Day 6: Mon 4 Nov - Ho Chi Minh City

30-39 (feels like) deg C

Ride: 19km

"After breakfast, transfer out of the bustling city Ho Chi Minh to Tan Phu Trung village; ride through rubber plantation to Cuchi tunnels site and visit the most famous tunnels in the world, dug by Vietnamese during American war. Overnight in Saigon. Cycle: 25km."

We set off from the hotel at 8am, heading for the Cu Chi Tunnels. We stopped about an hour out of the city and the bikes were waiting for us opposite a Vietnamese roadside coffee shop. After getting re-acquainted with the bikes, we headed over to the cafe for a comfort stop and an iced coffee that was strong and delicious. We finally hopped on the bikes and rode away. About 10km up the road we stopped for a drinks and snack break; hardly earned it.

9km later we arrived at Cu Chi Tunnels, parked the bikes, had another cool drink then headed into the tunnel complex. First up was a 20min film about the Vietnam war and how the VC used their ingenuity to overcome the superior technology and strength of the Allied Forces. We were then guided through the complex to see some of this ingenuity. The tunnel system is 250km long and in three tiers; level 1 = 1-3m deep; level 2 = 3-5m deep, and level 3 = 5-8m deep. Some of the deeper tunnels were regularly filled with water especially when the Saigon river was in flood. The VC lived underground in these very low and narrow tunnels, including cooking, eating and medical treatment. Their kitchens used low flame to cook and to avoid being detected by aircraft would funnel their cooking smoke into three different chambers to disperse the smoke. They also only cooked once a day, mainly in the mornings and the rising smoke looked like morning fog so did not attract the bombs. They also used secret entrances to the tunnels, normally situated in front of a large tree; the American tanks would avoid the tree by going around it, thereby keeping the tunnel entrance in tact. The trees were normally marked to indicate there was a tunnel entrance near that tree. They also invented a number of ghastly traps for the Allied troops (see pics below). The last activity was to crawl through one of the tunnels. They have a 100m section of tunnel that we think has been widened a tad, with strategic exits every 20m for those who have had enough. None of our group wanted to do any more than 20m, and we were all very pleased to see the exit. This is one of the few occasions that Wendy has benefited from being short as she did not have to bend as much, nor crawl on hands and knees! Back on the surface we walked through a number of other exhibits, before arriving back at the restaurant where we were treated to a substantial lunch overlooking the fast-flowing Saigon River.

Back on the bus for the 1.5 hour transfer back to the hotel. Greg went back out with Bob for a wander to the river and back before dinner. Last night, we were given the option of dining in the same place as last night, or take the $ the company would have spent and please ourselves. We chose the latter and dined at the Street Food Market again. Five of us had Indian (it was pretty good too) and the rest had fish. We waddled back home trying to avoid being hit by scooter riding on the footpath to gain a few seconds and meters in the peak hour traffic.

Blogging, pre-packing, and the rest of the night-time routine followed.

Our bikes lined up and ready to go

Some of the bombs dropped by the Allies (obviously these ones didn't explode)

Missiles and rockets

Trekking under the tunnels to get to the Cu Chi Tunnels

Map of the Cu Chi Tunnel area that was extensively bombed = red

Green = rubber plantations

Pink = VC installations

Yellow = unknown

Models of the tunnels showing the three different levels

Model showing the Allies deploying rockets and machine gun fire

Watching the movie = Mark, Bob (blue shirt behind Gunther) Gunther, Greg, Glen. Susan (just), and Carmel

The jungle area of the Cu Chi Tunnels

Greg showing how the VC entered and exited a secret tunnel (all the boys had a go)

Almost gone

Gone!

Coming back out

Our guide Tom, showing one of the tunnel exits and use of the firing mound

That's the tunnel

Greg showing how it was done in a bigger bunker

There is a tunnel in there as well

The VC ladies would sometimes be involved in the fighting (they were often more ruthless than the males), but were also employed to guide VC soldiers to safety