SGN Layover
07-21-2010 | 11:35 AM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jul 2007
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From: 767 Trunk Monkey
For that long, highly recommend taking a guided tour of the tunnels at Cu-Chi. Your hotel concierge should be able to set you up. Tunnels are about 45 minutes away; tour goes 3-4 hours. Air conditioned minivan, around 80 bones if memory serves. Finish the tour by shooting your favorite Vietnam-era weapon (M-16, M-60, AK-47) at the range for ~$1/round. Get the T-shirt. Be diplomatic.
07-21-2010 | 05:14 PM
#7
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 162
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From: Continuing The Dream
I sent LC a note, but for those unfamiliar, there are a number of things around Saigon of interest, besides Tu Do Street.
As already noted, Cu Chi isn’t far, and if you’re a historian of the era, you’ll know it was home to the 25th Infantry Division. The area known as the Ho Bo Woods is riddled with tunnels, bunkers, and significant underground fortified living areas. All sorts of weapons could be employed quickly by the Viet Cong, including AK-47s, .30 cal machine-guns, and RPGs. Local tax collectors would go into the villages at night and pillage mostly food/rice the US had provided the locals.
Not far north of Saigon near An Loc, in an area called the Boi Loi Woods – there are about 5 French rubber plantations. One of the plantations was home to the 101st NVA Division (we weren’t allowed to bomb or shoot into the French owned rubber). Nearby Quan Loi had an exceptionally manicured plantation with a beautiful mansion, out buildings, and an area that had a runway capable of supporting a C-130, it had POL, and a re-arm area. After some ‘working out’, it was a good place for a ‘harley’ and a ‘honda’ to gas up and re-arm.
If you go farther west to Tay Ninh in the parrot’s beak/iron triangle area, the provincial capital of Tay Ninh Province, the Cao Dai Temple has (had) a HUGE jade all-seeing ‘eye’. Just north of Tay Ninh was Nui Ba Dinh (The Black Virgin) mountain. The stories about the Black Virgin were numerous, including being able to hear an underground train within the mountain. Until late in the Viet Nam conflict, we weren’t allowed to strike the mountain because of its’ significant religious and cultural value. The number of protected .51 caliber machine gun positions resulted in the mountain becoming a ‘specified’ strike zone.
Most of III Corps should be reasonably easy to get around. It’s flat for the most part, and is north of the ‘Delta’ area that’s loaded with waterways and I suspect prone to flooding. Other areas of significant or historical interest might include Dien Bien Phu, Hue/Phu Bai and Camp Evans, but they'll be more than a day-trip. One of the nicer resorts back then was Vung Tau, southeast of Saigon.
Mental preparation before you go should include some classic Janis Jopplin, Steppin' Wolf, and maybe Country Joe and the Fish's 'Fish Cheer'.
OK – probably a little more than you wanted to know. Enjoy your stop in Saigon.
Nakazawa
As already noted, Cu Chi isn’t far, and if you’re a historian of the era, you’ll know it was home to the 25th Infantry Division. The area known as the Ho Bo Woods is riddled with tunnels, bunkers, and significant underground fortified living areas. All sorts of weapons could be employed quickly by the Viet Cong, including AK-47s, .30 cal machine-guns, and RPGs. Local tax collectors would go into the villages at night and pillage mostly food/rice the US had provided the locals.
Not far north of Saigon near An Loc, in an area called the Boi Loi Woods – there are about 5 French rubber plantations. One of the plantations was home to the 101st NVA Division (we weren’t allowed to bomb or shoot into the French owned rubber). Nearby Quan Loi had an exceptionally manicured plantation with a beautiful mansion, out buildings, and an area that had a runway capable of supporting a C-130, it had POL, and a re-arm area. After some ‘working out’, it was a good place for a ‘harley’ and a ‘honda’ to gas up and re-arm.
If you go farther west to Tay Ninh in the parrot’s beak/iron triangle area, the provincial capital of Tay Ninh Province, the Cao Dai Temple has (had) a HUGE jade all-seeing ‘eye’. Just north of Tay Ninh was Nui Ba Dinh (The Black Virgin) mountain. The stories about the Black Virgin were numerous, including being able to hear an underground train within the mountain. Until late in the Viet Nam conflict, we weren’t allowed to strike the mountain because of its’ significant religious and cultural value. The number of protected .51 caliber machine gun positions resulted in the mountain becoming a ‘specified’ strike zone.
Most of III Corps should be reasonably easy to get around. It’s flat for the most part, and is north of the ‘Delta’ area that’s loaded with waterways and I suspect prone to flooding. Other areas of significant or historical interest might include Dien Bien Phu, Hue/Phu Bai and Camp Evans, but they'll be more than a day-trip. One of the nicer resorts back then was Vung Tau, southeast of Saigon.
Mental preparation before you go should include some classic Janis Jopplin, Steppin' Wolf, and maybe Country Joe and the Fish's 'Fish Cheer'.
OK – probably a little more than you wanted to know. Enjoy your stop in Saigon.
Nakazawa
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