Vietnam Cambodia Thailand 2024: Nov 30 Cuchi tunnels tour

Another exciting day started at 7 for breakfast then 8 for a tour 75km from Saigon to the famous Cuchi tunnels. On the way we stopped at a factory where victims of the agent orange used during the Vietnam war, work making seashell and egg shell pictures on vases, plaques, jewelry boxes etc. The artistic designs were incredible. Then we ventured on to the Cuchi tunnels where we got to go underground and see where the Vietcong hid and lived during the Vietnam war. There are over 250 km of tunnels but we only went into 3. We had to crouch down to walk through them. It was absolutely amazing, and surreal to think the people lived like this for over 20 years of the war. The tunnels were completely dug out by hand and actually started in the 1940s. There was a hospital, dining area, and an area where they made weapons from the American artillery etc. Besides the obvious entrances, we saw the hidden hatches they used to escape from the enemies. The Vietnamese people were very resourceful when it came to fighting. A cold beer was had in the jungle after about an hour of checking out the tunnels, then on to Saigon for lunch at a typical Vietnamese restaurant. It was on a river used by the Vietcong to move along under the water using bamboo pipes for breathing tubes. It was so surreal being exactly where the war took place. Such thick jungle and windy rivers. Back to the center of Saigon to the war museum where we learned the view of the war from the perspective of the Vietnamese. So sad to see the fall out of the innocent villagers and children. Many people today still have the effects of the agent orange and other chemical warfare used by the Americans. Then back to our hotel around 5 for a relax at Brenda and Garnets room and down for a pizza and burger supper by the pool restaurant. After a dip in the pool I’m back in my room for the evening ready to tour the Mekong delta tomorrow.