Cu Chi Tunnels and Splashing Out

Apologies for the delay in the last couple of posts I've been getting quite ill, but here you go!

I think I'm beginning to get ill again. My throat is completely swollen... Ah well can't let it stop our very busy day ahead! Today we visited the famous Cu Chi Tunnels,which was an underground tunnel system that the Vet Cong dug during the war to hide from the Americans. Although its a must see sight, we were a bit sceptical as we had heard various reviews of how touristy and inappropriate the tour guides and tourists are. But we did a bit of research and Dhu recommended a Agency so we went ahead. Actually we were pleasantly surprised, yes there were a lot of tourists, yes sometimes you might have to wait for another group to finish explaining before your group and yes the allowance of shooting guns is somewhat inappropriate, but our tour guide was very informative and effective in showing us everything without it feeling to rushed or busy. It was amazing how small these tunnels really were. As they were made for the Viet Cong they were very narrow burrows, impossible for large American men men to get through. Will tried one of the original holes and could barely fit! We then went to a tunnel that had been "made bigger for tourists" and crawled for about 20 metres with ups and downs but it felt much much longer. Wow if these had been extended I don't want to know how it must have felt before!

After the Củ Chi Tunnels we went for lunch at a the Secret Garden restaurant, another hidden gem we read about in the hip part of town. The food was nice, but jeeze it was expensive and after having some really yummy street food for half the price I think I'd carry on with the street food!

Having had quite an early and full on day so far we went back to the flat for a quick nap and freshen up before heading out for our posh night out to the Bitexo Tower.

It was actually pretty cool up there. As we'd seen quite a few different parts of Ho Chi Minh it was nice to see them from so high up. We watched sunset from the top and then carried on up to begin the "Heineken Experience". It was actually a lot of fun! For only 50,000 Đồng, £1.75, on top of the entrance to the sky deck we got a tour around the Heineken museum, we got to pour and drink our own Heineken, 2 more free ones, a couple of activities including a dj set and another free bottle of Heineken with your name on it! Bargain! Oh and the highlight cheese and onion crisps (we were starving!!!). After our free drinks we headed for some cheap and cheerful Bánh mì. Yum!! We met two Australians while having our dinner and gave them a couple of tips of where we had been.

Our final stop for the evening was Snuffbox and the Australian guys came with us. Snuffbox is a snazzy cocktail bar and it just happened to be ladies night. I got free cocktails till 10pm! Woohoo! What we thought was going to be a very expensive day turned out to actually be a lot cheaper which was great! I think the best looking cocktail was by far Will's Pirate cocktail which came in a treasure chest and when opened out came lavender scented vapour.

Finally it was home time 😊 What a great day! Culture and cocktails, now that's the way to travel!Read more