Cu Chi Tunnels

Saigon Vietnam - 23 Nov 2010

First a message from our sponsor, Suckhoe Magazine.

In the words of the brochure:

"Tourists coming to Cu Chi Tunnels, besides visiting and learning them with the resonant victories, also visit the project of Cu Chi reproduced Liberation Zone."

Couldn't have said it better myself & visit and learning with them we did. We took the Saigon River Express Boat Trip to Cu Chi to see the Tunnel System in which the Vietnamese Resistance lived, loved, married, gave birth and of course died during the Vietnam war and earlier when they fought the French occupation in the 1940's.

Our day started with the most expensive coffee I've ever had in my life. Our tour was picked up at the Renaissance Riverside Hotel where rooms are advertised for US$500 night so I suppose that should have been a clue.

 Ordinary coffee too.

Things got better from there. We boarded a speed boat and headed up river for breakfast and an educational DVD on the history of Cu Chi and the tunnels. We couldn't hear anything over the noise of diesels from the barges going past on the river but the pictures looked nice.

It was another hour up the river to Cu Chi where we did the tour. Basically they show you re-creations of the tunnels and bunkers, show the weapons and traps improvised by the Vietnamese to fight the Americans and other aspects of the way they lived. They give you opportunity to shoot an AK47 and other guns which could have been fun but you have to buy the ammo and it's pricey. At the end of the tour you can crawl through 80 metres of tunnel which has been bored out to fit us fat westerners. I couldn't handle the claustrophobia but K held up the team and crawled through. She said it was hot and dark and there were sections where you had to lay down to get through - pretty scary. Just can't imagine living  in them for months at a time.

We finished the day with a great lunch of spring rolls, soup, rice, BBQ Chicken & Pork and stir fried veggies and a return boat right back to the city. All in all a good day. We had BBQ prawns for dinner in a street cafe so it's been an awesome food day.

I'll leave you with this thought from the author of the utopian socialist republic official literature 

"You should visit the Cu Chi Tunnels to understand how the hard protracted resistance was, and also to comprehend our profound aspiration properly: it is peace loving, independent, happy and permanently comfortable."

As should we all be.

PICS HERE