April is a good time to visit HCM as it is not the rainy season. So I was surprised to wake up to a thunderstorm on the very day that I’ve arranged for a tour! With much prayer, the rain stopped after breakfast. So the tour guide walked around nearby hotels to gather tourists who had booked the tour through their respective hotels. The cheapest tour rate found online is 45 usd, but the tour we booked through the hotel costs 6 usd only!!
Around 9 a.m. we started off towards Chu Chi tunnel. The bumpy journey took about 2 hours. An hour into the bus ride, we stopped by the factory where the handicapped produces handicrafts. These workers are those who were handicapped by the war or children of soldiers who fought in the war. The stuff sold here is quoted in usd and are very expensive.
Around 9 a.m. we started off towards Chu Chi tunnel. The bumpy journey took about 2 hours. An hour into the bus ride, we stopped by the factory where the handicapped produces handicrafts. These workers are those who were handicapped by the war or children of soldiers who fought in the war. The stuff sold here is quoted in usd and are very expensive.
The entrance fee to the Chu Chi tunnel is 80,000 vietnamese dong. We were shown the bomb craters, booby traps, and the tunnel. Tourists get the chance to try out the various guns at the shooting range but we must buy at least 10 bullets. After much walking, we reached the tunnel entrance and we get to ‘crawl’ through the tunnel. It was really narrow and dark. Imagine how hard it was for the ang mo to go through the tunnel, when I, being so petite had such difficulty getting through. After sweating through the tunnel ‘adventure’, we were led to the multimedia shed to watch a 15 minutes clip to learn more about the history of the tunnel.
On the way back, the bus driver dropped us near the War Remnants Museum. Here, there are a lot of exhibits about the wars, photos by war reporters, children’s paintings on war and peace, weapons, planes and tanks used during the wars, and a souvenir shop.
After the museum, we walked to the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. Next, we went to the Diamond Plaza. However, the things here are more suitable for the rich. We didn’t get to buy anything and took a cab back to the hotel. At night we simply walked back to the night market for more bargains.
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