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 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!

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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Saigon Day 1: Touring the City on Foot, and Discovering the Cu Chi Tunnels


For our first stop in 2015, my friends and I went to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). Ho Chi Minh is the capital city of Vietnam, a well known country for budget travellers and the world famous Pho. In this post, I will tell you what happened on our first day, where we went, what we did and how much it cost.

We spent two nights in a humble hostel in the Pham Ngu Lao area. The name of our hostel was Phan Lan 2 hostel. We rented a double room for only 23 usd per night. Click here for a review of the hostel itself.



On our first day, we went around the city on foot. It wasn't very difficult to go around Saigon. The streets were lined with trees which gave shade to pedestrians. There were spacious foot paths and flowers were in full bloom as they surround huge parks. I originally thought it would be hot as fuck, but nope, the trees provided ample amount of shade from the sun and the wind gave us enough breeze that I felt so cool while walking. I never felt my pits sweat. Never!


The grass is greener in Saigon.

Notre dame cathedral (Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn)

First stop is the Notre dame cathedral (Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn). This cathedral was established by the French between 1863 and 1880. The neo-romanesque style attract locals and tourists alike. This iconic basilica made me feel like I was strolling in the streets of France. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside. I don't think they let people in, but I do know the basilica holds mass every sunday.



Post Office (Bưu điện Việt Nam)

Right next to the Basilica, is the Post Office. It was built built between 1886 and 1891 by renowned architect Gustave Eiffel, the same guy whose company built the Eiffel Tower. The architecture looks so grand, and so beautiful, I wouldn't think I'm on Asia. When we stepped inside, I felt like we traveled back in time, for it looked like a train station, the only thing missing was the train! The walls decorated with hand made paintings of maps. They also have a number of phone booths and a lot of post cards for sale.



War Remnants Museum (Bảo tàng chứng tích chiến tranh)

The War Remnants Museum exhibits a range of information about the wars that have ravaged Vietnam over the years. They even have a display of military equipment such as tanks, helicopters, fighter jets and bombs. Inside the building, you will find dioramas of what prison cells looked like back then, there are artworks, and several exhibits with captions both in Vietnamese and English. It's a good read about Vietnam's history, though some of it are a bit one sided and may cross the realm of propaganda. If you want an unbiased story, read up about Vietnam's history before hitting the Museum.




Bến Thành Market

Bến Thành Market is large marketplace found at the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. You can find all sorts of stuff here: food, clothing, watches, meat, spices, bags, alcohol etc. At night, the Market closes and vendors start putting up their stalls on the surrounding streets, kinda like a night market! Most of the stuff you will find are most likely overpriced, so try your best to haggle at least half the price! It's not rude to haggle, it's expected.



Another tip, don't go around asking for the price of something that you don't intend to buy. One of my friends made the mistake of asking how much a magnet was, and the vendor just wouldn't let her go until she bought the item. So if you don't want to be trapped, don't ask and just politely turn down any point of conversation unless you are sure you really want to buy that thing.



End

That wraps up our walking tour for this trip! There are a lot of other places you can visit in Ho Chi Minh on foot. Unfortunately, we only had half a day to spend for exploring the city. The other half, we spent on a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels (Read about our Cu Chi Tunnel adventure here).

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