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Saigon Day 1: Discovering the Cu Chi Tunnels
After walking around Saigon and seeing the usual tourist spots for half a day, we went next to the Cu Chi Tunnels. I'm not sure if anyone can just go there without booking a tour, but for convenience, we booked a half day tour through the Singh Tourist. The tour cost us around 84,000 VND per person. Pretty cheap if you ask me.
The tour starts at 1pm, and we had to be at their office, in De Tham street, 30 minutes ahead to confirm our booking. When we arrived at their office, we were not the only guests around. There were other people joining the tour too. I could say that the total number of people could fill an entire bus. We got what we paid for, I guess!
So, they boarded us into this big bus and it vroomed its way towards the outskirts of the city for what seemed like hours. What they didn't tell us was that we had to stop by a local lacquerware factory. Our tour guide, Tony, said that the people who work in the factory were disabled, and buying their products is one way of supporting them. When we went inside the shop, we didn't see any disabled people, but we did see their works, which were god damn pretty to be honest! We bought cute Saigon doll magnets for 84,000 VND.
Arriving at the Cu Chi Tunnels
After touring the factory, we headed back to the bus. It was long ride, I was relieved when we finally arrived at our destination. Our guide's english was so-so, but there were times when I never understood what he said. Our tour started with the traps used by Viet Cong during the war. These traps were used for hunting at first, but when the war broke out, the Viet Cong used it on the Americans. They sharpened bamboo shoots and used them as stakes. They also filled the traps with human excrement to infect the victims faster. Yikes!
He also talked about the architecture of the tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels are just part of a large interconnecting tunnel under Vietnam. I think I heard our guide said the tunnel goes as far as the border of Cambodia. The government has preserved the tunnels and even expanded some of them to fit the physique of most western tourists. We even got a chance to go inside!
Oh! They also have a firing range where gun lovers can fire an AK47 and a machine gun. I'm no gun lover, so I never even dared to enter the range. I just looked around the souvenir shop and ate ice cream. At the very end of the trip, we watched a short film about the Cu Chi tunnels. It was little bit hard to understand, not just because of the narrator's accent, but also because the video was very old. Can you imagine? It was in gray scale! In my honest opinion, they have to update that film. Maybe improve the sound quality a bit so that it's audible? With that said, I'll leave you a picture of a diorama of soldiers.
It was around 5pm when we finished the tour and by 6pm we were back in Pham Ngu Lao. I really enjoyed my trip in the Cu Chi tunnels. It was very insightful and something that I don't get to see everyday. Do you want to read more about my adventures in Ho Chi Minh? Click here to read about our day 2 trip. Did you miss part one of our trip? Read about it here! :)
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| The receipt we got after online registration. Don't forget to bring this if you plan to go there. |
The tour starts at 1pm, and we had to be at their office, in De Tham street, 30 minutes ahead to confirm our booking. When we arrived at their office, we were not the only guests around. There were other people joining the tour too. I could say that the total number of people could fill an entire bus. We got what we paid for, I guess!
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| Vietnam's country side. |
So, they boarded us into this big bus and it vroomed its way towards the outskirts of the city for what seemed like hours. What they didn't tell us was that we had to stop by a local lacquerware factory. Our tour guide, Tony, said that the people who work in the factory were disabled, and buying their products is one way of supporting them. When we went inside the shop, we didn't see any disabled people, but we did see their works, which were god damn pretty to be honest! We bought cute Saigon doll magnets for 84,000 VND.
 |
| Can you believe that the decorations on this tray is made of egg shells? |
Arriving at the Cu Chi Tunnels
After touring the factory, we headed back to the bus. It was long ride, I was relieved when we finally arrived at our destination. Our guide's english was so-so, but there were times when I never understood what he said. Our tour started with the traps used by Viet Cong during the war. These traps were used for hunting at first, but when the war broke out, the Viet Cong used it on the Americans. They sharpened bamboo shoots and used them as stakes. They also filled the traps with human excrement to infect the victims faster. Yikes!
He also talked about the architecture of the tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels are just part of a large interconnecting tunnel under Vietnam. I think I heard our guide said the tunnel goes as far as the border of Cambodia. The government has preserved the tunnels and even expanded some of them to fit the physique of most western tourists. We even got a chance to go inside!
Oh! They also have a firing range where gun lovers can fire an AK47 and a machine gun. I'm no gun lover, so I never even dared to enter the range. I just looked around the souvenir shop and ate ice cream. At the very end of the trip, we watched a short film about the Cu Chi tunnels. It was little bit hard to understand, not just because of the narrator's accent, but also because the video was very old. Can you imagine? It was in gray scale! In my honest opinion, they have to update that film. Maybe improve the sound quality a bit so that it's audible? With that said, I'll leave you a picture of a diorama of soldiers.
It was around 5pm when we finished the tour and by 6pm we were back in Pham Ngu Lao. I really enjoyed my trip in the Cu Chi tunnels. It was very insightful and something that I don't get to see everyday. Do you want to read more about my adventures in Ho Chi Minh? Click here to read about our day 2 trip. Did you miss part one of our trip? Read about it here! :)
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