Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Morning Pickup and drive to Cu Chi

   Your guide meets you around 8:15am at your hotel in the backpacker area, on streets such as Bui Thi Xuan, Le Thanh Ton, Thu Khoa Huan, Ly Tu Trong, Bui Vien or De Tham, or at the Daily Travel office if you are staying further out. From there you drive northwest out of the city, the traffic giving way to rubber plantations and rice paddies as you approach Cu Chi district, about 1.5 hours away [CHECK]. This area, once known as the iron land, sits at the southern end of the Ho Chi Minh trail.

   
2. Midday Inside the tunnel network

   At the tunnels your guide walks you through the underground world dug by hand during the Indochina War and the Vietnam War. The network once ran about 200 kilometers, with clinics, sleeping quarters, kitchens and storage rooms linked by narrow passages, and air vents hidden among the bushes. You see how families lived and fought underground, watch archival footage of the war, and crawl through a section of tunnel yourself. Nearby you look at homemade weapons and bamboo booby traps once used against modern armies, and watch locals making rice paper and rice wine by hand.

   
3. Afternoon Tasting and return to the city

   Before leaving you try cassava, khoai mi, and herbal tea, a simple meal that sustained soldiers and villagers through years of war. Those who want to can also try the on site shooting range. By 3pm you start back toward Ho Chi Minh City, with the option to stop at the War Remnants Museum on the way. Morning departures finish at the company office in the afternoon, while tours starting at 1pm run into the evening, ending around 7:30pm.