We had a great time on our tour with our guide Khoa. We were expecting it be quite touristy, but it was actually really fascinating and Khoa gave us just the right amount of information for us to know what things were but weren’t bored. You get to crawl through quite a few tunnels, so you do need a good level of fitness, some good shoes & be prepared to get a bit dirty. The drive to & from the tunnels is about 2 hrs so we stopped at a craft workshop on the way there but the stop was brief & we didn’t feel pressured to buy anything. On the way back we stopped at a restaurant with lots of other tour buses but again we weren’t pressured to buy anything if we didn’t want to. Our group didn’t want to eat so we just jumped back in the minivan & continued on. This was a really worthwhile experience & would recommend this tour & our guide Khoa as a must-do when in Ho Chi Minh.

We did the VIP with lunch ($72 CAD each) and We were picked up at our hotel (if in District 1 message the operator if you don’t see your hotel in the drop down). The VIP is totally worth it. Max 9 people and the vehicle is a van with captain seats. The lunch was surprisingly good and the restaurant itself was really pretty. The tunnels are something to experience. It’s mind boggling the work that went in to them. Crouch walking through them was pretty wild. Our guide Jennie, she’s very knowledgeable, spoke English well. Our driver May, navigated the streets really well. Wear shorts, t-shirt, hat and sneakers that you’re good to get dirty. Make sure you’ve already applied your bug spray at the get go. And bring money for the AK47. It’s 600,000dong for 10bullets. Minimum purchase is 10 bullets.

The tour was amazing. We were picked up at 8am by a very jolly guide called Tuan. We had a lovely group of 10 people of different nationalities, and small VIP minibus which was a luxury! We first went to a handicap handicraft workshop to see how Lacquer pictures are made. Then off to the shooting range. It was brill but was REALLY pricy. Well worth it though. Then off to the tunnels. We had the Ben Duoc tunnels. You get to go down into at least 4 tunnels, varying in size and it was well worth the money. Lots to see and Tuan, being an ex South Vietnam Army vet, knew much more than we could have imagined. Lunch was a typical Vietnamese spread. Then back to hotel by approximately 3pm. I would have given it 5 stars but Tuan was in a constant rush. He got a bit shirty if you took too long in the toilet, and we left the restaurant before everybody had finished the food. It was though he had to be somewhere in a hurry.

We had a really interesting time on this tour. Our guide, Pham's, English was very good and she gave us a potted history before we reached the tunnels. It poured with rain but the site is well prepared and we were all able to get into the tunnels. There were just 7 of us and as promised there were few other tourists which made the experience much better. The journey there and back was comfortable despite the traffic (a given in HCMC). Thoroughly recommend!