Day Three - 23/11/25
Mid tour at Cu Chi Tunnels
Crawling Through History & Playing in the Streets
After a slow, well-rested morning, we found ourselves once again on the rooftop terrace, enjoying the quiet and taking in the city views over breakfast. With the whole space to ourselves, it felt like the calm before a big adventure, and that’s exactly what we had planned.
At 8am we were picked up for our Cu Chi Tunnels tour, an hour-and-a-half drive out of Ho Chi Minh City with a quick stop for coffee and a look at some traditional art along the way. Our guide Minh was incredible. He was 22 years old, proud, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about sharing his country’s history.
The tunnels were fascinating. Maddie, Kia and I squeezed down into one of the tiny hidey holes while Emmett explored a nearby entry designed for shorter visitors. We walked through the site, learning about the traps, strategies, and sheer resilience of the people who lived and fought underground. At the tunnel entrance, the kids were keen to try crawling through, so we tackled the first 20 metres together—hot, humid, cramped, and unforgettable. Later, the kids dragged me into another section where the tunnels dropped low enough that I ended up crawling on my knees, GoPro in hand. The kids loved every second.
Eventually even Kia was convinced to do the final 20-metre stretch with them. We finished the tour with a few displays before heading to Minh’s favourite local pho place for lunch. He showed us how to season it properly, and it ended up being some of the best pho we’ve had so far. Jasmine tea topped it off perfectly.
Back at the hotel we all needed a break. While the kids unwound on their tablets, Kia and I jumped on our laptops to sort out a few bits and pieces, only to realise I couldn't access my work systems at all, likely due to an IT block on Vietnam. So a few emails later, hopefully that’s on its way to being fixed.
Later, we wandered out to find dinner. Emmett was on a mission to play foot shuttlecock again after loving it the night before, and we ended up finding another group playing in the street. One of the guys even gave him an extra shuttlecock, bringing our total to three. We kicked around with them for nearly an hour, it’s surprisingly good exercise.
Dinner took a few false starts (we sat down at two places before changing our minds), but we finally landed at a small restaurant. Delicious food, happy kids, and Emmett finally got his fresh coconut to drink. Then it was back to the hotel for showers and bed. Another big, brilliant day in Vietnam.