Day 16...or the day I got stuck in a Vietnamese rebel tunnel

The entrance to the tunnels

Today, I took a tour to the Chu Chi Tunnels. These are over 250 kilometers of tunnels that the Viet Cong used during the Vietnam War to fight U.S. soldiers.  The tunnels included kitchens, bedrooms, etc. They provided the VC with everything they needed to live and fight during the war.

The tunnels are about 50 km outside of Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as most Americans know it as).  It took almost 2 hours by bus though because traffic in Vietnam is SO BAD.

The whole experience was rather odd. Obviously, the communists won the war, so there is a lot of talk about how terrible Americans were and how heroic the Viet Cong guerilla fighters were.  I've always known there are two sides to every story, but even with things like WWI and WWII, I've experienced a different version of the Allied's story.  It was bizarre!

Aaaand I got stuck. See below for more

Secondly, the tunnels and Vietnam in general are a jungle, quite literally.  The foliage was so dense at times the breeze just disappeared and all you're left with is suffocating, hot, humid air. We hear about how terrible the conditions were for American troops, but seeing the area first hand it wasn't hard to imagine how absolutely awful it would have been to be drafted and dropped into the middle of this jungle with all the military equipment and VCs literally popping out of the ground to kill you.

While the Vietnamese didn't have a whole lot of artillery and planes, they did have ingenuity.  Many Americans died in various types of pit traps.  The VC also disarmed bombs that failed to explode and used the gunpowerd to make landmines.  They then used the shell of the bombs for toilets. When the bomb was full, they'd take it out of the tunnels and into the river.

Inside the tunnels, that's a 6'5" guy in front of me

Part of the tour let us climb into the tunnels, part of the tunnels at least. I went the full 100 meters we
were allowed and it was SO hot and gross.  When we were done, the tour guide said the Vietnam government had expanded the tunnel size for tourists. In reality,the tunnels were about half the size. The only way to get through them was crawling and being Vietnamese-sized.  One of the reasons the tunnels were so small is most Americans couldn't get into them.  Only realyyoung soldiers, 19 and 20 years old, had a slender enough build to maneuver through the tunnels.

When we got back to the hostel, I asked the receptionist if she could locate an address for the archdiocese's pastoral center.  They supposedly have a Mass at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday according to the archdiocese's website. Since my flight to Hanoi is at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, I need to make Mass tomorrow.  She called the cathedral and they didn't really know about the Mass, but said there's one at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. Not helpful. Then they mention that there is daily Mass at 5 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. every day.  It wasn't clear though if that still happens on Saturday afternoon because it wouldn't be a daily Mass!

So I decided to walk to Notre Dame Cathedral (about 30 minutes away) to see if there was an

Notre Dame Cathedral...modeled after the one in Paris

information desk that could be more helpful.  It wasn't. Although I'm fairly convinced I could go to Mass in Vietnamese at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow, I'm still not confident.  So I decided to get creative and started searching for Catholic blogs about attending Mass in a nearby coffee shop. I found one about Christmas services and it had directions to this mythical "Pastoral Center." Well, it had an address. Except, the address didn't work in Google Maps.  But the blog post also mentioned a huge trade center across the street and that worked!  BAM. That worked and I headed off for another 20 minute trek, even further from my hostel.

I got a little lost, but I saw a lot of the city.  I finally arrived at the pastoral center and peole there actually spoke some English.  Turns out there IS Mass tomorrow night in English in the center.  Good thing I checked though, because it's at 6:00 p.m. and not 6:30.  This is probably the most work I've ever put into ensuring I can attend Mass.  Hopefully it's a good one tomorrow!

I had thought about going to the water pupper show tonight, but I left the hostel around 2:45 and returned at 5:30 so I was pretty much pooped out.  Mind you, I walked the vast majority of that time!  So I just chilled out on the couch for a little bit and grabbed dinner down the street.  I did have to pass a Burger King on my way, but as tempting as it sounded, I opted for Vietnamese Pho.  It was delicious and cheap. Right after I ordered, a really nice girl from Kentucky sat down next to me at the bar. We enjoyed each other's company for dinner. She just graduated and I had some (hopefully) useful insight into life after undergrad.

Everything here is so cheap. During my city adventure, I bought Vietnamese Gatorade (salty lemon flavor), a bottle of water, and a banana for less than a dollar.  It's a breath of fresh air after Cambodia!

MORE PICTURES!

Going down

Down a little further

Where'd she go?!

The actual size of some of the tunnels the Vietnamese utilized...ours were definitely expanded!

Destroyed U.S. military equipment  on display. Five Americans died in this tank via a landmine. Watching people climb on it and in it just felt weird.

There is ONE shooting range in all of Vietnam. Bullets cost at least a dollar a piece and you have to buy in sets of 10.  I didn't shoot anything cause a trip to DC to visit Jonathan is better anyways.

A large crater where an American bomb exploded. The trip was littered with huge craters like this.

Heading down into the tunnels from one of the bunkers

The main post office is really well known for its architecture. It's one of the many sights I accidently ran into during my Mass search. 

There's some kind of big celebration going on...the streets are lined with flags and streamers. I just haven't figured out what it is yet since I don't read Vietnamese

The Reunification Palace...more on this tomorrow because I'm going back to go inside, but it was a pretty picture during my walk.