We have started to get into the week that has many different day trips and culture visits and I could not be more excited for them. On day 6, we took a 2 hour car ride to Vung tau and visited the Christ of Vung Tau and a private beach at a hotel. The climb up the mountain was one of the cardio workouts I have ever done because we walked up close to 1000 steps to get to the top of Jesus. As I stood at the top of Jesus, I could feel a nice breeze flowing all around me as I was looking out at the city of Vung Tau and the surrounding area. When we went to the hotel, we ate lunch, then immediately went over to where the private beach was and hung out there for a few hours. Even though it is may, the water was very warm and salty, so when I went underwater to launch Ty off my shoulders, the only thing I could taste was salt. Although I had a lot of fun, when I made it back to the hotel that day, I realized I was extremely sunburnt and cursed myself for thinking that I could get away with not putting sunscreen on.
Today was Day 7 and we went on another 2 hour car ride to Cu Chi city this time. The main attraction today was visiting the Cu Chi tunnels, but we also stopped at a place where people who were handicapped because of agent orange paint pictures and sell them. When we arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels, we toured the grounds and was able to see many different videos and buildings of the history of the Vietnam war from the Vietnamese perspective and the Cu Chi tunnel system in general. Once we made it to some of the tunnels, I immediately realized that some of these tunnels would be a little too small for me since I am a pretty big guy. I was able to walk through and see what some of the tunnels looked like, but when we got to one of the secret entrances to the Cu Chi tunnels, I sadly would have been too big to fit in some of those tunnels, so I decided to pass on them. After we the Cu Chi tunnels, we arrived at the painting place. We had a quick tour of the facility and was shown how some of the eggshell and mother of pearl paintings were made and we were allowed to try doing some of those paintings ourselves. Afterwards, we were invited into the shop where an array of beautifully colored paintings, pots, and other painted items were listed for sale. It seemed that this shop was very popular because many of the students today decided to buy a painting. Overall, this weekend has been an incredible experience to witness some of the history and beauties of Vietnam, and it has also made me even more excited for when we travel down the Mekong Delta.
