Vietnam Day 6 – Ho Chi Minh and the Cu Chi tunnels

Friday 28th October 2022

Today we had an early start as we got picked up at 7.30am for our tour to Cu Chi tunnels, which I booked via Facebook. We met Long, our tour guide (or friend, as he preferred to be called), and I was immediately impressed by how fluent his English was. As we drove in the minibus to pick up other passengers, we chatted and I was surprised when he said visiting the UK or US was unfortunately not an option for him, as his government were very strict at issuing visas, apparently due to fears that citizens may run away and not return to Vietnam. He was very open and honest and was happy to answer any questions – as long as they were asked within the safety of the minibus.

It’s quite a long drive to the Cu Chi tunnels, so we stopped along the way at Sơn Mài Lâm Phát, a handicrafts place where all the workers are handicapped as a result or the Vietnam War, either due to land mines or the effects of agent orange. We walked through the centre and watched them at work, producing beautiful lacquer paintings inlaid with mother of pearl and eggshells. The works were expensive, but 60% of the profits go towards supporting disabled and handicapped people. If it wasn’t for our tight luggage restrictions (we’ll have several budget airline flights during our travels, so are limited to a meagre 7kg total weight) we may well have purchased something to take home.

We arrived at the tunnels and Long led us to a patch of inconspicuous looking earth under a tree. It was quite remarkable when the leaves were brushed aside to reveal a hidden entrance to a (very small) tunnel! Long asked for volunteers to go inside. After the initial silence, Pete (ever enthusiastic) was the first to volunteer. I think he was very disappointed to be told “no, you won’t fit”. It was probably for the best, as the middle aged Australian guy, with a considerably smaller paunch, got stuck! Luckily Pete was on hand to help hoist him out (he fortunately has the strength to match his size), to which Long looked visibly relieved. You can see from my photos below, it’s a tight squeeze for the average westerner – even a fairly petite girl like myself felt quite snug!

The next stop on the tour was an American tank, which had basically been captured and kept as a trophy. Long explained to us that the Vietcong made good use of it – using the battery to provide electricity, bombs and weapons to take and modify for weapons of their own, and some of the metal for various other uses.

Long also explained some of the numertraps set by the Vietcong, all of which sounded very unpleasant and mainly involved various bamboo spikes or nails carefully arranged to cause maximum pain and damage when an unsuspecting American fell in.

After the tank, we got to enter a tunnel that everyone in the group could fit into. Apparently it’s been enlarged (and also had lighting and ventilation fitted) especially for tourists. Even with those modifications, it felt pretty claustrophobic, so I hate to imagine what it must’ve been like for the Vietcong (especially with bombs going off etc!). Along the tunnel, there were exit points every 20 metres. Long said he was impressed most of our group made it to 80 metres, as apparently the majority of tourists bail out after just 20 metres. It’s worth going the full stretch, as you get to go a bit deeper underground.

After crawling along the tunnel it was time to see the kitchen. It’s cleverly built so the smoke has to travel through underground chambers before it’s released outside, meaning it’s cooled down and stays close to the ground where it’s less visible. They also tended to cook very early in the morning, so the smoke is hidden by the morning mists.

We then got to try some of the Vietcong food – boiled tapioca. Extremely bland and very dry tasting. Apparently this was pretty much the only food they ate (sometimes supplementing by dog meat, when they managed to capture and kill the US army sniffer dogs…..)

This concluded our trip, and we drove back to Ho Chi Minh City. It was fascinating seeing the tunnels, and Long’s commentary and stories definitely added to the experience. We are dropped off near the War Remnants Museum, so went to have a look inside.

In the courtyard outside are various US army planes and tanks, which were cool to look at. Inside was interesting but a bit depressing. The ground floor was all about opposition to the war, both within the US and in other countries around the world. The higher floors mainly showed the horrendous effects of US bombing and soldiers massacring entire villages, with an entire room dedicated to agent orange. I had no idea the effects were so long lasting, even today children are being born with disabilities and missing limbs due to the genetic effects being passed down through generations. The photos were all very graphic and very moving.

A smaller neighbouring building told the story of the political prisons, and the various torture methods and punishments the US used. Again, it was interesting but not the most uplifting experience.

As we exited the museum a guy selling coconuts jokingly made Pete carry them for him. I think we quite enjoyed the experience, and we did feel a little bad for one purchasing one (which is obviously what the vendor wanted, but we didn’t particularly want one).

We walked to Ben Thanh Market, a very famous Saigon market and popular tourist destination. To be honest, I’m sure not sure what all the fuss is about. It felt very touristy (perhaps unsurprisingly) and you couldn’t take two steps without being pestered by pretty much every stall owner.

Across the road was a Bahn Mi seller, cooking some balls on sticks on a grill. They smelt really good. Plus it was late afternoon and we’d not really eaten, so we got one to share. I think it was some kind of fish, but whatever it was was very tasty (not quite as good as yesterday’s though)

About 10 minutes down the road, we passed another Bahn mi seller with a huuuuge queue of locals, as well as a constant stream of motorcycles coming to collect takeaways. Ok, this must be good, we couldn’t not give it a go.

We got one to share, and it didn’t disappoint! Definitely the top Bahn mi of our trip so far, some kind of grilled pork I think.

We then continued to Bui Vien Walking Street. It’s apparently famous, and we thought it’d be a good place to get an early evening drink. From the name Walking Street, I was expecting a very pedestrian friendly road. But no, there was the usual melee of motorcycles. We grabbed a beer at Cà Phê Lá Vàng, it’s got three floors so we went to the top and watched the street life below.

We then went across the road to Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang for dinner. The restaurant only serves noodle soups, and they were very good soups!