Travel Diary

Around 4am, my sleeping ended. My body and mind were just taking a long time to adjust. Oh well. Can’t do anything but take some Advil and see if that helps. I looked for NyQuil, but could not find it being sold. Pity. It does work rather well.

I got a message around 7am that coffee had been brought back. Nice! I was thankful for that, even though I could only drink a little bit as I knew we had a long bus ride ahead of us. We were heading to the Cu Chi Tunnels for the day. Thus, we exited around 7:45am and caught the bus. We then had another stop to pick up more people. In total, there were 11 of us, plus the guide and the driver.

Even getting out of Saigon took some time. Just many many bikes and cars on small streets. It was an adventure for sure. Slowly but surely, we departed the main city and traveled agong for a while, until stopping at a rest stop slash tourist trap. Yeah, it’s just part of the deal I guess. They provide restrooms, but there is a speech about the place having workers who suffered or raise money for people who suffered during the Vietnam War. I don’t know. Hard to really know what is legit, or how much money is really going to victims. It just felt somewhat contrived. And the works of art are quite impressive, but vastly overpriced, like very very expensive. None of us bought anything there. Again, maybe research would enlighten me more. I’d like to think it was all on the up and up, but something tells me otherwise. And really, the war ended a half century ago now, so maybe it’s all a little too far in the past, though I’m sure some do still suffer today. Perhaps there are other ways to help.

After the pitstop, we did start seeing more farmland and country, and less city. Just takes a very long time. Our first stop was actually a shooting range. This was news to me, but sounded fun. It was of course optional, especially since each bullet was $2.80 and 10 bullets minimum were required. But it was a nice chance to do something unique and fun. You could shoot an M-16, M-60, AK-47, or M1 Carbine. So many choices, but also quite expensive to shoot all of them, especially since 10 bullets each were required. I opted for the M1, but was told they had no bullets at that time. Drat. Okay, then, the AK-47. Let’s see what weapons of the north felt like. I bought 10 rounds.

It had been many years since I fired such a weapon (well, M16A2 last time). The AK feels quite powerful though without a scope, it’s tough to aim, and the sights were not set too accurately. Nevertheless, it was an exhilarating experience and one I would not mind doing again, just at a cheaper cost if possible.

After Lesly, Terry, and I fired the guns, we headed over to the main tunnel area. The place has a lot of leftovers from the war, including a Huey helicopter, C130, jeeps, and other equipment. Some of the vehicles are a bit ragged, but cool to see. As well, there are many weapons of war used during that period. But with the protective glass, taking photos is tough.

Then it was time for the big attraction: the tunnels. Any war buffs already know about them, but during the war, many hid underground to elude capture and carried out attacks in the darkness. The tunnels became home for many, so it was a large part of the war—and a sad one too of course. The tour allows people to go through a bunch of them and learn about the experiences. One certainly must be in decent shape as once you start, you have to continue the full way. If you’re obese, then make sure you pass on this. It’s made for small or thin people.

One thing to note. I’m not sure which tunnels (if any) were truly used, or just recreations of the originals. The sides and tops are all some sort of concrete, probably for safety and longevity for tours as they would not do well in heavy rainy seasons. It does not hinder the experience. If anything, it’s probably better to know they are safe and reinforced for all to pass through securely.

We did all the standard things there and learned a lot. I knew a lot of it already, and the various traps were of course disturbing to see, but it was a war, and being fought either with bullets and bombs, or pits with bamboo spikes at the bottom. Just a bad time in history for all.

One nice takeaway was trying tapioca. For some reason, I only associated it with pudding and not one I like(d), but perhaps I actually would now. But the cooked original root they served us was quite tasty and something I wouldn’t mind eating again.

After four or five passages through tunnels, my legs were rubber, but it was also time to return. They had us pass through one final gift shop (normal in any country) and then back to the bus, where cold water was waiting. The temperature was quite nice for me that day. We loaded up and drove back to Saigon. Once back in the city, we got dropped off in town so we could return to the Vietnamese street food place that had excellent meals.

I believe it was the Vietnamese pancakes. This time we had no guide to help out, but they seemed to understand most of our order okay. Service was a lot slower this time, though maybe it was due to not being in the tour group as well. I imagine they want to really be on their game for those occasions. Perhaps a little less pressing in other situations.

After lunch we walked around a while. I met up with Bri and Elaine to visit a propaganda poster store, which was pretty fun. They had albums with the vast array of posters from decades past. Many were quite amusing or creative. No, not something I would be. Heck, I could probably locate one online and color print at home if I wished to have one, but still fun to look and the girls bought a few, helping out their business.

Afterwards, Terry and Lesly caught up and we continued walking. We headed over to the hotel building to explore the rooftop restaurant that we would be spending New Year’s Eve at the next night. The sunset was quite impressive so we snapped some photos up there. Then back to the Airbnb to relax and rest.