Tunnel Away from Ho Chi Minh City

Regardless of how much you enjoy city tourism Ho Chi Minh City is likely to get on your nerves if you stay within the city limits  too long.  The Cu Chi Tunnels are located about an hour away from Saigon via car and are a great way to get out of the city, walk around without the endless parade of motorcycles, cyclo drivers and street vendors.

The most common way to get to the tunnels is purchasing an all-inclusive tour which includes transportation.  If your hotel doesn’t have a tourism center there is probably one very close by where you can view the various tour packages.  Most packages offered are full day 8am to 5pm trips which include the Cu Chi Tunnels and other tourist attractions.

Since waking up at 8am wasn’t a viable option we ended up opting for a “4 hour” trip solely to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  I say “4 hour” trip because the Saigon traffic will largely determine how long it actually takes to get there.  We decided to leave at around 12 noon and we returned around 5:30pm.

We were offered a price by a taxi driver for a trip to the tunnels but we chose to book through the hotel.  I don’t remember the exact prices but I’m pretty sure the hotel charged more than the taxi driver although the trip included admission to the tunnels and an English speaking guide.  We ended up paying $80 each which seemed quite expensive.

Dine along a Stream before the Tunnels

Eat Along the Way

The cost of a meal was not included in the price of the trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  You can bring snacks or your driver will take you to a restaurant before you visit the tunnels.  Dine along alongside a flowing stream (Picture on left) and amongst tropical greenery at an indoor/outdoor Vietnamese restaurant.

The prices were moderately cheap, the food was good and the service was excellent as we ate alone in the restaurant.  I remember the mango and other fruit smoothies were so good we both ordered two.  The restaurant looked like it was ready for a lot of people so I think it would be busieer if you were on the schedule of a full day tour rather than our 1/2 day tour.

More War History

After parking the car you walk uphill through a large (unrelated) tunnel before you meet with your guide at the top.  After a brief introduction you are lead to a covered bunker looking encampment to watch a video.  The video is a straight out of the 1970s (literally).  As well as providing some history about the war and the area it also talks about rewarding the Cu Chi people for being the best “American killer” as well other war time propaganda.  I liked how they threw in a classic video (I assume on purpose).

Not Just Tunnels

Array of Available Weapons to Fire

The guide walked us in a small group around the wet, clay floored forest as he explained everything.  The first thing he showed us was one of the tunnel entrances (video below) which was so small I couldn’t even fit both of my thighs in it.  The people small and flexible enough were allowed to attempt to squeeze in.  One German tourist said he saw a bat in that first tunnel which made me think how horrible it must have been to live in those tunnels while constantly being bombed and attacked.

The actual Cu Chi Tunnels are only a small part of the attraction.  We were shown the actual infamous array of booby traps used by the Vietnamese.  The demonstration of the traps gave me chills thinking of how bad they would hurt a human being or an animal for that matter.  There were various set-ups showing how the soldiers would have looked like during war time including a robotic group of soldiers creating weapons from US bomb scrap metal.

Finally we were invited to enter a tunnel as a group.  The tunnel was enlarged to accommodate for western tourists (Thank God).  I am extremely claustrophobic and while duck walking through the sweltering sauna-like heat and darkness of the tunnel was uncomfortable it wasn’t unbearable.

After the tunnel we were  invited to a gift shop where you can not only buy souvenirs but you can shoot high powered assault rifles!  You are given a choice of 5 or so assault rifles used during war-time then and now.  The catch:  each round cost $1USD to fire with a minimum of 10.  Even though I knew my money was literally going up in smoke I still couldn’t resist and fired 10 AK-47 rounds while my travel buddy fired from the extremely loud M-60.  Don’t worry, all the guns are mounted and do not allow anybody to shoot someone’s eye out.

Cu Chi Tip

If you plan to fire an assault rifle make sure to fit your ear protection properly and/or bring your own ear protection.  The ear protection they gave us was shotty at best and firing the M60 was deafening to say the least.  As you would expect the area is very hot, damp and clay-muddy so make sure you don’t wear your school clothes or you will get muddy.

Overall Impression

Leaving Ho Chi Minh City was a prize in itself but the Cu Chi Tunnels were definitely a highlight of my Vietnam experience.   The trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels not only showed a lot about the Vietnamese people but it made you learn a lot more about how the Vietnam war was fought and the actual poor peasant people who stood against the military juggernaut and won.

Saigon

From Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City (officially),  formerly known as Saigon is a quick and painless hour flight east on AirAsia.  I was told to expect the unexpected and I would further this advice for anyone else visiting Saigon.

I have lived in Bangkok for the past 6 months and have got used to the Thai lifestyle, people and general flow of the city so if you have never lived in Thailand or been to Bangkok your experience may be vastly different but that’s precisely the reason why there are tens of thousands of travel blogs.

Getting There & First Impression

Since I like to be thorough I created a whole blog entry devoted to Getting to Saigon Vietnam from Bangkok Thailand.  As the plane was making its final descent I could see the snaking river and city approach just like in every Vietnam war movie.  I figured that the taxi from the airport would be relatively quick which it was.

Traffic out of a Horror Movie

The first thing any n0n-native to Vietnam will inevitably notice about Saigon is the insane amount of motorbikes and seemingly chaotic traffic.  There are motorbikes with 1-4 people and various odd shaped items (i.e. refrigerators, tires, stacks of packages, etc.) swarming around every street and intersection in multiple directions.

If you though sheer volume of traffic is bad, compound that with the fact that many of the vehicles in the street are honking their horns every few seconds and you may find being anywhere in Saigon nerve-racking as I did from the outset. There could be an entire blog devoted  solely on Saigon’s traffic but it is worth mentioning that the traffic makes any US city and even Bangkok seem like a rural suburb.  When there is a traffic jam in most cities, most of the traffic (cars & trucks) are stopped and there is very little movement but in Saigon motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, cyclos and other forms of transportation are jockeying for position which is like navigating a maze.

