The Werners in Asia: A reminder for all who have forgotten

Wednesday 11th....

Today was all about the war. We woke early and caught the bus to Cu Chi as part of a tour straight after breakfast. Cu Chi is famous for its tunnels, built by the local Viet Cong farmers to both evade and attack the US forces who considered Cu Chi a strategically important position during the war.

It was a small tour, the 3 of us, A lovely lady from Sydney called Liz, a couple of mates from Adelaide who had left their wives back in Oz, Two Germans who had befriended two local Vietnamese girls and a Thai couple. Our tour Guide was Long, energetic, knowledgeable, but a little hard to understand at time.

The bus trip to Cu Chi was about one and a half hours, through mainly agricultural townships. Commerce seems really clustered here.One town would be full of bricks and tiles, the next hardware and the next furniture or lighting.

On arrival we had a quick video and then a walk around the tunnel area. James was brave enough to climb in and travelled the 50 metre tunnel underground. He was relieved as Sarah did the same on her visit and he didn't want to be outdone.

It was then to the shooting range where he bought 10 live AK47 shells and fired them off - Steve went with him but mentally disowned him for the duration!! He has now done something no-one else in the family has done. We arrived back safely and spent the afternoon at the War Remnants Museum.

This was a really confronting time. One hundred or so visitors walked slowly and in almost complete silence from exhibit to exhibit. There was no conversation. Nothing was held back.T he photos of the effects of Napalm and Agent Orange were disturbing to say the least. It was hard to imagine that these weapons were used in our name. Over 3 million Vietnamese died in this war and over 2 million were civilians, often women and children.

There was much more to see at the museum, but with a sickening feeling in our stomachs, we left after about an hour.

After the nightly frustrating ritual of booking the next day or so's travel and accommodation, we headed out for dinner. As it turned out, it was market night, and the roads were lined with temporary restaurants. We picked one at random (avoiding the live frogs awaiting their fate) and had a superb Vietnamese meal washed down with yet more beer and cocktails. It never ceases to amaze as to how a beer can cost 75 cents and a cocktail with 4 spirits $2.50. We hit the hay around midnight after a few more rapid purchases at the market. Can a 15 year old really wear 15 Ralph Lauren shirts?