn, dodge and swerve through motorbikes EVERYWHERE that don't seem to understand that two way traffic means each way stays on one side of the road. The bikes come at you from both sides in the opposite direction and you have to also use the middle of the road as a lane if you want to pass. Who would have guessed. Beyond tired at this point and going on 40 hours without sleep we barely made it running to our flight to Hanoi only to find out the flight was delayed. We sat in the airport delirious from lack of sleep and trying to stay awake long enough to board the plane.

Hanoi is so different from HCMC. It is calmer, colder, beautiful, and definitely inspired by the nearby Chinese border. We were picked up at the airport by our hotel and arrived safe and sound. The staff here are AMAZING jumping to help with anything we need, bring us water, get us info, and chat with us about our impressions of the city. They had accidentally filled our double room so they gave us a dorm room with four beds all to ourselves for $6 a night! The bathroom in the room even has a tub; no more showering over the toilet. Starving at this point, even though it is 1am we set out to try and find food. What we found was an experience. There was a late night food market open. In Vietnam this does not mean funnel cakes and grilled corn on the cob. It is one small tent after another on a street with makeshifts kitchens serving food to you on miniature plastic table and chairs. We ate, we got some weird fruit after, played with some stuffed animals someone was selling, and debating buying earmuffs with a Santa head on each ear for a $1. SLEEP BEAUTIFUL SLEEP FINALLY CAME

Speaking of which, its late, another early morning, and it is time for bed.