Cu Chi Tunnels

Stan emerging from a tunnel

We took the hour and a half bus ride to the Cu Chi Tunnels, they're located 30 kms from Ho Chi Minh City. It is an area where the Viet Cong lived. They dug tunnels to live in to protect themselves during the 1960s/ 70's war with America.

The tunnels stretch for for over 200 kms as far as the Cambodian border.

The Viet cong set many traps to stop the American soldiers and thus the Americans were unable to flush them out so they turned their artillery and bombers on the area, transforming it to a moonscape.

Some of the tunnels have been preserved and visitors are able to get into the narrow openings, the tunnels are accessed by trapdoors hidden on the jungle floor. They were an ingenious system that included living quarters, hospitals and defence planning operations. The tunnels were vented through what looked like termite mounds. Cooking was only done early morning so emerging smoke would mingle with early morning mist and not be detected.

Many babies were born in the tunnels and spent much of their childhood living in them. Our guide was one .

Factory where wall plaques and ornaments are made

The working conditions were bleak but their products were so intricate

As well as stumbling through the narrow tunnels, We also got to see the many traps that were set to stop the soldiers, they were pretty gruesome.

On the way to the tunnels our bus had dropped us off at a factory where war victims worked producing ornate plaques and ornaments, the working conditions looked bleak.

We returned to our guesthouse and spent the afternoon watching the craziness in the street below us.