Today we went to see the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are a network of underground tunnels that were built by the villagers of Cu Chi to escape the Vietnamese war. It was amazing how clever they were to dodge the American soldiers, and some of the traps that they left on the surface were genius, but a bit gruesome.... We had the chance to go down into some of the openings of the tunnels, which were tiny, so I didn't try it but Si wiggled himself in to a couple.... We also climbed into an american tank, which had been destroyed by a bomb.... We then went on to the shooting range and bought some bullets for an AK47 to share.... I was quite nervous at the idea of me being in charge of a gun, especially with how clumsy I can be, but luckily it's attached to the wall. We shot at the target, and I'm pretty sure I was nowhere near it, but it was great fun! After the shooting, we crawled through one of the tunnels. It was horrible! They were tiny, and I know Vietnamese people are small, but this tunnel had already been widened! I literally crawled through, and came out filthy! We watched some of the rubber footwear being made, similar to the ones the Vietnamese army used to wear. The design of the shoes was so that the footprints that were left looked like they were walking the other way! Genius! After the tunnels we went for lunch at a local restaurant. Instead of Tho ordering for us like he normally does, he let us order, and it was chaos! The staff couldn't speak a word of English, and of course, when everyone else had got theirs, we realised they'd forgotten mine. Always mine! When it did eventually come, it was delish though. Si tried some crocodile in spring rolls, which he said was really tasty! After lunch, we went to see the Royal Palace, which seemed a bit pointless, and even Tho didn't care about it, as he said about two rooms "in this room there's some stuff, and then there's another room too." Excellent tour guide skills. We went on to the Vietnam war museum, which I found really interesting, but really sad too. The Americans were so brutal to any Vietnamese people they came across, and there was even a story about them killing an elderly couple and their grandchildren, the youngest was 6 and was disembowelled. And it wasn't just physical violence, they dropped agent orange from the sky, which was an acid that would burn their skin, and has caused hundreds of children to be born disfigured and mentally ill. Its awful. I still don't fully understand why they were doing it, so bought a book from the giftshop, which turned out be a photocopy of an original, but is still readable! On the way back, we went to the local market to buy some chopsticks, since I know how to use them now. It was chaos, people everywhere, and they literally push you out of the way! Rude! We're back at the hotel now, getting ready for Tho's farewell meal, it will be sad! We'll let you know how we get on!
Emma x