Today started off early as we gathered for the bus at 7 am!
We then rode the bus for an hour and a half to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We had a
tour guide on the bus that called us all his “family” for the day, which is what
we refer to each other as anyway. The Cu Chi Tunnels were designed during the
Vietnam War for the Viet Cong to hide in as they fought in the dense Vietnamese
jungles. There are 150 miles of tunnel in the jungle, and we got to crawl down
into them! The space that we crawled in was about 2.5 - 3 feet by 2.5 -3 feet!
It was also pitch black in the tunnels, which made it more difficult to see
where you were going and where the person in front of you was going. While we
were in the jungle, we also got to see the different types of traps the Viet
Cong set-up in the jungle. It was very hot today, as usual, so we were all
drenched by the end of the day, but we are used to it. We also learned more
about the tactics the Viet Cong had in the jungle and the lives they lived
while fighting.
Next, we drove another 45 minutes out into the rural country
to a temple. On the way there, we passed multiple rice patty fields, and it was
cool to see the landscape of how people outside the cities live. We were not
told specifically what religion the huge temple was for, but the traditional,
religious sect of the temple combines Confucianism, Hinduism, and Christianity.
We got there as little before noon so we got to see one of their services
begin. There was a balcony around the top of the inside of the temple where all
the spectators could watch. The temple was so ornately colored and decorated,
and everyone there was dressed in white. We all to take our shoes off before we
entered the temple; and when you left the temple, you were not allowed to walk
in front of the front side of the temple for hundreds of meters, so we had to
back through to get to the other side. For lunch, the tour drove us another
half hour to a street-vendor restaurant. My table all ordered sweet and sour pork
with rice, and it was delicious! That was the first meal I had probably fully
eaten in a few days, which made it even more delicious. As my drink I ordered a
big water bottle (1.5 liters) which only cost me 12,000dong (appx. 60 cents)!
Surprising a lot of prices are like that here in Vietnam. Finally, we had a 2
hour bus ride back, where everyone slept! 
When we got back to the hotel, we had a quick turn around
because we had planned to go to Ben Than market again with the UEF students
again. We like to take them with us because they guarantee we don’t get ripped
off sometimes. We usually don’t get ripped off because we have learned how to
bargain in Vietnamese from our language class, which often impresses out
vendors from which we buy stuff. We go some more souvenirs, and I got another
nonla (the traditional rice hat that they wear in Vietnam) because I love them!
A few of the students in our group went to the Adidas store in Vietnam after
this to get shoes for our soccer match tomorrow. Also, we tried sugar cane
lemonade from some street-vendors, and it was really good.
Tonight, we decided to pay for our UEF friends when we went
out to dinner because they have been so kind to drive us on their motorbikes
and take time out of their schedules for us every day of the trip. They decided
to go to a European restaurant, which was so good because they had barbeque
chicken and most tender steak I have ever tasted. It was also really cheap,
about 50,000-70,000 dong ($2.50-$3.50) a meal!
Later in the evening, our group decided to go to Lush again
to celebrate technically our last full night in Vietnam, which is so sad! I
cannot even begin to describe the amazing and unforgettable memories and
experiences I have had in this place! Lush was not packed as usual, but our
group still had an awesome!
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