Early this morning a shuttle bus came and picked us up, along with another couple who once they got on, were asked to get off and to wait for a different shuttle bus, poor things! We cruised around town picking up other tourists for about an hour...then it was another 2 hours to go out to the Cu Chi Tunnels!
back by the Ben Thanh Market
So many kids riding on scooters without helmets...scary!
The last excursion of our trip!
Some locals passing the time...
I wish I could understand Vietnamese, its an awesome language!
Mandarin Oranges for sale
Tai Chi/Dance in the park
Highway out of town...tons of commuter motorbikes!
Halfway to the Cu Chi Tunnels we stopped for a bathroom break at a warehouse where victims of Agent Orange (1st, 2nd and even 3rd generation) were making gorgeous pieces of art. It was really expensive art so we didn't buy anything but it was absolutely amazing to see these workers with the material (egg shells, wood, paint, sea shells) at various stages of the process.
These paintings were selling for $75 USD
We arrived at the Cu Chi Tunnels, which was turned into a war memorial park by the Vietnam government. They had racks of guns that were used in the Vietnam war on display and then we were told that tourists can shoot the same type of guns later on in the afternoon...yikes!
Entering the tunnel area - walking underground for a bit and then into the jungle!
1) Don't stray from your guide, 2) If you are sick don't go in the tunnels
We were ushered into a darkened room and told to sit down to watch a video. It showed that the Cu Chi area used to be an orchard and area that families would visit on the weekends for leisure. Then it switched to coverage of the war from the Vietnam point of view; it was mostly black and white footage and we were shocked to learn that medals were given out to Viet Cong's for killing enemy soldiers. They even had women and children VC's participate in the war effort, by making bombs and traps out of sharpened bamboo sticks.
Small entry to the tunnels in the video room...
We continued on our tour and came across this camouflaged trap door, which after a demonstration by this young man, I was invited to try out! It wasn't very deep, and the VC would explode out of the traps to surprise their enemies or use them to access the rest of the tunnels.
Platform that would rotate and dump its victim onto sharpened bamboo sticks...
Craters were everywhere and although its hard to see it was shocking!
as there may still be land-mines present - a few months ago a tourist inadvertently found one...
Anthill disguising a trap door
Broke down weapons of war
These two were making munitions...battery operated models
As we were walking through the jungle the gunfire noises got louder and louder...until we were at the gun range!
View of the gun range (plastic laid down on a hill)
Sandals that the VC wore (made out of rubber)
Here we go...into the Tunnel! We could choose to go for 50 meters, 100 or 150 underground!!
Feeling brave...
Inside the tunnels, which have been widened for tourists to use!
We only made it 50 meters before I had to exit the tunnel!!!!
Knees cracking and back aching!
Where women/nurses would care for the wounded and pregnant women
Models of bombs
After the bombs the tour was officially over and because Ty and I took so long to get on the bus we got stuck sitting next to the stinkiest tourist I have ever encountered! This guy even bought himself a new T-shirt because he sweated through his own but his smell was still SO ripe we had to mouth breathe the entire 2 hour drive back to Ho Chi Minh. After getting off the bus we grabbed lunch at the nearby backpacker area with a guy from our group...fresh air never smelled so good!
We walked back towards our hotel and came across the Reunification Palace!
After a last bit of shopping we rested at the hotel and had dinner at the same local BBQ place! I felt sad that it was our last night in another country...so we went out and had drinks at a nearby place with live music!!
Before bed we started packing...for our big journey back to the USA!
