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We ventured outside Ho Chi Minh today and went on a tour to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. These were a network of tunnels used by Viet Cong soldiers during the cold war. They practically lived in them, with underground bunkers designated as the kitchen or hospital area. The original tunnels were made of clay and divided into three levels, the deepest reaching 4m underground. We got to clamber through some tunnels ourselves, however these were reconstructed ones made of concrete, slightly larger than the original ones so you could walk through crouched. They were still quite tight, and a bit claustrophobic, Kath completed one and then walked over land for the rest. Many tunnel entrances were booby-trapped to deter American soldiers, and things like kitchen smoke vents were placed far from the soldiers resting place to confuse the enemy. We saw an array of traps and tricks, each one more brutal than the next.
At the end of the tour, we got to go into a small one person hole in the ground which was a recreated tunnel entrance. With the jungle floor covered in dry leaves, the entrance is completely undetected when closed, and only located by a tiny X on a nearby tree. I successfully climbed in, however I got stuck on the way out and embarrassingly had to get hauled out by multiple people.
Our tour guide was very funny and extremely personable on the bus, but was on a military mission to get us through the tunnels, so felt a little rushed.
It was a 1 1/2 hour drive back to the city where we grabbed lunch, found a coffee shop to plan our next move and then wandered around a huge indoor market where I got to practice my bargaining skills.
In the evening we visited a sky bar which had pretty cool views of the city and enjoyed a few pricey cocktails.
We got veggie hotpot for dinner. The menu confused us so we ended up massively over ordering, but the food was delicious. We waddled back to the hostel so full, only taking one detour to show Kath the madness of walking street.Leggi altro