This morning we took a speed boat up the Saigon River to about 70 kilometers outside the city.  Here we started with a walk through a rubber plantation. Yes, rubber comes from trees!  It's a process similar to tapping maple trees for syrup.  They make a cut in the tree and the stuff oozes out into a bowl.  The stuff in the bowl feels, amazingly enough, just like rubber. Rubber production is a growing fraction of agriculture in Vietnam, and they are planning to plant many millions of acres.  My only problem with this bit of the trip was getting that damn rubber tree plant song in my head!

We continued on a walk from there through the countryside. This area looked different than the others we had visited.  The houses all were fenced in - I think perhaps because of the chickens and dogs.  The streets were wider and straighter.  Unfortunately there was not a lot of shade and this was our first really hot day.  I bagged the hike early, catching a ride with the motorcycle guy to get to the end faster!

From there we went to the Cu Chi tunnel complex, which is quite amazing.  Just north of Saigon the Viet Cong built an elaborate set of tunnels during the Vietnam War.  They lived in these tunnels and used them as a base to attack the American positions.  They reminded us of those ant farms that we bought as kids.  There were multiple levels of tunnels opening into rooms that were highly specialized -- storage rooms, kitchens, meeting rooms, etc.  Above ground it was entirely camouflaged because the openings and air vents were disguised.  You could see how difficult it would be to know that anybody was there.

The Americans had some "tunnel rat" soldiers charged with entering the tunnels and trying to rout out the Viet Cong.  The elaborate and nasty booby traps, which were on display here, made this quite dangerous work.

 We had a chance to get in and out of the tunnels.  The openings and passages were quite tiny when in use, but they have been somewhat widened in order to accommodate the western tourist!  This was a fascinating visit, although a bit odd as a tourist destination given that it is recent history, and still very fresh in many of our minds.

After the boat road back - with a picnic lunch on board - we collapsed for a few hours.  The heat really makes it difficult to keep up your energy.  It's not even that hot compared to summer, so I can't imagine living here ... or being a soldier here, carrying heavy gear.

We went to a lovely final celebration dinner at the Ly restaurant, which as very modern.  There was a great little local dance show first, with young men and boys doing acrobatic movements in dragon costumes.  Then we had quite a nice gourmet dinner. 

The group then went on to check out the Karaoke scene that seems to be prevalent throughout Asia.  It wasn't really what I expected.  It is a multi-floor building with each floor having a bunch of private rooms with gaudy decor. Very bordello-looking.  There is a big screen and a music system, and you select songs and take turns singing, or all sing together.  I thought it would be kind of fun, but our sound system was creating terrible feedback and really annoying me. Between the screeching, the incense smell, and the close quarters, a few of us made a break for it and left pretty quickly. But Joan and Karl seemed to get into it.

Now we're getting ready to leave Vietnam for Cambodia, after saying goodbye to Marina and Missy (who are flying home to get back to work)  and to the rest of our very nice B&R group.

Donna