Tour for Cu Chi Tunnels was supposed to depart at 8:00am, but it was closer to 8:30 when we finally rolled off. I think I’d had too much coffee in the past 24 hours, because I was extra fidgety. The driver also refused to go over 30km/h, which was making me antsy as well.
I thought we’d head straight to the tunnels, but there was a detour to a lacquer ware manufacturer run by people handicapped in (or as a result of) the war. Wasn’t really into it, so I was happy when we were back on the bus and heading to the tunnels.
At the tunnels, we bought our entry ticket, and headed to a partially submerged area, to watch a film on Cu Chi. It was pretty hilarious, with some interesting phrasing, such as “Like a batch of chickens with their heads cut off, the Americans shot into women and children, pots and pans…” and “Their motto was a hoe in one hand, and a gun in the other”. Didn’t paint the Americans in a very nice light.
Tunnels themselves were pretty cool – we only got to crawl through a small portion, but considering how uncomfortable they were, it’s probably for the best. The way back we drove a little faster – passing loads of rubber trees on the way. Our driver redeemed himself by managing to finagle the bus around a major traffic jam.
Back in Saigon, I went to the market with Craig, a Kiwi I met on the tour. We had some pho for lunch, then headed back – stopping at a big electronics store so Craig could look for a computer (he’s after an EEE – the same computer I had stolen from me).
I was going to watch Semi-Pro at the theatre across the street, but when I got there, Iron Man was still playing. I didn’t feel like waiting around for the next movie to start, so I wandered around at night, and then hopped on the internet for a bit. Was going to update this journal, but ended up chatting with a few people online instead. Watched some tv in my room (program on cricket fighting was a little odd), and then went to bed.