Cu Chi Tunnels: Ho Chi Minh City Day Six

Today we went on our first day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Even though the tunnels were strategic military grounds that allowed the Vietnamese to fight wars on their own soil, they have now become a tourist site that people like us can visit. A little away from the city, we took a bus a few hours north of Ho Chi Minh to reach the tunnels.

Before going through some of the tunnels, we were given a demonstration about the American War from the Vietnamese perspective. They showed a promotional video from back during the war which was pretty anti American, but it's understandable since we were at war with them. They also explained how elaborate the tunnels were from an engineering perspective. To design a system completely underground that can serve as not only a living space, but also a hospital and offensive point for the Vietnamese would have been incredibly hard. They even engineered ways to hide smoke from fires through multiple chambers so that it would dissipate before reaching the surface.We got to go through some of the tunnels, and even though they have been enlarged, the spaces were still extremely cramped.

After a tiring day at the tunnels, we ate lunch on a nearby boat on the Saigon river. There were several dishes with rice, and the soup that we had was very similar to one that my mother makes at home.

On the way back, we visited a memorial cemetery for any Vietnamese who has died in any wars. The graves extended as far as the eye could see, and from the giant obelisk in the center, it was obvious that the Vietnamese respected their fallen. Apparently, the obelisk in the center of the memorial is recreated all across Vietnam to show respect and memorialize the dead.

After returning to the hotel and resting for a bit, we went out to eat with our Vietnamese friends. They took us to a restaurant called Com Cali that apparently is based off of cuisine eaten by Vietnamese that live in California. I ordered a rice dish with different side dishes, which gave me a sample of everything that I could have ordered.

Afterwards, we spent our time exploring the city for awhile, but because of the long day at the tunnels, we soon went back to the hotel to sleep until the next day.