Today started as usual with a Vietnamese iced coffee at a nearby coffee shop. Lunch consisted of a Grab-delivered Banh Mi that I consumed in the park across from the coffee shop. This Banh Mi was much better than my first one here. It was stuffed with considerably more meat as well as some warm gooey paste I didn't recognize. The meal even came with a sweet passionfruit drink.
Around 1 PM, I was picked up from my hotel and joined the tour group for the Cu Chi Tunnels tour. The bus ride took about 2 hours to reach tunnels dug out by the Viet Cong in the forests Northwest of Saigon. Our tour guide Jo, aka Alice, entertained us with information about the Vietnamese language, the tunnels and Vietnam war, and the proper way to cross the street in Vietnam. She even threw in some good jokes. I learned Vietnamese was influenced by multiple cultures including the Chinese and French and contains 6 tones. Even one mispronounced tone could lead to undesirable results and confused faces.
Before arriving at the tunnels, the tour briefly stopped at a rest stop for a restroom and coffee break, even though we were only like 30 minutes away from Cu Chi. It was a bit of a tourist trap with local, disabled artists selling mosaic paintings made with broken egg shells.
We reached Cu Chi Tunnels shortly after. Our first stop was a display of the different artillery and bombs used as well as the differences in the American-made M16 and Russian-made AK47. Jo told us the M16 excelled in accuracy, while the AK47 could be submerged halfway underwater and still fire.
From there, we were shown all the different torture devices and booby traps. The worst one arguably was the armpit piercer that would catch the fallen victim in the armpits. The spikes were hooked in such a way to rip part of the victim's lungs out when they were rescued. It wasn't so much about killing the enemy with these traps as it was to incapacitate and slow down the enemy force.
After some more maps, holes and a destroyed US Army M41 tank that had tourist climbing on it like a play set, we reached the shooting range. This felt a little out of place. The Cu Chi tunnels were about the indomitable spirit of the Viet Cong and the efforts they had to go through to stay alive from the US assault and bombings. And here in the middle of the jungle was loud firing from assault rifles and machine guns. I guess most of these tourists are coming from countries where they can't own guns, so I get the appeal. Also at 60,000 dong (or $2.44) per bullet, I wasn't too tempted to shoot. I would have liked to try the M16 though.
Anyways, after this bit of absurdity, we finally made it the main attraction, the tunnels. In total, one can go 100 meters or almost the length of a football field in the tunnels. However, there are openings at 20 meter intervals that allow one to escape if necessary. I made it to the 60 meter mark before I got a bit claustrophobic and chickened out. The tunnel narrows as it goes on. I wasn't about to test it with these wide shoulders. I spent a couple minutes at most down in the tunnels. I can't imagine how these VC managed to survive for so long down there. And we were at the shallowest of the tunnels at 3 meters. The deepest tunnels reached a depth of 12 meters.
For dinner, I tried another signature Vietnamese dish called Com tam suon nuong, which is Vietnamese pork chops served with broken rice. The broken rice almost reminded me of couscous. It was sticky and easy to eat with chopsticks. The pork chop was thin with a sweet marinade. There was also a side sauce, similar to the one I had in Bangkok, that was delicious over the rice. I believe this sauce is made with fish sauce, sugar, and some chili peppers. The dish also featured sweet Chinese sausage and a fried egg. It was a solid dinner to finish off my stay in Saigon.
Tomorrow, I'm headed up the coast to Da Nang. I'm excited for some beach time.
Other notes:
Ho Chi Minh City has to be the city with the most motorbikes. I thought Bangkok was nuts, but this is a whole different level. And the amount of honking is absurd. It's like its own language.