Today, we visited a famous battle site from the Vietnam war between North and South Vietnam. The Americans were helping South Vietnam in hopes of avoiding another communist country. The Americans withdrew their forces after four years of war. This resulted in victory for Northern Vietnam and a communist country.
We toured the Cu Chi tunnels from the Vietnam War. They are a network of connecting underground tunnels that underlie most of the country. The area we toured was the military head quarters for the Northern Vietnamese during the war. The tunnels were used as hiding spots and supply routes. The Americans were not familiar with the jungle or the underground tunnels, so they had a significant disadvantage in the war.
Our tour guide was Mr. Hye. He was a war veteran who worked as a translator between the South Vietnam army and the Americans. He had some interesting stories, but each perspective on the war is different. Some of what he told us is different than what I learnt back home. Everything and anything is pinned on the Americans. No one else seems to want to take responsibility for anything and they are the easy target. It is frustrating how the tourists and the locals are always poking fun at the Americans and putting them down in some way. I just think Americans in general deserve more respect from the world.
We saw many of the different tunnels that the Northern Vietnamese used during the war. They were so tinny and easily hidden. We went through one of the tunnels that was made larger for tourist. Even that one was really small and we had to crawl in some places. It was constricting and I couldn't imagine crawling around on elbows and knees in the smaller ones.
There was also a huge crater in the ground from one of the American bombs. It was massive.
We saw many of the handmade booby traps that Northern Vietnam set against the Americans. They were brutal. They would set traps so they would fall into huge spears coated with feces.
I also shot my first gun. I took a few shots with a carbine rifle. I was scared it would backfire but it was fine. It was just really loud. I'm not a very good shot.
After the tour we walked around Saigon, had lunch and went shopping. There is lots of French influence here so there are many bakeries and coffee shops. We stocked up on some baking for the overnight train and had some iced coffees.
We headed for the night train at 6pm. The night train was nice. I shared a room with 3 other girls from the group. Each room had 2 bunk beds. We chatted and played card games and then went to bed. I slept great! The train was like a rocking motion all night and it put me to sleep quickly.