Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels are a haunting complex set 65km outside of Saigon - a $10 coach trip or $50 Taxi ride (return)… It is a must see if in Saigon as it gives a better feel for the front lines during the conflict. When you arrive you pay for entry (80,000d / £4) which entitles you to a guided tour of the site starting with a short video from 1967!! It is as you would expect very bias… A kind of recruitment video for guerrillas…
Then on to the tour itself which includes an explanation of the 220km of tunnels and provides an opportunity to get yourself down into the tunnels - first stop is an entry flap, disguised under leaves and very difficult to spot, you can imagine how the American GI’s must have felt tromping through this area not knowing when a Vietnamese fighter would appear!! I did fit into the whole although even my size 30” waste scraped the sides!! I had to help another lady get back out of the hole with another gentleman 0_0
Next stop is a display of the simple but very effective traps employed by the Vietnamese fighters… It was like going back to the medieval times with spiked pits using Bamboo which flipped as you stepped onto them and closed behind you!! Then there were roller pits, puncture pits, leg breakers, door swings (With joints so that should you defend your upper body it just curls under and hits your groin!!) and finally the water trap which your foot goes into but you cannot then pull it out… All very gruesome ways to be maimed or killed… There were also displays on the mines made from remains of unexploded ordnance and shell fragments - very ingenious use was made of all waste - tyres were recycles into shoes, metal fragments melted down and re-used etc. Amazing.
There was also a working kitchen, tailor and cobbler.
Near to the end of the tour there is the opportunity to ‘live fire’ some weapons including the machine gun and AK47, well given the chance I had to try, so it was into the line to buy your ammo (£1ish a bullet, minimum 10 rounds - max 50), I purchased 10 rounds and headed for the range… It was about 50m long and had various animals prints as targets - The soldier in charge loaded the bullets into the AK47 and it was my time to step forwards… Holding the stock into my shoulder I lined up the sites on the Bear picture 50m ahead and held my breath while squeezing off a round. A crack of gunfire, flash of muzzle and puff of smoke as the shell casing is ejected - I feel a slight buzz as once again my finger squeezes the trigger… 10 shots go in less than a minute but I can see the puff of dirt from behind the target each time - Excellent. (You are provided with ear defenders when firing but not while waiting your turn, and it is loud!! Also there is no eye protection…)
Finally it is down into a section of tunnel which has been widened to accommodate tourists… It is 120m long and has exits every 20m. Well It was a very long and dark 120m, I tried crouched walking, which allowed you to get some of the way down the tunnel, with drops every so often to deeper levels. However, my shoulders were touching both sides of the tunnel and I could sense the ceiling mere cm’s above my head, at one point you had to get down on your back or front and crawl/slide down a sloped descent - it was claustrophobic and hot - very hot and by the end of the 120m I was sweating buckets and ready for some air!! I can say I have the utmost respect for anyone who had the resolve to remain down in these tunnels for any length of time and I cannot imagine the horrors that the GI’s faced when they descended into the sweltering darkness. Frightening.
Coming out of the tunnels into the light is wonderful and you get to sit down and have a meagre meal of tapioca (which comes from a root!!) Overall an interesting visit, which grants you a flavour for what it must have been like for fighters on both sides.