After starting my tour at a handicrafts workshop and then the Cao Dai temple, post lunch we were driven to our final stop on the tour — the famed Cu Chi Tunnels.
We drove past many rice fields
Our tour van dropped us off first at a shooting gallery
You can pay for the rounds here
Here are the prices
I merely watched some other guy shoot a gun. It was loud! (Watch it in the video below)
After that, our tour van took us inside the compound from where our tour of Cu Chi Tunnels would begin
At the entrance were some old US military vehicles used during the Vietnam War
An old Lockheed C-130 Hercules. All of these were abandoned after US forces fled Vietnam after defeat.
A map of Ben Duoc area.
It’s a large area and some tours include a stop at Ben Duoc Memorial Temple, the large swimming pool, and there’s even a paintball shooting arena.
I am doing a full day tour (cost me VND330000 /₹1000/$14/€11.85) that would take me to the infamous Cu Chi jungle tunnels but before that, the first stop would stop at a handicapped handicrafts workshop before heading to the largest Cao Dai temple in Vietnam.
We left Ho Chi Minh City in the morning
We took a long drive out of the city and arrived at a handicrafts workshop wherein most of workers are handicapped. We were going get a guided tour of how they create the various works of art.
This was the entrance to arts workshop
That’s our guide here showing some of the works and explaining how they are crafted
Most of what is made at this workshop is lacquer paintings
The base of the painting is wood. The artisans then etch the designs and then inlay it with mother of pearl pieces or egg shells.
I was enjoying my day tour of the Mekong Delta, especially the canal boat ride through a narrow river stream. After that activity, I had to re-group and get back on our boat which would take us to another island on Tien River.
Dao Dua, means coconut religion… but this was no place of worship
We were being guided to a factory that manufactures candy made using coconut milk
One of the tour guide staff demonstrated de-husking a coconut… which I didn’t need to come to Vietnam to see since I help my mother with this back in Kerala
After they break open the coconut, they grate it and then extract coconut milk from the grated coconut.