Back to Saigon

Today was an early rise probably because of the water-borne 'Dumper's' going back and forth form 5 am. We had breakfast and got back on the boat which took us back to our coach and then headed back inland towards Saigon. On the way we detoured to go and visit the recreation of a village in the centre of the Chu Chi Tunnels. These were the infamous? tunnels that the Viet Cong used in their resistance of the Americans during the wars. The place has been heavily adapted to meet the 'needs' of tourists however with Hanh's descriptions it really brought to life the resourcefulness of the people here.
I would not like to have been a U.S. conscript being required to patrol this almost jungle area. the booby traps alone were fearsome. We were shown the way they managed to live and fight against the enemy. There was also an opportunity to go down into a 'widened' tunnel which ran for about 150 around bends and up and down levels to recreate the way they moved about (although I think that the electric low level lighting was for our benefit!
They also had a firing range where you could loose off a couple of live rounds of an AK- 47 but you had to pay for the shots and the rest of the group did not want to have a go so we moved on.
Back on the bus we moved on to a Centre for Disabled Workers where they produced the most exquisite lacquer work from small key rings through to place mats, jewelery boxes and even full blown ornate 12 seater dining room tables. It was a little too much sell sell sell to me (however the craftsmanship was amazing). We returned to Saigon and checked back into the same hotel and then went out to the Street Markets for some excellent food (shared with the gecko's on the wall and a little rat that sicking it's head out of a drain about 50ft away!