With Kate by our side, we took a cab to the more touristy shops along a strip near the Opera House. In and out of a couple stores, I only ended up buying two souvenirs (I'm planning on buying most when we go to the market). Then Kate introduced us to the best peach tea I have ever tasted in my entire life. The bottom was warm when she handed me the cup, but the rest of the cup was ice cold. Once I stirred it around a bit, I found that there were real sliced peaches resting on the bottom and the rest is history. While still enjoying our tea, we headed to an area where Kate could buy a swimsuit for our beach trip on Sunday. Though the shops were already closed, we decided to head to a couple others and just look around, and I can proudly say that it was a success for all. When planning what to do for the rest of the night while standing outside of a shop, a Vietnamese ABBA remix came on and we simply couldn't resist singing along...and dancing. The next thing I know, the man outside the shop runs inside and cranks up the music, then comes back out to join us dancing. All around our little circle, people were filming the American girls and their sidewalk dance party. Once it finally settled down, we explored the city for some food, Kate wanted pizza, but ended up eating late night noodles in our hotel room instead. And finally, we got to rest for the long day ahead.
When 8 A.M. rolled around, it was time to head to the Cu Chi district for our day at the tunnels. As we headed out of Ho Chi Minh City, I could instantly see green fields of rice patties and other farms. It was a completely different environment from the one I had been in the entire week prior, and it was about to change even more. The site of the Cu Chi tunnels that we visited were up north a bit more, and there was a forest all around us. When we started on the trail, our guide showed us an example of one of the tunnels by going down and closing it behind him, and popping up behind us. From there we continued on and as I looked around I could see old bomb craters covered by thick vegetation. Though going through each tunnel was a neat experience, bats and all, I couldn't help but feel sad while imagining the things that went on here. If it were completely silent, with no tourists, the only sounds you would hear are the bugs surrounding you, and that is an eerie feeling. Only the day didn't get much brighter after that.
Once we finished our lunch with a beautiful view, we headed to the temple near the tunnels. Inside, there were the names of the fallen listed on the walls, and outside there stood murals of the battles from the war. It amazes me how such a beautiful location can depict so many dark things using incredible works of art. After spending a fair amount of time wandering around the temple, we headed to the related cemetery of the fallen. Once I walked through the gates, I didn't know how to react. Similarly to Alrington, grave stone after identical grave stone lay, perfectly gridded into the distance. I wandered along, trying to wrap my mind about the things that led to these deaths. As I walked towards Dr. Berman and Arielle, we discussed the ages, villages, and saddest of all the unknown facts of each fallen civilian. It was something that none of us needed to vocalize, but we walked together in silence for a bit, reading each headstone, and eventually sat down to a helpful conversation, after which we headed to the hotel to rest our minds.
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