Day 48

Cu Chi Tunnels

Yes it's pronounced exactly how it sounds! After waking up in a normal hostel this time, me and Alfie went to go find some breakfast - without Daisy as she was tending to her sunburns which were alot worse than I had thought. We find a place close by and as we weren't sure whether or not we were gonna be able to eat any lunch at our Cu Chi Tunnels tour later in the day I went for a double serving - one Banh Mi and one chocolate and banana pancake. Both were lovely and I was nice and full after ready to attack the day.

We picked up a grill cheese for Daisy and got to reception at 12, ready for our tour. Turns out we were there way too early so we played a bit of darts to pass the time. I say we played but it was more of a throw 2 darts at the board and see how high you could get. It was a terrible display of athleticism but by the end I had reigned victorious hitting a triple 18 and a 2.

They were finally ready for us to get on the bus for the tour so we hopped on and got ready for our hour and a half journey out of town. We did a stop on the way to this really cool "handicapped handicrafts" place. All of the artists were victims of Agent Orange in one way or another and the process of their art was awesome. Each piece took atleast a month and they used rose wood that they painted black with tree sap multiple times each time having to wait 3 days for it to dry. Afterwards they decorated with a mix of paint, small pieces of carefully broken duck egg shells, and exact pieces of nacre sawn into shape. After that it was covered in layers of clear resin which gave it a strong smooth finish. Some of the art was really beautiful and if I owned a house / wasn't backpacking / had money to spend it'd be awesome to buy a piece - especially one of the sunset on the mekong delta.

After grabbing some cup ramen (which was really good actually) we headed towards the tunnels. We arrived and after our guide Mike sorted our tickets for us we made our way into the grounds. First we checked out the different traps that the Vietnamese would set up for the Americans. I can't imagine how nerve wracking it would be for the Americans to walk through the jungle not knowing if they were about to fall through the ground. We also and saw the hidden holes were the Vietnamese soldiers would hide and pop out, where I got a go to jump in to see what it was like. Right after me a woman jumped in and somewhat funnily struggled to get out and had to get pulled upwards. I felt bad but I couldn't help find it funny too. We got to see trenches, American tanks, and Vietcong camps. It was quite eerie walking through the jungle knowing of the secret traps and tunnels all around and knowing the fear anyone walking around would have felt too. We could hear gunshots in the background which was from the gun range where you could shoot a range of weapons from a something pistol, M16 rifle and even an AK47. It was 2 pound a bullet so we were gonna shoot 1 each but it was minimum 10 bullets and it was all a bit rushed so we skipped it, opting for a smoothie and ear defenders instead as the guns were so fucking loud.

After this it was time for the main event, crawling through a 100m section of tunnel. There were kilometers of tunnels all around, many had collapsed from bombing or flooding but this one allowed people to bail every 5 or 10 meters. Alfie hopped in first, then Daisy, then me but right as Daisy looked in she decided to bail which I can't blame her for. It was crazy how people would spend so long living in these tunnels. They were cramped and honestly a little freaky especially if you thought you were lost. After popping out the end I brushed off my knees and hands and we made our way to watch a movie or documentary. This thing was honestly terrible. Eventually it finished and we got the bus back to Saigon.

We get dropped at the Ben Thanh Market which is somewhat famous for its plenty knockoff clothes with the opportunity to haggle till your heart was full. Unfortunately it was getting late and everywhere was closing up but it was a good idea for tomorrow. We headed back to the night food market that we went to the day before and we chilled there for a while. I ended up getting a cheesy garlic naan (I miss cheese so much) and then some goi cuon, a Vietnamese type of fresh spring roll. I went for a mix of shrimp, beef, and chicken. They were okay, but had loads of lettuce and I much prefer the fried ones. I grabbed some ice cream for dessert then we headed back for bed.Læs mere