Vietnam - Day 3

21.05.2017

After realizing during the night that the air conditioning in our wonderful super suite had a loose connection, causing the room to heat up to a comfortable sleeping temperature of approximately 30 degrees, we woke up the next morning completely exhausted.

Nevertheless, we were excited to see what the day had in store for us. The previous evening, we booked a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Our guide named Long (definitely not related to his height) arrived at our door just after 8 o'clock to pick us up. Long is an extremely funny and proud Vietnamese who told us a lot about his country. -okay Long, you were right! With the coffee tasting, you proved that the Vietnamese make the best coffee- on the drive to the tunnels, we stopped at a disabled workshop where handmade pictures are produced. Of course, we were supposed to buy these pictures for 45€ each. Despite the beauty of the pictures, we decided - thank God - against it, as we saw the same pictures afterwards at a market for 8€ and bought one, typical tourist rip-off!

After the two-hour drive filled with stories of national pride from Long, we reached the tunnels. At first, it reminded us of an amusement park, packed with tourists. However, Long skillfully led us through the other groups, and we got to experience the fascination of the tunnels. Absolutely insane how the Vietnamese made life difficult for the USA with a comparatively small army through this system! Through the tunnel system, the soldiers could appear, fight, and disappear as if by magic. A guided 'march' through a tunnel led by a soldier made us feel scared and anxious because of the confinement. This is where the advantage of the Vietnamese with their small bodies becomes essential. It is almost absurd that the Vietnamese soldiers call themselves gorillas.

Of course, it is also not a problem in Vietnam to take up arms oneself. So I had the opportunity to show off my shooting skills with an AK-47.

Towards the end of the tour, Long showed us that the most important thing in war was to live and fight almost invisibly. Therefore, it was essential not to cook with smoke in the tunnels. The smoke would have betrayed the gorillas. Of course, we also got to taste 'soldier food' - I think I would rather have betrayed myself through the smoke than to eat that shit 😀- to finish the tour, we had some snake wine, which surprisingly was not that bad. Long said it was good for the health. As vital as Long was, he drank at least one bottle every day 🤔 - but never consume the snake ☝️ -

On the way back, we had the aforementioned coffee, which is typically drunk with ice cubes in Vietnam. For women with condensed milk, for men black - it really tastes better than any other coffee I have ever had.

Once back in HCMC, we followed Long's advice and went to one of the most famous markets in Vietnam. In short: - absolutely fascinating - breathtaking - insanely stuffy - tiny corridors - lots of junk - mega stench - and still definitely worth a visit! Here we also bought the 45€ picture for only 8€ 😉

Ultimately, it was a day that we will never forget. Somehow, I often thought of David against Goliath on this day, and I am convinced that the Vietnamese are an incredibly lovable, funny, trustworthy, and simply chilled people. // M