Tunnels and the Mekong Delta

One of the tourist attractions in the Saigon region is the Cu Chi Tunnels, a subterranean web of tunnels that the Viet Cong built during the war that was home to hospitals, kitchens, and armouries, stretching all the way to Cambodian border! Despite knowing that the tour would be crammed with people, I decided that $5 was a great price to go and visit a part of modern history. On the way to the tunnels the bus stopped at a few places where we had to get off... after a while you get used to being expected to potentially buy something but that doesn't mean it doesn't get tiring. This time around we stopped at a factory where disabled people made decorative homeware (plates, screens, paintings etc.). We walked around looking at people doing their work - imagine someone coming to your office and walking around, camera in hand - then were ushered through a shop and, after a while, back on to the bus.

To get to the tunnels you first have to pay two different entrance fees. Tourists milled around like confused bees... Then there is a 'trek' through the 'jungle' (read walk through some sparse woods). Disregarding the whole mass-tourist feel of the place, I must admit that I was rather impressed - being shown the small tiny places where the Vietnamese soldiers hid from the mighty U.S. army, the ingenious (and ghastly) traps they made, the air holes they constructed and concealed... these were some clever, determined people. My favourite part of the tour was having the chance to walk in the tunnels themselves. There were 3 different levels during the war - one closer to the surface, the second underneath then the third which were even smaller than the previous two, and deeper...with an escape into the Saigon River. The first section we went in had been made bigger for westerners though we were still crouched over and shuffled slowly along, the tunnels dimly lit by low wattage bulbs. The second level was far smaller, and only 5 of us went down. On hands and knees we crawled through the darkness (it was pitch black), down slopes, around corners, over puddles and through some rather tight places. Although I knew people were behind me, and others in front, I felt rather alone down there and, at times, had to calm myself down in the pitch black. There were no reference points other than my hands on the floor and the feel of the walls near my shoulders, my knees rubbing on the floor. I just kept telling myself that I would not be trapped down there, crawling around forever. To think that the soldiers not only built such a tunnel system but moved around them so fast and stayed in them so long (normally up to 8 hours a day) is incredible. Even more incredible is that, at the tunnel site, you can fire AK47s, M1s, machine guns and more! I was hoping to find a rocket launcher there (don't ask) but in the end didn't even fire a small gun as you have to pay for the bullets...the price shown per bullet doesn't seem that bad, but when you add it up (have to buy a round of 10), it comes to about $15. So no shooting range for me.

The next day was another early start, this time to go on an overnight trip to the Mekong Delta. Sold as the place where 'the country comes alive' I was expecting to see lots of rice fields, buffalo and horse-drawn carts. Instead I discovered coconut candy, tourist traps, the Vegas of the Mekong Delta and the unbridled joys of ... the Bonsai Gardens! ;) Having met some really nice people on the tour, we enjoyed meals together and chatted a lot on the long, bumpy, beepy bus rides around the place. I was very excited to go to Cai Rang, a floating market, on the second day of the tour. Having woken up very early in order to be ready and breakfasted at 7:15am, the group walked to the pier and were taken on a boat trip up the river. The market was...smaller than we expected but still a great thing to witness - farmers bring their products to the market, advertising their wares by sticking an example on a long pole in front of the boat. They stay at the market for 3-5 days until they sell all their stuff, and take other products back to their villages. Potatoes, pumpkins, cabbages and other wholesale fruit and vegetable items were plentiful, and even though the season meant there were less vendors, it was a worthwhile trip. And now I have coconut candy to eat on long bus trips!