Day 11

Today was our trip to Cu Chi! It’s about an hour or an hour and a half away, so we all had to wake up earlier than usual to catch the bus there. Our tour guide greeted us this morning. He was a very chipper man and kept referring to us as his family. I took a nice nap on the ride there. Cu Chi is a poorer town than Ho Chi Minh City. It was mostly farmland and many of the houses were old and falling apart. It seemed like a nice and quiet place to live except that it was unclean. The site where we were visiting was completely in the woods. We walked around and along the way, there were small stations where we would stop. First, we watched a short video about the history of the tunnels. During the war, both civilians and fighters would use the tunnels to travel as well as a safe place to stay. It was very unpleasant because it was almost always hot and smelly. I also noticed that this area is more communist than in the city. We went in this underground hut to watch it. I’m surprised they managed to get electricity in there. The video was very biased and called Americans a bunch of crazies when they mentioned the US used bombs on women, children and livestock. Other than that, it was very informational. They had mentioned beforehand that there may be snakes and a lot of bugs there. There were many centipede-looking things crawling around.

After the video, we started walking around. We saw some of their traps the Viet Cong would use. One was a bamboo trap door on the ground. When an American fighter would step on it, they would fall into the ground which has bamboo spikes that are usually covered in poison or feces. There were so many different traps and tools they used that weren’t very technical, but they were lethal. They were mostly just made of wood and bamboo spikes. They also showed us the tunnels that ran for miles underground. We were able to walk through a small path underground that wasn’t too deep or far. I didn’t expect it to be so cramped. They expanded these to accommodate all the husky tourists, but it was still difficult to move around. It was complete darkness. We had a leader with a flashlight and at times, I still couldn’t see. Apparently, there were bugs and centipedes along the wall which I’m glad I didn’t notice while walking through otherwise, I would’ve sprinted out of there. Everyone else liked crawling through that cramped and bug infested tunnel, so they turned around and went through again. I took a pass. I went for the experience and once was enough. Afterwards, we just walked around some more. It was like a day hiking in the woods.  

One of the traps at Cu Chi

Once we were done at Cu Chi, we took another hour drive to Tay Ninh and visited a Cao Dai temple. Cao Dai is a type of religion that is a combination of many religions. It includes Buddhism, Christianity and a few more. We were able to walk into the temple and view a service. There was music going one while the women and men in white traditional outfits filed out into the main room. They sat cross-legged as the music continues and they bow at the sound of gongs. I didn’t understand much about what was going on, but it was very interesting to see. The people in charge were very strict. We had to walk a certain path to get in and to go out. Also, we weren’t allowed to walk across the front of the temple during the service.

The temple in Cao Dai

Next, we went to lunch at a street vendor. I ordered fried rice and practically inhaled it. I was so hungry. I don’t know if we could trust any of that food since we were outside of the city in a poor town. Their water source may not be so clean, but even so, I didn’t care because I was starving. That was our last stop, so once everyone was done, we took another 2 hour drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. I took a nice long nap on the way back, but the bus isn’t too comfy.

We didn’t have much time to rest before we went to Ben Thanh market again with the UEF kids. I actually bought a lot of items this time. I got a few souvenirs for friends and family and a rice hat for myself. I bought almost everything in sight because I didn’t want to leave without buying something.

Lunch was at this small restaurant. I forget the name, but it served American food. Most people got the steak. Some were brave enough to try the ostrich. I ordered spaghetti, but I got noodles with garlic sauce. I guess they call that spaghetti here. But it was still very good. I also had crème brule which I didn’t know was a pastry made of egg and a sugar coating. It was good the first few bites, then I couldn’t handle it anymore. We all chipped in to pay for the UEF students today since they’ve done so much for us these past 2 weeks. It was the least we could do.

Tonight is our last night to enjoy Ho Chi Minh City. Tomorrow night we need we’re leaving around 2 pm, so there won’t be much time to go out. Hopefully we figure out what we want to do. I guess that’s all for today. (Blogs have started to become a real pain).