 

 

Crossing the Street

Simply crossing the street is a seemingly perilous adventure when you first set foot on the streets of Saigon.  Crossing the average street with a traffic brew consisting of motorcycles and mopeds zooming everywhere along with the occasional car and bus is actually a lot easier to deal with than you may first think.

To make crossing the street in Saigon easier keep in mind that most of the traffic is moving less than 30 miles per hour and they’re more aware than most western drivers on their cell phones listening to the radio because they have to.  If you want to cross the street simply go for it!  Walk slowly and most importantly DO NOT STOP as it will confuse the drivers and actually make it more dangerous for you.  The traffic amazingly flows like water around pedestrians.

Money

Even though most American and European travelers will initially get a kick about their astronomical bank account balance while in Vietnam as 100,000 Vietnamese Dong is around $5.60USD the exchange from Vietnamese Dong to American Dollars is very annoying.  When your not constantly chopping  off zeros and work with the 500,000 and 100,000 Dong bills you are having to worry about mistaking a 100,000 dong bill for a 10,000 dong bill while in a rush.

My travel buddy in Vietnam actually tipped both bellboys who brought his bags up 200,000 dong ($11)  each mistaking the 100,000 dong bills for 10,000 dong bills.  The large sums can drive anyone bad at math insane especially when certain cash registers and taxis chop off zeros automatically on their screens which further confuse things.

To my surprise, unlike Thailand, the American dollar was widely accepted in Vietnam.  For anyone heading to Thailand after Vietnam, make sure you get rid of all your Dong before you leave Vietnam as exchanging Vietnamese Dong was almost impossible in Bangkok.

Things to Do

Regardless of what you think of Saigon neither you nor anyone can call it a boring city.  It is enormous and there is an endless list of things to do in and around Saigon.  I spent almost the entire time in District 1 and there are over 11 districts.  Saigon will always be a good starting point if you plant to visit anywhere else  in Vietnam. How much time you spend in Saigon depends on what your interests are.  Here are a few things which I did and wish I did.

Eat

If you love Vietnamese food and French food, Saigon has the best of both worlds.  You can get everything from a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup called pho (pronounced Fuh) or a Vietnamese sandwich on a street stall for under $1USD to dining at trendy and/or fine dining restaurants.

Bibi Restaurant

Places to See

Saigon was at center stage for one of the more infamous wars in the history of mankind and there are many places you can visit to learn more about the Vietnamese side of the Vietnam War.  To learn about the guided tours in and around Saigon you can find tourist information centers spread conveniently throughout district 1 which is likely where you will be staying.   From museums to historic sites, Saigon has a lot to offer within the city limits as well as within a few hour air conditioned bus trip.  Unfortunately I was in expat hang-out / party mode so I missed some great parts of Saigon but here is what I had a chance to experience:

Reunification Palace

Cu Chi Tunnels

Vung Tau

War Remnants Museum – I regretfully missed out on the War Remnants museum.  After visiting the Reunification Palace and seeing some of the photos I wasn’t really feeling like seeing more death, destruction and propaganda but if I ever find myself in Saigon I will definitely check it out.

Places to Stay

Saigon was surprisingly expensive for mid-range lodging, compared to Bangkok for lodging, at least in District 1 where I was staying.

Elios Hotel

Shopping

Living in Bangkok which is one of the best places to shop in the world I really had no business buying things common in Bangkok in Saigon but forgetting some necessary items required me to do some shopping.  Shopping in Saigon is only half of the story as if you don’t bargain, you WILL pay several times the expected sale price.  You can read more about the bargaining process in the entry about Benh Thanh market.

Behn Thanh Market

The People

I consider the best part about international travel to experience the people of a nation.  I have said it before I totally 100% disagree than the “real people” of any country exist in the rural parts because the cities are what makes any country tick.  Again, my view of Saigon may be influenced by the fact that I’m used to Thailand but in Saigon I got the feeling that people were just not happy.   It seemed everywhere you went people were trying to hustle you, yelling at you or grabbing at you.

Tips & Warnings

Besides the brief history lessons, I’m not the biggest fan of Lonely Planet books as I tend to like talking to people to get recommendations but the Lonely Planet provided the most useful piece of advice for your time in Saigon.

The advice is if you are approached by any person on the street, DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR EXISTENCE!  It may be rude and sound rude but if you even look in their direction let alone say no, the cyclo drivers and shoe polishers will follow you for blocks.

Case in point, I gave a shoe polisher 10,000 dong (50 cents USD) because I thought it would get rid of him and it encouraged him to start brushing, gluing, scraping and literally chewing the glue off my shoes which happened to be 5 year old $30 dollar shoes I got at Ross in San Francisco.   His attention attracted about 5 other shoe polisher guys over and I was quickly feeling uncomfortable.  When he got done he asked for 600,000 dong ($33).  I started to walk away but I remember him using a rusty knife to scrape the glue off my shoes and I could picture this kid stabbing me in the back.  He followed me down Pham Ngu Lao and I went in my hotel.  I literally left my hotel 5-6 hours later and he was still waiting.

Overall Summary

I have talked to numerous travelers as well as expats who live and/or have lived in Saigon for numerous years and have received mixed opinions.  For me, the best thing about visiting Saigon, was leaving Saigon as I had a much better time when I found myself in places which were less nerve racking for me.  Regardless of my opinion and the opinions of others, out of all the places I have been I think the statement “You will either Love it or Hate it” applies to Saigon more than any other city.