Cu Chi and Crafts

So a few days ago, we took a bus tour to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. We chose this tour because it was one of the few day trips from HCMC. Although I'm glad we went, I wouldn't recommend the tour for a baby that didn't travel well or is easily frightened.

The most interesting part of the trip was actually a stop on the way to the tunnels where we saw how lacquerware is made. It was a government factory staffed by Agent Orange victims. The following photos show a craftsperson and the adjacent shop.

Then we continued to the tunnels. Silly me - I thought maybe we would go down in the tunnels and it would be cool! Instead we mostly walked around in the heat and viewed the openings of the tunnels and booby traps from above. In total there are 250 km (yes km) of tunnels.

Example of Traps Used by Viet Cong

Our guide, "John Wayne" was hilarious and also provided a lot of information on Vietnamese culture in general

Entrance to one of the tunnels - we were afraid this lady would not get back out!