Rice Paddies, Sweaty Tunnels, Shrines, and River Restaurants

          Since we worked hard all week, today we got to take a leisurely day trip rather than going to class. By leisurely, I mean that we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels in 104-degree weather with 77% humidity. Leisure. The bus ride took about an hour and a half and was rather uneventful. However, it was cool to see the Vietnamese landscape change from the urban sprawl to the rice paddies. I am sure that is what most people picture when they imagine Vietnam.

Classic rice paddy (ignore the power lines).

            Once we got to the Cu Chi Tunnels, we stepped off of the bus and fully realized how terribly humid it was. Everybody was sweating within minutes. The tour started out with Dr. Berman telling us a little about the area and how the tunnels were used during the Vietnam War. Snowball also explained the tunnels from an engineering perspective. Snowball has everything going for him.

Professor Snowball.

            After Snowball’s presentation, we watched a movie that detailed the Viet Cong’s side of the story. The movie called Americans “devils,” “ruthless,” and other words to describe how badly they perceived us. Once the video was finished, we walked over to the first tunnel entrance.

            At the entrance of the tunnel, you walk down steps and into the dark hole in the earth. If you are afraid of tight spaces, the tunnels are not for you. The scariest part is that these tunnels were widened for tourists. I cannot imagine how tiny they were to begin with. After finally making it through to the other side, sweat was pouring down everybody’s faces and hearts were beating rapidly. That was the largest of the three tunnels we would go into.

Entrance to first tunnel.

Exit of first tunnel.

            We continued on through a second tunnel, which was smaller than the first, but rather short. That tunnel was not too bad, but if they widened that one I would be terrified to go in a normal tunnel. The last tunnel was definitely the worst. (Or best depending on if you are a mole.) We walked down into the third tunnel and the guide gave us two options. The first option was to go right and exit the tunnel. The second option was to go left down a 30-meter tunnel that was even smaller than the last two and even had a slide. Naturally, with my manhood on the line, I chose to go left. In that tunnel it started off large but gradually became smaller and smaller. By the end of the tunnel I was crawling on my hands and knees to get to the end. Not my idea of a good time, but we all made it. Even Akhil, that poor guy.  After the tunnels were gift stands. I got a scarf that I wet to keep the heat off. That was the best purchase I have made thus far.

The tour guide demonstrating how the

Viet Cong used hidden doors to get

into a tunnel.

            We then took the bus to a temple that literally translated to “martyrs.” It was for the Vietnamese soldiers that had died in war. The architecture of the temple was magnificent. We walked around the temple and took pictures of arches, plaques, pagodas and mosaics built into the temple. The best way to describe it is with pictures.

            We ate lunch on a covered dock along the river. The breeze from the river was majestic! We had another giant spread of dishes to choose from, but I mainly went for the shrimp. I cannot complain. We ate and waited on the dock-restaurant enjoying the scene for about an hour.

Here is the first half of lunch on the dock-restaurant.

Later, we took a bus to a Vietnamese cemetery for soldiers. It was eerie how similar it was to the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. The headstones were not white like Arlington, however; they were set up in neat rows and went on forever. It may have just been the heat, but it just felt weird walking around there as an American citizen with headstones for those people that may have played a part in killing American military. It was just a different experience, I would say.

The rows upon rows of graves for Vietnamese soldiers.

A giant statue dedicated to a mother mourning

over her deceased son.

The bus ride home was rather uneventful. Some slept while others talked. It had rained on the ride for the first time that we have been here. That definitely broke the heat, but we were still covered in sweat and dirt from the tunnels. Once we got back to the hotel, we all jumped in the pool and hung out. (I’m bad at conclusions.)