We all arose early to jump on the bus by 7am and begin the five and a half hour journey to the Mekong Delta. After around two hours, we stopped at the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels were created initially to hide documents from the French, but were then further developed during the Vietnam War to hide from the Americans. Upon arriving at the site we found ourselves looking at deadly traps that were used inside the tunnels to kill enemy soldiers that found their way in. One of the traps was a plank of wood that acted as a see saw, so that once stepped upon, it would rotate and the soldier would then fall into a hole filled with shards of metal sticking up. Often the shards of metal were recycled from the bomb shells that were fired upon the Vietnamese. We then walked down into a section of the tunnels and found ourselves doubling over in a narrow, dark and dirt filled hole that was very challenging to get through! We were all very glad to come out at the end and breath the fresh air again!
After experiencing the Cu Chi Tunnels, we went for lunch which was upon a floating platform on the Mekong River. As we ate our delicious meal we saw many parts of plants that had become detached from the land flowing rapidly down the river. It was interesting to see how fast the river flowed and the sheer amount of plant material that was in the river! Shortly after lunch, we proceeded back to the bus to continue the long ride.
Once we arrived at the Mekong Delta we had a boat ride to a place that made pottery. It was fantastic to see the enormous kilns that the clay made bricks and pottery were baked in. The people who were making the pots were very talented and clearly had a lot of experience. We then hopped back on the the boat to continue down the Mekong. We found ourselves admiring the beautiful sky and pondering how the river had become so murky. We soon docked at the homestead that we would be staying in for the night and were very excited to find that there were showers! But before our showers, we all went on a hot and humid bike ride! We went over small bridges and passed many villagers and gave our greetings.
Lastly, we had a lovely dinner that we shared with the many insects buzzing around! Today was a great day and we look forward to the last few days of our trip.
Blogged by Anna Rabinov and Christiana Visek-Johnson