Cu Chi Tunnels Ben Duoc: VIP Day Trip & Lunch from Ho Chi Minh

4.98

(150 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I thought I knew what to expect from the Cu Chi Tunnels, but the drive out from Ho Chi Minh City—windows fogged a little from the morning—felt like leaving one world for another. Our guide, Minh, chatted about his grandfather’s stories as we passed rice paddies and scooters weaving through traffic. The air was sticky even in the limousine (which honestly felt fancier than I’m used to), and I kept wondering if I’d actually fit inside those famous tunnels.

At Ben Duoc, it was quieter than I imagined—just our group and a few others. Minh handed us cold bottles of water before leading us to watch an old black-and-white film. The sound crackled, but you could almost smell the earth and gunpowder in those images. Crawling through the Cu Chi Tunnels themselves? It’s darker and smaller than any photo shows. My knees scraped on the packed dirt; someone behind me started laughing nervously when their backpack got stuck. Minh told us about hidden kitchens where smoke barely escaped—he pointed out a vent disguised as an anthill. That detail stuck with me for some reason.

Lunch came after we’d tried squeezing through another tunnel (I gave up halfway, no shame). We sat outside under trees eating rice, pork, and some kind of fragrant soup—I can’t remember the name but it tasted smoky and sweet at once. There was fruit too, sticky juice running down my hand while Minh explained how his uncle used to make traps from scrap metal. He made it sound matter-of-fact, not dramatic.

Before heading back to Ho Chi Minh City, some folks tried shooting at the range (I skipped it—too loud for me). The ride home was sleepy; I watched fields blur past and thought about how different this day trip to Cu Chi Tunnels felt compared to what I’d read online. There’s something about seeing those cramped spaces up close that lingers longer than you expect.