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
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.
