What a pathetic excuse for windows these are in this hotel!? May as well be sleeping in the street because we can hear everything, all the traffic and papping from 5.30am in the morning! That guy from the telly should come here, "a say ya buy one, ya get one free" - Safestyle UK I think it is, he'd make a killing. Anyway, we got up at around 6.30am - was due to get up at 7am anyway for today's tour.

We met at 7.50am to go on our tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. Was only $5 each for a mini-bus and tour guide.
On the way we stopped off at a handicrafts centre. Could see people painstakingly creating a picture using tiny pieces of eggshell e.g. bowls, pictures, big coffee tables, those dressing screens, all kinds. Then some special lacquer stuff. It obviously took a lot of effort. It was pricey though - a little box of coffee mats cost $41!

Took about an hour and a half to get to the Cu Chi Tunnels area, and only cost 80,000 Dong each (£2.60).
The tunnels were made in an area where the land is mostly clay, which made the tunnels stable. It started off as just bunkers that lots of families living in the area had. Then when the Americans invaded in 1954 (I think) they created an extensive system of mulit-tiered tunnels, complete with living areas, kitchens, hospitals, offices, a ventilation system, drainage system...incredible what they had. And the total length of the tunnels...250km! Tunnels were 2 foot by 3 foot! Tiny. They were very clever and we saw all the different traps they made and lots of other things to prevent the enemies identifying tunnels. First little challenge was being put into one of the tiny little tunnel entrances. Therese was first and got in no problem...she even crouched down in the tiny hole. I had a go too and just managed to get my backside in, but couldn't crouch down because of the width of my shoulders (must have been working out more than I thought...). That one was an original size entrance.

Next up, a proper underground tunnel. This had actually been widened for tourists to 1 metre by 2 metres, so much bigger than original. We walked down there for 40 metres - was really hot and sticky, and not sure I could have done too much more...the Vietnamese LIVED under there...for 21 years!!! Saw a little bat down one of the passages too. People kept stopping to take pictures and there were about 20 of us down there. It's hard on your legs too because you have to squat walk. I must admit, I was getting quite uneasy down there and when we got to the 40 meter exit, I was quite relieved. Was a good experience though! Therese went through no probes even though she said before we went that there was no way she was going in some underground tunnels!

We also had a go at the...Shooting Range! We had 5 bullets each, firing an AK-47. Therese went first - think she thought she'd broke her shoulder with the first bullet. Got her on video! I had a go but didn't seem to hit anything, just saw a bit of mud fly around - they're attached to a surface by the way, can't just wandering around with the gun. Was a bit pricey at $14 for 10 bullets, but still worth it!
The tour guide gave us a really good tour with lots of really interesting information - probably the most interesting tour we've been on. Really recommend a visit to this place!

Got back to the hotel a bit later than expected, about 3pm and we hadn't had any lunch. Went searching for food and went to Tutti Frutti for a club sandwich. After that we went for a long walk around the city and saw Notre Dame Cathedral (Vietnam has the second largest catholic following in Asia after the Philippines) and Central Post Office - both are from the French colonial era. Nice places.

Traffic is really mental early evening when people are finishing work. It's crazy crossing the roads and there's almost never a gap in traffic - just have to walk out. Got back to the hotel and spent about an hour trying to get photos on Facebook and Off Exploring - was a pain in the arse.

We met at 7.30pm to go for street food just near the Market. I had this beef thing that you cook on a Tile! It's a tile that is over this red hot charcoal stove thing, and you have rice paper, and some veg and some chilli dipping sauce. Was pretty nice and was different. I had that, Therese had vegetable fried rice, 4 beers between us and a water...cost 136,000 Dong (£4)!!! Cheap as chips!

After that, we went to Fanny's Ice Cream. They do really good ice cream stuff! I had a Crepe with coconut ice-cream and chocolate sauce - very nice. Therese just had a cone with mint ice-cream. They do all sorts of different designs eg pinocchio etc. A must visit.

We were all knackered but felt we should go for one drink down the backpackers area - obviously very cheap for drinks again.
Just had the one drink and got back to the hotel about midnight. Very tired and all we can hear is traffic and some idiot sawing through stone outside the building next door. What idiot does that at midnight!?