cu chi tunnels

We took a half-day tour of the Cu Chi tunnels today.

We got to crawl through a section of the tunnels. They've been widened since the war, so that tourists can fit, but they were still cramped and claustrophobic. Parts of them had no light at all, so you had to feel your way in the dark, crouched over and scraping your back and shoulders against the tunnel walls.

We also saw some of the booby traps used by the National Liberation Front against the American army. Creepy, creepy stuff.

I had a nice chat with two older Australian men on the way to the tunnels. We got on the issue of guns and gun control, because they have different weapons you can pay to shoot after you see the tunnels.

One guy asked if I planned to shoot. I said I wasn't that interested, since I shoot guns at home. I ended up telling him about my 5-year-old cousin Krista's pink 22 rifle, and Krista's dad's AK-47. The look on his face was priceless.

Not that I'm a gun fanatic at all, but it was just funny to see the cultural difference. I take it for granted that we'll go out to the farm and shoot guns after Thanksgiving or Christmas lunch. I'm from rural East Texas - what can I say?

We spent the second half of our day wandering around HCMC's Chinatown. Not impressive. Also, a pagoda-fail and market-fail. We did manage to take a bus back to our street, which was much cheaper than a taxi. So... 10% success rate, maybe?