Today we took a day trip outside of the city to see the Vietnam countryside. There were two destinations - the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta. It was a very long day but we felt it was important to experience more of the country. We were accompanied on the trip by a couple from New Zealand (Peter and Bridget) and two young women from Spain (Teresa and Patricia). In yet another small world occurrence, they were from Valencia which is where Matt studied abroad with FSU for a semester. We visited Matt at the end of his semester and were able to see their beautiful city. It was fun sharing some of our memories. They are really missing Spanish food - especially paella - on this trip :)
The drive to Cu Chi Tunnels took ~2 hours. Along the trip our guide shared a lot of the history around the tunnels and the war. The tunnels were used by the Viet Cong (North Vietnamese) to hide from the South Vietnamese and American troops. The Cu Chi area is basically a jungle and located north of Saigon. The tunnels were dug by hand and there were three levels. Although we sometimes hear that people lived in the tunnels for years, this wasn't really the case. Instead they were mainly used by the soldiers between the ages of 14 - 45 during the day to hide. It was definitely another emotional day especially with all of the discussion about the war. As Craig said, 'their reality is different than our reality'. I thought that was a great perspective. It was also a good reminder about how much the media, the writers of our history books and our teachers shape our views. Having the opportunity to see and experience things first hand vs through the lens of someone else was interesting.
The tunnels were incredibly small. They have widened some of them for tourists - as we couldn't fit into the original ones which were very narrow. Here's a picture that shows the entrance size to one of the original ones - yep it's the square you see in the middle. Not much wider than a piece of paper.
Craig was brave and went into the first one to take a couple of pictures. Our guide said there were bats in the connecting tunnels so I decided to stay on top of the ground. Of course he didn't share this information until Craig was already down in the hole snapping pictures :). Craig didn't get a picture of any bats - but there were several scorpions visible on the tunnel walls revealed by the flashlights - pretty creepy! The last picture is a zoomed in shot from the picture he took. This was the area literally right above his shoulder. He was glad he didn't see them until safely out of the tunnel.
I did join Craig on a crawl through one of the tunnels - we went for 40 meters - it felt much much longer. You start off walking down some steep stairs before starting the actual tunnel - it was narrow and low. Craig had to crawl on his belly. I was able to do a crab walk - but it kept getting narrower and by the end I was barely able to make it through without crawling as well. At that point, Peter and I were ready to get out when given the chance. Craig was considering going on but the guide in the tunnel told him to exit - he knew the tunnel was getting smaller. Teresa and Patricia continued. They only went 10 more meters - and also came up. They could have gone 50 more meters but had enough. They said it kept getting narrower and they were sliding along on their bellies but felt very closed in - they are both petite girls so we can only imagine.
After the tunnels we were very hot and exhausted. It was nice to take a break for lunch. We were served a typical Vietnamese lunch with soup, rice, spring rolls, roast chicken and pork.
After lunch we loaded back in the van for another 2 hour drive to the Mekong Delta. Along the way we saw a lot of the countryside and different villages. Many of the people live in poverty - it was difficult to see the conditions. It was also very sad to see all of the trash - literally everywhere. It is piled on the sides of the roads - but even worse it is in their rivers which are so dirty.
We finally arrived at the Mekong Delta and went on a small boat ride over to an island. Even though it is a tourist destination there is a lot of authenticity to the experience. On the boat ride over we were treated to coconut water still in the coconut - it was actually quite tasty.
On the island we started with a very fast ride on a small tram going backwards through traffic / walkers. It was an adventure.
We toured the island and had an opportunity to try some different food made locally. One thing they are known for is their honey which they use to make different candies. They have several bee farms on the island and our guide showed us one of the hives - I stayed back (way back) - but Craig was right next to it.
We then had the ride back to the city which was another 2 hours. I mentioned yesterday all of the motorbikes. I tried to get a picture to show some of the craziness.
We were very happy to be back at the hotel. Over the course of the two days we were able to experience a lot of the city / country. It was often difficult, especially for Craig, but it was good. We don't have a tour tomorrow and have decided we are going to relax and decompress staying at / near our hotel. Looking forward to it.
Hope your days are going great and that you are enjoying the ride even when (or maybe especially when) it's a crazy ride.
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