Chu Chi Tunnels

We arrived back in Ho Chi Minh and this time stayed at a different serviced apartment.  It was also really nice and had some phenomenal views, but it was further out from the city. 

The next morning, we were greeted by our tour guide who was going to take us to see the Chu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Temple for the day.  It was a lot of driving, but we got to see some of the countryside and at least we had our own private van instead of trying to wrangle with 3 kids on a giant tour bus!  The Chu Chi Tunnels is the underground tunnel system that the VietCong created during the Vietnam War to help smuggle supplies and people throughout the area.  It is in a densely forested part of the country, and they were pretty successful in thwarting U.S. forces there  initially.  These tunnels were teeny tiny and it is amazing how they were made and that people actually lived in them for quite some time.  We were interested in seeing them because of the historical aspect and also because we knew the boys would love to crawl around some tunnels!

Tanner tried to get into one, but his shoulders wouldn’t fit.  At first the boys were freaked out by it wondering what they were climbing into, but after seeing both mom and dad do it, Andrew was game…and then so was Clark. 

After exploring a bunch of tunnels and seeing some areas where the U.S. was able to bomb out the tunnels, we headed over to where the gun range was.  We weren’t allowed in the area where people were shooting targets, but Tanner went and had someone take a picture of him while he had a go!  They had an area where you could watch a movie about the role of the tunnels during the war, but we skipped it.  We decided we had had enough of the anti-U.S. propaganda. 

That tunnel was barely taller than Andrew, so the rest of us were hunching over to get through! 

After Chu Chi, we drove to Cao Dai Temple.  It was an interesting place, but I am not sure if it was worth the drive.  The religion is pretty fascinating.  It is pretty much a mesh theology from 4 or 5 religions…and it’s SUPER colorful!  We arrived just in time to see them doing their prayer service that they apparently do 5 times a day.  It’s like a mix of Chinese, Vietnamese, Christianity, and Buddhism.  They also have 3 saints:  Sun-Yat-Sen, Victor Hugo, and a Vietnamese poet.  Random, I know.  If you want to read more about Caodiism, see here!

By the time we got back to HCMC, we were all tired, so we ordered in, and just took it easy.  Fun day out!