Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi tunnels are located 60 kms northwest of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where the Americans would go for R&R. This is where the Viet Cong dug a series of tunnels to fight the americans and supply troops based in the south. The tunnels total 258 kms. Summer was afraid to go down in the tunnels, so I went for a half day trip by myself.

Arriving at the tunnels, we learned about the American war and how terrible the Americans were and how smart the Vietnamese were. The video was so biased - everyone on the tour who knew I was American was apologizing to me. The Vietnamese tour guide helped the americans during the war and said how silly he thought the video was. He is moving to america in a couple of months (after 30 years of waiting to enter the country) and he is very excited.

The entrances to the tunnels were so small - the average westerner could not fit in. Some have been widened for tourists. I could fit in the original entrance. I crawled 80 meters on my hands and knees down to the third underground level (30 feet underground). The tunnels, even though they are touristy, are not well lit. I had to use the flash from my camera to see where I was going. At one point, the tunnel was so narrow (this is protect against gas and water attacks from the Americans), I had to crawl on my stomach. I couldn't imagine living underground here - people lived here from 1968-1975 and had kitchens, bathrooms, and meeting rooms down there.

Next to the tunnels is a firing range, so as your are crawling through the tunnels, you hear AK 47s firing off. I fired an AK 47 after finishing crawling through the tunnels. I wasn't too bad, but didn't hit the target down range, a stuffed deer target.

The booby traps were really disturbing. They had a lot of smart techniques to protect themselves like lining the tunnel entrance and air holes with GI clothes to prevent US dogs from smelling the Vietnamese below. They also would wear sandals backwards when retreating from battle to confuse the enemy.