Ok, now you need to get out of the Saigon City for awhile to Cu Chi Tunnel. Cu Chi tunnel is the most interesting place to see around Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Cu Chi tunnel was used to be more than 200 km long. It is a multiple tunnel systems that was dug by Viet Cong (Vietnamese communists) during French and America Wars. At fist, Vietnamese just dug a small tunnel just for one person to hide away from their enemies then later they found out that it could be much better if the could link these tunnels together and what they had made is the whole complex of tunnels under ground. There were meeting rooms; making weapon areas, hospitals …the daily life of Vietnamese people had to move under ground. Vietnamese created a lot of deathly traps to protect themselves from their enemies. You will be shocked by how human being manage to survive and kill each other in that way. But it is really worth to see that because it is a part of Vietnam’s history and it show how sorrow is the war and may be human being will have better behavior to one another and stop fighting each other. It does not matter who win but both suffer from sorrow that will never heal.
The entrance fee to Cu Chi Tunnel is 5 usd per person. There will be a tour guide from Cu Chi Tunnel administration board will accompany you and explain a bit about the tunnel (not much as they do not speak much English). There are bullets for sales in Cu Chi Tunnel (25.000 vnd / bullet) and you can try the AK47, the gun that Vietnamese used during the war. You can also see how they make rice wine and rice paper. There are not much souvenirs to buy, just some books, T-shirts and some VC hats. In the end of the excursion, you will get to the kitchen area where they will serve you some special tea and steam tapioca. It is nice to taste a bit to see how Vietnamese people ate at that time so you will understand more about their life during the war.
One thing that you cannot miss in Cu Chi Tunnel is crawling inside the tunnel. It is scary at first but it brings you the real feeling about living in the tunnel without sun and not enough air.
How to get to Cu Chi Tunnel? There are public busses starting from Bus station in District1, right in front of Ben Thanh Market. The fare is about 5.000 vnd. It would take you alost two hours to get there and I bet you do not like these bus much as you may find the local people are a bit noisy on the bus to Cu Chi Tunnel. And of course waiting for that is another story to tell.
An other way to get there is taxi but it will be a bit expensive or you can join the tours to Cu Chi tunnel offering by some travel desk just around Pham Ngu Lao Street with very cheap price but do not expect much from them. You should treat your tour as transportation and you still have to pay for the entrance fee any way. Those companies provide very lousy tour guides so do not bother to ask much, find the book and about it is much better idea.
If you really want to have a good tour to Cu Chi Tunnel, get a private Cu Chi tour with private guide you probably have to pay more but it is worth it since you want to know more about the war in Vietnam.
Roy Bui, Bluebell Tours Vietnam
