Ben Duoc: The Ultimate Cu Chi Tunnel Tour

Posted By : mgantman
This was one of the ultimate highlights of my trip! Our guide, Hung, met us right in our hotel lobby on time and off we went. Since we started the day as our hotel’s breakfast started and didn’t get coffee before we left, they stopped for us to get some. Hung was a VC vet and our driver was a South Vietnamese vet. The stories they were able to tell were unmatched by any experience I’ve had on any trip. Ben Duoc itself was incredible. There were very few tourists, and the ones that were there that we met were all Vietnamese. If you do go to Ben Duoc, be sure to have a good guide, as everything is only in Vietnamese. Our guide had to translate everything, including the movies.
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Posted On : 2020-02-09 10:53:20

Posted By : zyxyyy
Great day out.
Most people do not realise there are two different Cu Chi tunnel sites - Ben Duoc and Ben Dinh.

Ben Duoc is the original tunnel site and you go through the original tunnels, which have been re-inforced for safety. I would definitely recommend this site as it is far less touristy and there is more to see. It also has a Temple dedicated to all thise who lost their lives.

Our guide Hung, was a veteran of the Vietnam War, and was therefore able to give us indepth knowledge into life during the war and a very personal account of his own experiences. His philosophy on life is very humbling.
Highly recommended
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Posted On : 2020-02-06 04:08:24

Posted By : azorraindo
Once in a life time experience, worths every dollar! Our tour guide was a veteran of the war and told us events from that time up to the present. Very interesting and engaging. The caves were almost empty since they are farther from the most touristic ones, so you could truly enjoy your visit. I highly recommend this tour if you are looking to respectfully learn about that time.
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Posted On : 2020-01-25 22:32:19

Posted By : GemJol
It was not easy to find a trip online to the much less visited Cu Chi tunnels at Ben Duoc so I was delighted when I found this trip through TripAdvisor and it didn’t disappoint. We had an excellent day. Our guide Hùng was an ex soldier who had fought in the tunnels during the war so all the information he gave us was first hand. It brought the whole experience to life and made us realise how harrowing life was during the war.

The area is vast and really well set up, there is a whole village reconstructed as it would have been at the time with tunnels between houses and the school, hospital etc. which we went through. We were the only ones there to start with so had a film show to ourselves. A group or two more arrived later on. This was in total contrast to the 20 or so busses that where already parked at Ben Dinh when we stopped briefly before continuing on to Ben Duoc. It was a really excellent and informative day.
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Posted On : 2019-11-23 05:22:51

Posted By : jirivyoralek
Guide with driver was at our hotel exectly when we agreed and holds sign with out names. During the way by car to Cu Chi we received a lot information about Vietnam war and Vietnam in general. When we arrived to Cu Chi tunnel we visited some kind of open-air musem with illustration how people lived. And then finally went inside tunnels - it's not for anyone - in a couple of places is very narrow, but still you could try at least the biggiest tunnels. On the way back we had a dinner and slowly returned back to our hotel. Amazing day.
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Posted On : 2019-02-09 21:35:08

Posted By : Zero_Alpha1
As a war history junkie, this was pretty much the ultimate private tour for me. Our guide Hein was himself a historian who has been a guide for over 20 years, and taught and lectured students during that time.

As well as the detail of the VC use of the tunnels themselves, during the 2 hour drive to and from the tunnels we also discussed the wider geo-political context of the Vietnam War with its earliest origins coming from Ho Chi Minh's overseas travels in his formative years where he saw the 1917 Russian Revolution under Lenin through to the IndoChina War which the French lost and were sent packing, and the US escalation from 1954 onwards.

It was also brilliant to put the tunnels and the war in their historical context of the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror in neighbouring Cambodia which is only 20 kms away from the tunnels (and where the VC used to escape to when the tunnels were raided, if they couldn't get back to Saigon) and how the two conflicts related to each other.

The section of the tunnels covered by this tour are far less crowded or mainstream than the tunnels usually visited by Western tourists, and most of the tourism to the Ben Duoc section is Vietnamese (from all over the country). But nothing too hectic. Again our guide was brilliant.

Other high points of the day was seeing various re-constructed bobby traps, collections of spent US ordinance (bombs), going into some of the tunnels (which is not for the faint hearted or fat) and also firing any of a selection of weapons from the era - in my case an AR15/M-16 and AK-47. M-60s are available too. Cost for those are additional to the tour (60,000 dong per bullet, minimum of 5 bullets).

The visit also includes a walk around a completely reconstructed traditional jungle village of the type which would have been in the areas in the late 1960s; including commentary on life in the village and how the VC were recruited and usually lived locally themselves. This was particularly impressive as the entire area was basically like a lunar landscape when the war ended in 1975 through a combination of being doused in Agent Orange defoliant and carpet bombed extensively by US B-52s.

The whole site is controlled by the Vietnamese Army, and clean and well maintained. The soldiers we met along the tour were friendly and happy to show us whatever they could.

The lunch was a nice Vietnamese set menu cooked in the style of the local Cu Chi district (hot pot broth of pork, shrimp, vegetables; prawn spring rolls; BBQ pork, BBQ crispy chicken and steamed rice).

One tip (especially for the ladies) is to ask the guide for some toilet paper (or take your own wipes) as none of the toilets we went to, had any. There were no shortage of toilets throughout the site and the air conditioned car included iced water all day.
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Posted On : 2018-04-20 11:02:35

Posted By : Mike K
Our guide, Mr. Le Duy Nhut (Nick) was perfect for our tour. He is a South Vietnam Navy veteran who worked as an interpreter with the US during the war. He has so much information and insight into one of the most pivotal times of modern history. He was adamant that this was a history tour and not a tour where he would try to get us to buy souvenirs. He avoided the touts and explicitly told us not to buy souvenirs as we exited through the gift shop in Ben Duoc. His reasoning is that it is cheap low quality product and not worthy of us buying. Most refreshing.

He is very proud of his service and regularly guides returning veterans. I mentioned that my uncle served in Rach Kien and he excitedly offered to take us for a nominal additional fee. It was money well spent. It was humbling to visit the location where my uncle served and was medevaced from. Nick spoke with some locals who were there at the time and told us where the base was and pointed us to a memorial to the NVA which is placed where the US helipad existed. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for Tet. We also met a local man who was excited to see us. He explained in English that he worked on the US base as a house boy in 1969. He was 13 at the time and remembers everything and was able to point to us where things were. It is quite possible that my uncle knew him as they were on the base at the same time. It was quite an emotional moment.

Ben Duoc itself was very interesting. It is incredible to see how they lived and experience being in the unaltered tunnels. I'm 5'10" and it got pretty tight for me in a couple of spots. The Vietnamese have done a good job preserving the sight and setting up displays explaining how they worked and lived at the time.

I must also mention that our car and driver were great. It seemed like a brand new car and there was cold water and air conditioning.
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Posted On : 2018-02-19 19:40:15

Posted By : Jelena S
We had a wonderful experience today at the Ben Duoc tunnels with our guide Le Duy Nhut and driver Mr Tan.
Pick up was right on time in a comfortable sedan. We were lucky to be the only two passengers on this tour.
Our guide is very experienced and know to tell us a lot about the history of Vietnam, specifically about the war between North and South.
We really enjoyed meeting Le Duy Nhut. He also gave a tip and information about our further trip through Vietnam.
Thank you!
Jelena & Frits
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Posted On : 2018-01-18 05:04:44