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Traces of war from the past still exist in all parts of the country through historical sites, and one of them is the Cu Chi Tunnels.
When mentioning Vietnam, tourists will surely often know this place for its world-class beautiful beaches, northwest terraced rice fields, unique Asian cuisine, and interesting culture of the ethnic minority villages. But besides these interesting scenic beauty, culture, and people, Vietnam is also a country with an extremely heroic history. In addition to thousands of years of feudalism, Vietnam has also experienced at least three wars against invaders from France, Japan, and the United States. Visit Cu Chi Tunnels to learn more about Vietnam history.
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1. An Overview of Cu Chi Tunnels
Cu Chi Tunnels relic site is located in Ho Chi Minh City. This is a place associated with the resistance war against the French invasion in the period 1946 - 1948. Like the Vinh Moc Tunnels and other tunnels, this place was built as a place to hide, store weapons, etc.
Cu Chi Tunnels is a special national historical site and one of six famous man-made structures in the world today. Along with that, the combination of tourism and visiting the tunnels has become an interesting tourist destination in Ho Chi Minh City and ranked in the top 7 most exotic destinations in Southeast Asia.
During 20 years of operation, the relic site welcomed more than 20 million domestic and foreign visitors. On February 12, 2016, the relic received the Special National Monument ranking certificate.
2. What Is Special About Cu Chi Tunnels?
The base has a total length of up to 250km, including 3 different depth levels, the deepest level is up to 12m above the ground. Initially, each village had its base, then people connected to facilitate communication from 1961 to 1965.
2.1 The Tunnels
One of the main and most interesting activities in Cu Chi tunnels is to explore the tunnels deep underground with a total length of 120m and 2 floors.
Here, you will be able to recreate all the activities and life during the Indochina war that our ancestors fought.
Most especially, right under the tunnel, there are vendors selling dishes that people in ancient times often ate such as potatoes, cassava, tubers dipped in sesame salt,... with strong local flavors.
2.2 War Zone Recreation Area
Here, the organizer will show you footage that recreates all the living and fighting scenes of our army and people in the tunnels.
Furthermore, you can also admire many famous historical and relic models of Vietnam such as the Long Bien Bridge, One Pillar Pagoda, Nha Rong Wharf, Saigon Bridge, etc., filled with passionate love of the Vietnamese people for their country.
2.3 Shooting Area
This is probably the top 1 activity of choice when coming to Cu Chi Tunnels. Here you can participate in disassembling guns and of course, shooting.
The ticket price for this activity is 50,000 VND/person/60 minutes.
2.4 The Swimming Pool Simulates The East Sea
After completing the above activities, visitors can immerse themselves in the clear blue water at the swimming pool simulating the East Sea. The ticket price for this activity is 20,000 VND/person.
2.5 Trung An Fruit Garden
In the Cu Chi Tunnels tourist area, there is also an orchard for tourists to have an ideal stopover. At Trung An fruit garden, you can enjoy many delicious fruits from the Mekong Delta region such as Rambutan, plum, jackfruit, durian, strawberry, etc.
2.6 Wildlife Rescue Station
Good news for tourists who love wild nature and especially animals, in addition to 10 giant national parks, this land also has the largest wildlife rescue station in the South.
This place has more than 3,600 rare animal species and is only about 1km from the center of the tourist area.
3. Ticket Price and Opening Hours
Opening Hours: The Cu Chi Tunnels historical relic site is open all days of the week, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Entrance tickets to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels Historical Relic Area have the following prices:
- Adults: 35,000 VND/person for Vietnamese, 70,000 VND/person for foreign guests
- Children from 7 to 16 years old, pupils and students: 50% of the adult ticket price
Cu Chi shooting range:
- The entrance fee to the shooting area is 50,000 VND/60 minutes.
- 3,000 VND/bullet, 1 AK magazine has 25 bullets, M16 is 20 bullets and pistol is 7 bullets
Small tip: Because the distance from the gate to the tunnel is about 2km long, you can either walk or rent an electric car for 5,000 VND/trip.
4. How To Get To Cu Chi Tunnels?
Cu Chi Tunnels is about 70km from Ho Chi Minh City center and you can travel by many types of means such as:
- Personal vehicle: Motorbikes and self-driving cars (which you can rent) are convenient and economical options combined with Google Maps.
- Taxi: If you do not have (or want) a personal vehicle, you can choose a taxi. The cost will fluctuate around 500,000 - 600,000 VND/turn.
- Bus: The bus is the public means of transportation you can choose. You will take the bus with two stops, from Ben Thanh, take bus number 13 to Cu Chi bus station, then take bus line 79 to get to the tunnels. The total travel time by bus is about 2 - 3 hours.
- Canoe, boat: If you love experiencing new things, you can choose a boat or canoe for this journey.
5. What To Eat In Cu Chi Tunnels?
Besides the specialties of Ho Chi Minh City, Cu Chi tunnels also have regional specialties such as Boiled cassava with salt, Cu Chi young beef, Minh Quy pig's trotter vermicelli, Sweet soup dishes, and Durian sugarcane juice.
6. NOTES
- You should wear neat clothes, convenient for tunneling activities, dark colors to avoid stains and choose sports shoes to be more comfortable when moving.
- Remember to prepare some necessary cosmetics to avoid the sun and prevent insects.
- If you want to spend a lot of time to fully explore this destination, you should book a Cu Chi hotel room in advance to make the trip more convenient.
- Tourists who are afraid of tight spaces or low blood pressure should avoid small tunnels.
Besides dozens of heritage sites recognized by UNESCO such as Trang An Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, Phong Nha Ke Bang, Hue Imperial City, Hoi An ancient town,... Vietnam also possesses many historical relics with many important values to the history, present, and future of the Vietnamese people such as Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, Dien Bien Phu Historical Victory Museum, War Remnants Museum Ho Chi Minh City, Hoa Lo Prison, and of course including Cu Chi Tunnels.
So if you love the country and people of Vietnam, you should explore the Cu Chi Tunnels and these historical relics to understand more about the Vietnamese people and what they have gone through to have such a beautiful country as you can see today.
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