14 May 2018 - Day 3 - A birthday to remember in Ho Chi Minh City

The choice of Ms. Yang's Homestay 2 for the short vacation in HCMC turned out to be an outstanding choice. Besides being located near some of the 'must see' sights in the city the hospitality and personal care of the lady makes it THE place to stay in HCMC; but not if you are seeking a posh neighborhood or luxury. When I had arrived a couple of days back at the homestay I told the sisters that I was in HCMC to celebrate a milestone birthday. Ms. Yang had it firmly logged in her mind, I did not realise till I sat down for breakfast. She made me the tastiest pork filled fried dumplings as a birthday special with couple of cups of delicious Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. It touched me at the core.

Yesterday I had requested Ms. Yang to make a booking for a day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels. This was one of the main things I wanted to experience while in HCMC. She readily agreed and had informed me that the tour operator would arrive by 8 am. I was ready well in advance after breakfast and, as she had said, the tour operator for the day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels was at the door of the homestay bang on time. Phillip, the young guide, kept the small group of 9 tourists in splits with his take on the tunnels and life in Vietnam. I was the only singleton in the group. The tunnels are just about 60 km out of HCMC, but the humongous traffic makes the travel very slow moving. Prior to the tunnels the tour group was taken to the Lampat Company Handicapped Handicrafts Centre, which is operated by handicapped artisans affected by the Vietnam War. At the centre one can appreciate the various stages of the making of lacquered art objects, the ingredients that are used in each piece like egg shell pieces, powdered egg shells, bones and sand, the polishing process, etc. It was an educative tour as it was a poignant one. I was happy to note that the physically challenged ones had a source of earning. We were also told that 80 percent of the proceeds from sales would go towards the sustenance of the artisans. Therefore, even though I knew that the rates would be on the higher side I happily picked up a couple of pieces as a token of my contribution to the centre. It must be said, without any hesitation, that the workmanship is of the highest order.

From the handicrafts centre it was another 30-odd km to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels that labyrinth about 250 km was at the heart of the Viet Cong (VC) resistance between 1961 and 1975. The three-tiered tunnel network with entrances that could never admit the 'Rambo sized' opposition had elaborate arrangements to store, house, manufacture, drain, breathe and trap. However, malaria, poisonous creepy crawlies and intestinal infections affected those who lived in the tunnels. How people lived for years on end in such circumstances with bombs falling all over them is also hard to imagine. The design and construction of the tunnels was such that grenades, flooding and smoke did not affect those within the tunnel; so good was the trapdoor arrangements and the slope of the tunnel network that connected to the Saigon River. The role played by women in the resistance was crucial; a plough in one hand and a rifle in another was the call that stirred them fairer sex. The guide explained the superiority of the AK 47 used by the VC as against the huge rifles used by the American soldiers. We got a chance to get down one of the entrance hatches of the tunnel, which was a nerve-wracking experience. But the 20 metre 'crawl' through a large sized tunnel was what gave a true flavor of what would have been. Despite the guide holding a lamp and moving ahead of us to direct us along the right corner a few people lost their cool. Some started shouting and others weeping on verge of panic. Fertile farms occupied the land over the tunnels before incessant bombing and rapacious action by forces fighting the Viet Cong laid waste large tracts of land. What we were walking through were forests reconstructed with fresh trees planted to redo the ecosystem. Within the complex one can appreciate the life of the resistance forces, including how they manufactured weapons and traps out of exploded and unexploded enemy weapons, captured tanks, built the tunnels and such like. We were explained how the VC and their supporters wore chappals while their enemies wore boots. That made it easier from within small peep holes to identify the enemy. Another brilliant one was the chappal that was designed to mislead enemies of the direction in which the resistance forces were walking! There is a shooting range within the complex where one can try out AK-47 and some other heavy firepower. All in all, it was a wonderful experience which showed how the tough, small made people never gave up and took on the might of the most heavily armed forces in the world. The VC redefined guerrilla warfare and possibly epitomized the brave woman spirit.

By the time I got back to the homestay my shirt was clinging to my skin and the pant was wet too in many parts. After a short rest and shower I took a Grab bike to attend evening mass in the Notre Dame Cathedral. I had to thank God for all the graces and blessings He had showered on me in the past six decades, seek forgiveness for the many transgressions and beg for His guidance and support for the rest of my life. Being a weekday evening service, attendance was not very large. Even though the service was in Vietnamese I locked myself in prayer right through the Mass. It was a super experience. Once the service was over I walked around a bit admiring the architecture of the church and the shrines within, particularly the one of Our Lady. The lights inside the church were switched off quickly so that people would not meander. I got out just as the main door was being shut. Thereafter, I spent a lot of time before the huge statue of Our Lady in front of the church. People placed wreaths and flower bunches and lit candles at the base of the statue imploring benefaction of Our Lady. Those moments were magical. But what touched me was the scene where an old lady was being photographed by her middle-aged daughter at various places near the cathedral. The daughter requested me if I could frame them together. She told me that her mother was back at the cathedral after over 20 years. Such devotion and love.

As the light was fading from the skies the roundabout at the statue became filled with food hawkers. It was quite apparent that each of the hawkers had their designated places. I could not resist the temptation to try some of the goodies on offer there. Thus, at first it was a huge cup of tamarind juice with roasted peanuts and ice. I dwelt a lot on it watching the growing number of people who were arriving there for the hawker foods. I was fascinated by one of the hawkers making rice paper salad and spend some time filming the process. He cooperated every bit. Once the ‘documentary’ was done I bought one and it turned out to be double yummy. A couple of tourists, watching me walloping the salad, ordered their share too and I turned out to be a successful ambassador for the rice paper salad hawker that evening! Sometime later it was time to return to the homestay. On the walk back, I stopped by a roadside vendor and bought a whole cup of chopped raw mango sprinkled with rock salt. Wow, street foods in HCMC are something to die for.

The biggest surprise of the day was yet to be. I was getting ready for a shower when the younger sister of Ms. Yang knocked at my door. She held forth a large cup of Sam Bo Luong, a Chinese cold sweet soup with seaweed, lotus seeds, red jujubes, dried longans, lotus flower, Job's tears, pearl barley, sugar and crushed ice. She said that it was their birthday gift for me! To say that I was moved would be an understatement. The reason why South East Asia is at the top of the heap as holiday destinations is the humanness and warmth that you find with the peoples of these countries. What a wonderful day it had been and a great birthday heralding my senior status!