World > Asia > Vietnam

Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Cathedral

If time allows, consider a half-day excursion northwest of the city to these fascinating, albeit touristy, sights. A network of hidden passageways and underground lairs dug by the Viet Cong during the war form the amazing, if claustrophobia-inducing, Cu Chi Tunnels. And the Cao Dai cathedral (customarily paired with a visit to Cu Chi) is hilariously gaudy and over-the-top, like something from the mind of Terry Gilliam or Liberace. (The homegrown Cao Dai religion, a syncretic mix of Catholicism, Taoism, and animism, counts Pericles, Sun Yat-sen, and Victor Hugo among its patron saints, images of whom adorn the outlandish cathedral.) Ask your concierge to book a car and driver and guide.

AS FEATURED IN...

From Travel + Leisure , DEC 2008

Seventy-five miles of Vietnam War–era tunnels...MORE>>

– Jenn Bain Coolest Underground Travel Spots

Last updated December 2008