FRIDAY 26TH DECEMBER (BOXING DAY)
Why is it called boxing day? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.
We went on a trip today to the Cu Chi tunnels about an hour outside of HCMC. This was where Charlie and the rest of his Commie mates used to hang out trying to shoot Uncle Sam and his boys. It was a still a little bit biased towards the North Vietnamese. To me it seemed like I was watching a propaganda film to be honest. Whilst there you get to run around in the tunnels. These tunnels are 30/35/60/110yds long depending on how far you want to go. I thought I'd have a go. By the way they're only 3 ft high as well. It was hard work if I'm being truthful, even harder than the assault course on the Krypton Factor, and it is really hot. I only managed to go 30yds due to the fact I thought it would be a good idea to record it while I went along (first time use of night vision mode on the camcorder.). I came out at the other end caked in dust and muck and wheezing like a good 'un. To make myself feel a little better I went and sat on a tank. I also went to shoot an M-16 as well. At 80p a bullet I couldn't afford many. As it goes it wasn't the best experience. This is mainly due to the fact that I am a left handed shot and all of the guns (there was quite an arsenal.) are set up for right handers. For those of you who don't know much about guns; if I was to shoot left handed with a right handed gun, the empty shells would ricochet into my already piss poor eyes. I went to pick up the gun and straight away burnt myself, as I picked it up on the wrong part and it had been fired for about three hours already that day and so it was about 75C (167F). So there I am ready to fire this gun, burnt hand an' all, holding it like a right special, trying to look through the sight with my right eye (that can only read the top two lines on an opticians chart.) and shooting wildly at something I can't really see. If I was in charge I'd have said, 'Sorry mate can you come back with your carer, just so we're sure about letting you do this.' Louise had a go and did better than me. So I was pissed off and burnt.
Later on we spent almost four hours in the Ho Chi Minh War museum. This is one of the most interesting places I've visited in my 8 or so weeks away. It details both sides of the war and shows in graphic detail the death and the suffering that occurred on all sides. Some of the worst pictures were those of the massacre that took place in the hamlets of My Lai and My Kai of Son My village. And also the after effects of napalm and Agent Orange bombings. It did also piss down again all afternoon. While we were sheltering outside we met the nicest woman in the world named Pat, from Tasmania. Literally within five minutes of meeting her, she gave us her address and both phone numbers and said that we could stay there for free if we wanted as she would only be at work and the house was empty. Now why isn't everyone that nice.
SATURDAY 27TH DECEMBER
Off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This was gonna be an arse ache from the minute we left, because of all the easy going border officials. Turned out to be harder than that. We got on and off the bus three times, first time we were standing there like dicks for 45 mins whilst the passport controller was chatting up the tour guide off of our bus, and the second time we got on the bus to travel 50yds. Brillo!
Arrived in Phnom Penh and spent over an hour looking for a guesthouse with a bloke named Elvis. Finally got one in the backpacker place by the lake. We immediately forgot this when we went walkabout. We walked the wrong way through town and ended up in the slums. Hailed a tuk tuk and forgot we were staying and so it took us 20 mins for a 5 min journey. At night I got drunk and spent $20 playing and losing at poker. Also saw a scouser get his arse kicked by some locals after saying he could beat them all. Even though it was 4 or 5 on one he deserved it for being a cock. Got offered loads of weed at $2 for a massive sackful and all the opium I could wish for for next to nothing.
SUNDAY 28TH DECEMBER (part 1)
Went sightseeing today with Elvis! That's the name on his helmet and his business card so that's what we called him. We went to the scene of some of the most heinous crimes in the history of civilisation. For the uneducated ones amongst you I am obviously talking about The Killing Fields at Cheoung Ek. This is where the Khmer Rouge executed about 17 000 people between 1975 and 1979. Mass graves containing 8 895 bodies were discovered here after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. As you enter there is a five tier cabinet inside a Buddhist stupa containing 5 000 human skulls and bone remains. It's a bit graphic to say the least, when they uncovered the remains some of them still had the blindfolds on. Later on we went to Tuol Sleng prison. It is a bit dilapidated after the government stopped funding 2 years ago, but there are some really amazing artefacts and photos to look at. They say between 17 000 and 20 000 people were held prisoner here over 4 and a half years and only 12 people survived. Most of them were moved to the countryside or killed at Cheoung Ek.
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