Almost A Week

Cu Chi Tunnels today. For those of you that don't know, these are the complex underground tunnels the Vietcong made and used throughout the war. They're located out in the countryside, so on our drive we passed rice patties, rubber tree plantations, water buffalo, and emaciated cows.

 Patties

Rubber Trees

A few water buffalo

In the city, it feels like any other urban area, and its hard to picture where the war could've taken place. Once we got outside the city a little bit, I really started to feel like I was in Forrest Gump-like territory, and it was an eerie feeling. It's hard to not think about the war out there, and I found it difficult to thoroughly enjoy my day, when there was so much suffering right where I was standing only a few years before.

The tunnels were a once in a lifetime experience. We got to climb though a few different tunnels, and enter one through an entrance the Vietcong would've used, which I barely fit through. You had to crouch down and try to keep up with the tour guide, who was a pro at scurrying through the small spaces. The tunnels opened up into rooms at different points, and they had fake people acting out scenes, which scared me every single time. The crazy thing was that there were parts of the tunnel that weren't part of the tour, but also weren't blocked off, so you could easily take a wrong turn and explore the vast tunnels, at your own risk. There were bats at a few points in the tunnel, and keep in mind they are 3 feet high and there's really no turning around to escape, so you have to keep going through. Also, you know the scene in Harry Potter where Mad Eye Moody performs the unforgivable curses on that little spider thing? That spider is real, and a little bigger, and lives in the Cu Chi Tunnels. Greg has a picture on his blog I think, and its the scariest picture ever.

Me

Fake people scene

Spinning bamboo trap

So yeah the Cu Chi tunnels were crazy. Really my favorite event so far. This was also when we first got to really experience how hot it actually is in Vietnam. The whole week we really only had to walk from the bus to an air conditioned building, and we thought that was bad enough. But being outside with no AC relief for like 6 hours was rough. A few people puked. Still the highlight of the trip, though.

Lunch was on the Saigon River and was pretty good. It was a nice break from the food we have at UEF every other day.

This was the view.

For dinner, me, Sam, and Clarissa went to a place called monsoon that served really really good authentic food from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It looked pretty ritzy so we felt out of place but it was also pretty empty. That seems to be the trend here.

Behind me is the ritzy dinner place. Things that are pretentious are mixed right in with the locals on the streets.