I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning

Extra hugs and kisses to whoever can name the movie my title is from!

Khaly and I were up and running..although I think I am going to take tomorrow off as I can feel myself getting run down. My muscles are also telling me they could use a break! I came back, showered, and had a quick breakfast while skyping Manda! I cannot tell you how rejuvenating it is to see/hear people from home! I just love it! I then was off for my Cu Chi Tunnels tour!

I arrived at “tour bus alley” the place where all the tours leave from. I couldn’t decide whether to do just the Cu Chi tours (1/2 day), or do the Cu Chi tours and the Cao Dai temple (full day) tour. Jemma recommended seeing the Temple as well..but I was torn because I felt “temple’d out”. Such a travel snob I know, but I feel like that is ALL I saw in China. I decided I would regret not seeing the Temple, so I booked it and off I went! We left around 8:15 and I think there was about ten of us. We took a mini tour bus (with AC) and drove about an hour and a half until our first bathroom break, which was conveniently a tourist shop as well! I think they were saying that handicap people make the crafts that are then sold in the store. We were able to see some people making items which was fun to watch.

After our bathroom break we continued on to the Temple! I quickly called my mom to check in (although she couldn’t hear me) so we texted for a minute and she reminded me to ENJOY the day and not just go through the motions because it was another day of sightseeing. I was really glad she said that because I am feeling like the “tours” are started to get old. I want to see and do EVERYTHING but it does get tiring after a while and everything starts to look and feel the same!

It took about another hour and a half before we got to the Temple and it was, well, crazy! It was much bigger than I expected and very bright! I took some pictures outside before heading inside. Our tour guide told us their worship service was at 12:00 and we were leaving again at 12:30 so I wanted to make sure I caught it. I saw a sign that said “Ladies, please enter to the left” so I went to the left. I saw mostly older women and I knew I had to take off my shoes so I did and started to walk in. All of a sudden, this woman grabbed me (not harshly..) and had me pick up my shoes and move them to the steps. I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I did as she showed me and thanked her. I started to enter the Temple and she grabbed me again! She brought me and my shoes around to the “men’s side” which apparently is also the entrance for tourists? I felt like an idiot and my first thought was, “Ugh do I have to write this in my blog” which is probably sad that I think about my blog during the day. But the beauty of traveling alone is nobody has to know when you make an idiot out of yourself, unless of course you are me and think it’s a good idea to keep a blog! Anyway I still don’t know why that sign was there..because the only people who were supposed to use it were the local worshipers, none of whom spoke English. So why was there a sign in English?

After embarrassing myself in yet another country, I went into the Temple. It was VERY ornate, but very beautiful! I am still not quite sure what the ceremony was for, but I do know it was a worship ceremony. There were probably a couple of hundred both men and women (most of them older). After watching the ceremony we headed off to a local spot for lunch! I got rice and veggies, which actually wasn’t too bad, but not filling at ALL! Luckily I brought lots of snacks so I was all set!

We continued on (about an hour and 45 minutes) to the Cu Chi Tunnels! Our first stop was the “documentary” about the Cu Chi area and the war. It was VERY interesting to say the least and the best way I can put it is the documentary is NOT how I learned about the Vietnam War in school. It was obviously biased (as I believe my textbook was..) but I felt a bit uncomfortable when they said, “And the devilish Americans..” I won’t get into my feelings on the war (I still don’t know enough about it) but needless to say it was very interesting to watch.

We started walking around as a group and it was very cool, but somehow felt strange that this was a tourist attraction, as it felt somewhat like a theme park. We saw how the Vietcong made the tunnels that they lived in during the war. It was INCREDIBLE! Some people were able to put themselves in the original one, but these hips weren’t having it! I think only 2 men out of our group could fit. It was amazing to see all the tunnels and the booby traps. Some of them were AWFUL with bamboo shoots etc.

When I had been researching about the tunnels I saw you could shoot a gun with real bullets. I thought this sounded really cool and definitely wanted in. However, once I was there I started rethinking it. It somehow didn’t feel right and I am not sure if it was because I knew Americans died there or what. But one thing I had read (who knows if it is true) is that when you shoot the gun you aim at targets that are suppose to look like American soldiers. Again, who knows if that is true, but as excited as I was to do it in the beginning, I didn’t feel right about doing it there.

We continued on to the “enlarged” tunnels, although they weren’t that big! We first walked down stairs and then had to lower ourselves into the tunnel. Mom, you would have HATED it. The girl in front of me had to go back out because she was too claustrophobic. I had my MASSIVE backpack on..so I had to CRAWL on my hands and knees to make it through. Not one of my finer moments. I can’t IMAGINE what it would have been like to be in those things all the time. I felt like I was going crazy and I probably was there for only a few minutes.

We got stuck in a TON of traffic on the way back..oh Ho Chi Minh City, so I was exhausted when we finally arrived! It was so nice to be back in my room and lay down! I decided I would make PB&J since I didn’t feel like going back out to eat. I went to grab my plate and out ran a salamander. Gross. This one was black and for some reason he seemed scarier. Needless to say I was no longer in the mood for a sandwich and had cereal instead.

After, I was looking for a hair tie and as I was going through my bag out ran a spider! Ugh! I am SO sick of these bugs! Tomorrow I am going to wash my sheets and drown the ants. I am tired of ants crawling on me in my bed. That is never ok.

Hugs and kisses from the Cu Chi tunnels.