Halloween party

So Island School had a staff Halloween get together with a staff pumpkin carving competition that the pupils then voted on.       

After sufficient pumpkin soup and punch we had a lovely Halloween quiz that my team won with many prizes, such as glow in the dark rings, Halloween sweeties and the required bottle of wine.

Then we counted the votes for the carving competition.

My personal favourite pumpkin was disqualified due to primary school craft additions rather than just standard carving.

The whole collection looked very cool and the pupils cast over 500 votes, which is nearly half of all the pupils.

The Batman was a popular choice

But the winning pupmkin was Carolina's very artful carving (it took her over 4hrs).

Sadly I didn't have time to enter as I teach all lessons at the beginning of the week so no free's to go pumpkin carving in.

Learning about war

So Thursday was the trip out of HCMC to Cu Chi Tunnels and then back to go around the War Remnants Museum. I'm glad I did them both on the same day, just the museum could have come off quite one sided, but seeing all the traps etc. at the tunnels made it a bit more balanced.

On the way to the tunnels the tour guide stopped off at a local family whose income comes from making rice paper (at $1 a kilo) and collecting rubber from their plantation (about $10 a kilo). They let us try making rice paper,  then feed our failed attempts to their pigs and showed us how to tap the rubber.

We then carried on to the tunnels, which really are in a jungle. They let us get in through a real entrance (I felt blessed for being small at this point)

They showed us some of the traps set up to intercept American soldiers

You then had a chance to fire anything from an AK47 to an M60. However paying per bullet made it a bit expensive for my taste. A few in the group split 10 bullets in their pair which was a more sensible price.

Lastly we went down the tunnels. They are just over a foot wide and two and a half feet high; I felt they were small and claustrophobic so  I can only imagine what it was like for anyone over five three tall. We crawled and slid through them and then was reminded that people lived here for 20 years, in the dark. That gives a great idea how desperate that war was.

After the tunnels we headed back to the city for the War Remnants Museum, I didn't take pictures in there it was far too sobering and bleak for that. Did show some interesting bad use of science and propaganda in places (especially with agent orange) which showed a lot about the government here.

Last bit I went around was the political prisoner section, where they had some of the equipment used on prisoners from an island just off the coast. God, humans can be horrific to one another.

A very interesting day, learned a lot.

 

In HCMC it rains indoors

So today I went for a lovely spa treatment then up the Bitexco Tower for lunch and to take some pictures. Very lovely but the most interesting thing today, I'm sat in the kitchen and it's raining like hell. In the kitchen. Kitchen's are open to the outdoors here. It's tricky to get the impression right with a photo, but trust me I'm at the back of the flat, in the kitchen and rain is falling on my head.

I will get around to putting the palace and today's pictures up, but it takes forever to upload them on the phone. Laptop is in HK sadly.

I went for a walk in Ho Chi Minh City

A 14km walk around HCMC to be precise; from Sam's flat down around District 1 and back through a lot of ridiculous traffic.

First job was not to die crossing the roads, the road are full of motorcycles that just drive however they feel at the time, including the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. Stopping for people to cross is an unknown and red lights are decorative rather than paid attention to.




















My first stop was a memorial to Thích Quảng Đức, the buddhist monk who burned himself to death in protest to the Vietnamese treatment of buddhists in the early 60's.































Then I headed to the Bitexco Tower, tallest building in HCMC. Didn't go up as it didn't open until 10am and I got there way too early.




















Next, was a walk along Saigon River to a small park with a statue to Trần Hưng Đạo - the supreme commander of Vietnam who stopped the Mongols invading when they had taken over China and become the Yuan dynasty.






























 There were lots of people around watering the plants, which seems odd when they get downpours every afternoon here.














 

Working my way further into what is left of the French architecture, I passed the Saigon Opera House and several hotels to reach the Notre Dame Catherdral and The General Post Office next to it.

The Post Office

 You could wander around inside the cathedral and take a few pictures, there was at least 12 couples having their wedding photos done around here. Not sure if it is the same as China and they are being done before the wedding or if they were actually getting married today.

 I passed through a couple of parks with lots of propaganda posters from the Vietnamese army to get to Hồ Con Rùa, a lake roundabout with turtles.

My final stop, before lunch and shopping, was the Reunification Palace. I did go around inside but that needs a separate post.


Feet hurt now, will be glad of the spa day tomorrow :-)