This whole trip, I’d been looking forward to the Cu Chi tunnels, so I started my day very excitedly. Unfortunately, I didn’t take into account the early start and long bus ride to the tunnels. Regardless, it was a lot of fun on the bus singing karaoke, and I learned that Davis has a second secret voice he hides from everyone. The bus made a pit stop at Handicapped Handicrafts, a company that hires disabled workers who were affected by Agent Orange to make high-quality wood paintings and designs that sell; they also contribute a percentage of their profits to charity. I thought the pieces they produced were beautiful, but I didn’t end up buying any of them. I also looked up the company online and saw some negative reviews and rumors that it’s a major tourist trap and that the art pieces are mass-made in a factory, that the prices are massively inflated, and that they don’t contribute the amount to charity that they say they do. I have no idea if these accusations were true, but they really deterred me from buying.

After getting back on the bus, it was another long time until we reached Cu Chi. I don’t know why my idea of Cu Chi in my head was that it was in the middle of nowhere and we were going to some random tunnel in the jungle, but it wasn’t. Turns out it was very touristy, but once we got settled and moved on from the parking lot and towards the tunnels, it started feeling more real. I feel like they really did a great job of giving us a mix of authentic experiences and quality-of-life improvements. Once again, I was expecting the tunnels to be much smaller, but I understand why they gave us more room. I also was expecting to be able to go down to the lower layers of the tunnel and really explore the cave system. When we entered the third tunnel, there was a branching path; one led to an exit, and another kept going down. Honestly feeling a bit underwhelmed by the tunnels, I thought it would be fun to venture down that uncharted path. I ended up turning back after a minute, worried that I would be too tired to make it back if I kept going just to reach a dead end. It turns out that Fear was correct, as towards the end I was exhausted and stumbling on my way to the exit and scraped my elbow stumbling into the concrete walls. In the end, it turned out that if I had just gone slightly further, I would have made it to a different exit. I’m happy I took a courageous leap forward but really wish I’d kept that attitude the whole way. It would have made for a much better story.

After that tunnel I felt like I had my fair share and was very satisfied with my experience. After the tunnels, we went into the gift shop and found the same art pieces that had been in the previous store for prices that were much cheaper. We ended up having another family-style lunch in a restaurant in the area. I learned that I don’t think I enjoy family-style meals. It feels like eating multiple appetizers instead of having a nice, satisfying entrée. Unexpectedly, we went to the shooting range. However, $3 per bullet didn’t seem like a fair price point to me, so I didn’t end up shooting any guns, but it was a blast watching my fellow classmates. On the bus ride home, we had a lot of time to reflect on the trip. It was crazy to think about all the ways the Vietnamese fought with the resources they had. The tunnel system, the ingenious traps we learned about, even down to the way they make their shoes, it all really underscored the Vietnamese’s intelligence, resiliency, and tenacity.