Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We have to meet at the tourist information shop at 08:00am today for our tour around the Chu Chi tunnels so we were awake pretty early. I bought some trousers last night, a maroon pair of the elephant trousers so that if i had to do any crawling, no dirt would get into my knee. Although i won't even be able to rest any weight on my knee as it still really hurts.
We were the first ones on the minibus when it came so we sat at the back and were happy to feel the soft, cold breeze of the air conditioning on our brows which were already perspiring even though it wasn't even 09:00! A load more others got on the mini bus with us and we were off on our journey. The first stop we made was to a small workshop where people with disabilities sat at their own tables and were creating pieces of art. I saw a few women delicately placing cracked pieces of egg shell onto a canvas in a particular pattern. After walking through the workshop, we went through to the shop. There were aisle after aisle of famous paintings recreated on square pieces of hard, shiny material. There were beautiful trinket boxes and those big privacy blinds with gorgeous colours and images painted on. I wanted to buy a small tile of the painting by that german artist of the woman being embraced by her lover as they both stand under a long drape of gold but i only brought enough money for entry to the tunnels and snacks.
I had lost a few people from my group so went out the exit in the hope that i would spot them outside, i saw Daniel sitting down smoking. I also saw a man who was at the museum yesterday who looks exactly like Dan from The Only Way Is Essex and i think he recognised me too. He was with a woman who must be his girlfriend but her face is a bit haggard she looks like she could be his mum! He could do a lot better is what i'm saying as she had a face like a smacked arse every time i look at her, no wonder he was going around the museum on his own yesterday. Dan and i couldn't recognise anyone from our minibus so we walked around the corner where there were many others waiting until we saw our tour guide come for us and gestured us onto our bus. The dan lookalike was also on my bus but i hadn't noticed before.
We continued our journey to the Chu Chi tunnels and as i was gazing out of the window i imagined it was the 70s and i could picture a line of American tanks making their way down the road we were on, passing the perfectly alined forest of trees and into their military base. We had to pay 90,000D for the entry fee to the tunnels which is around $4.50, not bad for experiencing the hide out of many villagers during the war. We went around with our group looking at exits and entrances to the tunnel which were so small it was amazing anyone would fit down there. We learned tricks that the villagers would use incase of being tracked by americans; they would wear reversible sandals that you could turn 180 degrees so that if your footprint were being tracked, they would lead the troops to the opposite direction to which you were heading because the sole of the shoe made it look as if you were going backward but actually you were moving forward.
We went to look at a tank also, but there were so many tours going on with so many people we didn't get the chance to take a photo. While our group moved onto the shooting range, dan and I ran back to the tank and were lucky that there was no one there so we climbed up and took photos. As Daniel was pushing himself onto the tank with his leg he shorts ripped right neat the crotch which made me laugh. He always seems to get the short end of the straw, but i have no sympathy ahahaha. Once we got an adequate amount of photos on the beastly tank we quickly walked back hoping we would be able to find our tour group, which we did, only just.
It's so annoying going around in a group as you can't do things at your own pace and people are always huddled around something you want to look at so you never actually end you seeing whatever it was you paid to. We then headed underground through the real tunnels that were used. Our tour guide said that sometimes they would be underground for as long as three days with no air which was difficult as it gets so hot in the tunnels. We followed one another down the steps and under the ground, the ceiling was very, very low and the tunnel wasn't too wide either, i cooked up a sweat walking through which made you realise just how hard it must have been to detain yourself underground for so long in the hope that the Americans don't shoot. The group sat on a long table where we drank green tea and cooked cassava with a ground peanut and sugar seasoning. Cassava is all the villagers would eat, unless they were able to trap one of the american war dogs. We also learned about all the boobey traps that were set for the Americans using trap doors and sharp sticks of bamboo.
We made our way back onto the minibus to travel back into the city. We got back at around 13:45 which meant we still had a whole half day to do something. We went back to our hotel to chill out for a bit before heading back out into the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City. It was dark when we left the room and as neither of us had eaten anything (except a bit of cassava) we decided to look for somewhere to eat. There aren't many vietnamese food stalls in the area, just loads of bars and restaurants offering western ad Vietnamese food but in the end we settled on an Indian.
We ordered Chicken masala and Chicken Dopiaza with vegetable samosas, rice and naan bread (yes, rice AND naan) which was yummy when it came, not the best indian we've had and certainly not the cheapest but it wasn't bad. Also the Dan lookalike and his grandmother girlfriend also came in to eat. After dinner, we went for a walk to find dessert and we spotted a donut shop that we passed before so we both got one. There were dozens of ringed goodness decorated with all sorts, chocolate, marshmallows, jelly sweets, jam, cream and so much more! We also went to Sozo for cake and i went for a brownie this time. I bought the top with the buddah and headphones on it in a speckled mauve colour which is the one Dan wanted but he assured me it was fine if i had it as he liked many other designs, of course he kicked up a stink about it later which was inevitable knowing him. We got back to the room and chilled out and ate our desserts.
- comments