Day 15 - Ho Chi Minh City
This day included a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were used by the Viet Cong to move troops around the country and to harass the American troops. Along the way to the tunnels we stopped for two "discovery" events, one a clay factory and the other to see a Vietnamese memorial cemetary. We had the afternoon free to shop and have a dinner in an incredible restaurant.
This was "exercise day" first instituted by Ho Chi Minh
We also stopped at a rubber plantation. The trees were brought to Viet Nam by the French
You can see the sap dripping from the cut edge of the bark
This is the clay dug from a pit near the house
Clay is added to each pot by hand and the the worker carries the pots out to dry. He gets paid by the number of pots he completes in a day.
These are the smaller pots used to collect the rubber sap from the trees in the plantations
This is the memorial cemetary for those who died in the war from the local area
This is the memorial fresco
These are on exhibit in the Cu Chi tunnel area
Barb and Natalie coming out of one of the tunnels
The area guide demonstrates the way the VC were able to hide in the tunnel
David woudn't fit!
Housing on our way back the downtown
There is a campaign to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV
Lunch was at Maxim's restaurant
We stopped for drinks before dinner. The view from the rooftop bar was impressive
Dinner was at a very impressive place as well
We had a private dining room
And to think this is a "third world" communist country