The 30th December 2015
In the morning the tour director and I went to the cathedral and this time we were allowed in, unfortunately we were only allowed into the space between the start of the nave and the door. It is a very austere brick cathedral in a provincial French style but interesting never the less. On the way back to the hotel we wandered around a couple of shopping malls and enjoyed the delights of a supermarket.  David had declined the visit to the  cathedral and gone in search of a hat. We met in the hotel for lunch and in the afternoon went on a trip to the Chu Chi tunnels.
Our driver was clearly in a hurry throwing our small coach into the traffic, using his horn continually and threatening all who got in his way.
The Chu Chi tunnels were extremely interesting, a base for the Vietcong built underground as an example of what people can do if they are put under inexorable pressure. We were shown the tunnel system and the man traps the Vietcong laid before being invited into the tunnels ourselves. Several of our group went down with David in the lead, after about twenty yards he shouted to us that he didn't think his Mum and I would make it, which was a little disconcerting as there was no way back, the person behind me was on my heels and there was no room to turn. Rosemarie squeezed through a small gap and I followed. At this point I could not stand up and was hampered by my rucksack which I had been instructed to wear on my front. I realised I would have to crawl and took the rucksack off and started moving it along the tunnel in front of me crawling along behind it. Our guide came back and took the rucksack which made progress a little quicker and fairly soon I was out of the tunnel. These sections of the tunnel have been widened and deepened for Westerners but I was exhausted after just ten minutes in the tunnel. You had to have respect for the people who lived and fought a war in such conditions.
We all felt we were let down by our guide who seemed genuinely disinterested in the whole thing and he seemed intent on getting us through it as quickly as possible.
In the evening we went to a Vietnamese restaurant run by a charity who placed street children in the catering trade and trained them. The staff were wonderful and we had a great meal.