We all slept very well after being awake for 21.5 hours. Woke up at 5am local time so had an early brekkie. Lots of different Asian goodies to try at the hotel buffet. Tried dragon fruit for the first time and lots of delicious fruit juices.

Our tour guide Lam met us at reception at 8am. Our first day was supposed to be a tour of the city but because the traffic was going to be much more hectic tomorrow, our tour guide said we'd be better doing the Cu Chi tunnels today to avoid the traffic.

The mini bus ride was about 1.5 hours. The amount of mopeds & bikes on the road was considerably less than the previous night but still manic. Lots of interesting sites including a few men loaded up with bales of grass for their livestock. Our guide was fantastic, pointing out many of the local landmarks and a bit of the history of each province. The area of Cu Chi was named after the Cu Chi fruit trees that used to grow there.

The only thing we forgot was the aeroguard so our guides stopped at a "chemist" (aka a hole in the wall with a counter and various essentials) to get an equivalent. Cost us about 70c and did the trick. Wasn't too keen on taking malaria home as a souvenir.

The tunnels were amazing. An underground city that stretched over several hundred kms. Daniel jumped at the idea of going down one of the narrow access holes. Its astounding how well camouflaged they were and how the soldiers were able to spring out of there at all, let alone with a rifle and ammunition.

There was an exhibit with various guerilla booby traps. Very nasty bits of improvised lethality.

We saw a tank that had been trashed by a mine. Apparently there had been heaps of them but they left just one for the tourists. You could see ripped metal at the back of the tank so the force must have been huge.

As we walked through the park, we'd occasionally hear gunfire. As we approached the rifle range it got very loud. We had the choice of firing various types of weapons but Daniel & I chose n AK-47. For 10 bullets it was 170,000 dong (about $7 aus) so Dan & Steve got 10 each.

The attendant took us down to the bunker where all the guns were bolted onto the fence by their muzzle. They had a small amount of movement so you could aim at the targets on the range. Daniel went first while Steve did the video. HOLY CRAP!! The sheer power these things had was astounding. You could feel the shockwave in your chest just standing beside it. We missed just about every target but it didn't matter. As we left the range, someone was firing the "rambo" machine gun which was even scarier than the ak.

We then proceeded underground. The tunnels had been dug out somewhat to accommodate westerners. Apparently most of the tunnels are just big enough for a Vietnamese soldier to squeeze through. The attendant lead the way while our guide stayed topside. The passage was just big enough to crouch and shuffle along in a sort of duck waddle. Daniel & Steve zoomed along after the attendant but Sue struggled with the camera gear. We stopped at a bend and the attendant took a photo of us all. After we got out our backs were brown from where we'd scraped along the tunnel roof.

On the bus ride back, our guide explained that only families who supported the communist party during the war can hold official government jobs now. That will stay in place for 3 generations. Also much of the land around Cu Chi had been poisoned by agent orange and although a few farmers had tried to work the land, not much would grow there anymore.

We were dropped off for lunch at a restaurant that Lam recommended. Daniel had spring rolls with a spicy pork rib dish, Sue had crumbed calamari and chicken pho and Steve had prawn salad rolls with beef pho. They were all delicious and tasted very fresh.

Our next stop was Reunification Palace which had been the central building of government in Saigon for centuries, starting with the French colonists who constructed the original building. At the end of the war with the U.S, the communist party tanks crashed through the gates and seized the building. The types of tanks are still on display in the front gardens.

Next stop was the war remnants museum. This was quite disturbing to see as it was much more graphic than you'd find in a western museum. We were all quite emotional after the experience. As we were short of time, we decided to come back the following day to see the rest of the museum.

Our final stop for the day was the cathedral and post office. Mass was taking place at the time so it was very spectacular with a huge amount of people inside and out.

We got back to the hotel absolutely exhausted so we showered and settled with drinks and dinner at the rooftop bar.