On Friday January 26th, the bus took us one-and-a-half hours north of Saigon to the Cu Chi Tunnels, Where thousands of Viet Cong fighters had sheltered underground during the war. We took an extensive tour of the park.
Afterwards, on the way to lunch we stopped at a rubber plantation, where Tom demonstrated how the trees were tapped. for lunch we stopped at a very nice house, where the widowed owner gave us lunch, along with two of the leaders of the Viet Cong veterans (a former captain and lieutenant, now 82 and 77). They did not have any animosity toward Americans (though it is easy for the victors to be gracious to the vanquished).
On the way back, some of us were dropped off to visit the main Post Office, a French colonial building still in use for its original purpose. The Cathedral, across the street, was undergoing extensive repairs and not open.
That evening, we had the tour Farewell Dinner at a French Bistro.
The next day, Saturday, January 27th, we got up early for our 7:30 flight to Tokyo. We flew out of Narita at 5:05 p.m. Japan time, and arrived at O'Hare at 1:50 p.m. the same afternoon, three hours and fifteen minutes before we started! That is how the International Date Line works. After this grueling travel day, we got into MSP at 5:33 p.m.--a total trip of around 23 hours.
