Vietnam and the Cu Chi Tunnels

      We have just finished our visit to Viet Nam. We have been on full day tours the last few days and we have not had much time to collect our thoughts. The day after Singapore was a sea day which should have been very relaxing. More recovery than relaxing with an early to bed and plenty of sleep.

Yesterday we took an all day tour of the Cu Chi tunnels. We opted not to go into Saigon proper but an area outside the city. It was called an off the beaten path type of tour. Our tour bypassed the city proper and took us into the Mekong Delta region to visit the tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were started during the French period of “occupation” in 1948 and were extended during the Vietnam war with the Americans (as we were told).

     We did stop before we actually got to the tunnels. It was quite a long ride (nearly 2 hours). We had a quick demonstration of how they make “rice paper” for their wraps. Quite an operation. We also had a change to view a rubber plantation and had a brief explanation on how the trees are tapped and what is done with the latex.

     After a short ride we arrived at the tunnel complex. These are no ordinary 'tunnels'. It is reported that the system we visited and are now open to the public stretch some 200 kilometres to the Ho Chi Minh trail. It was used extensively by the Military Region Committee of Saigon. They are better known in the west as the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese regulars who traveled south to fight in the liberation of Vietnam. We were told that the tunnels extended under the American bases because the Vietnamese knew that it was not a place that would be bombed.

   

Disappearing Underground

The tunnels are really well preserved. People come to the tunnels”

Jungle Trap

... to understand how was the long – during fight of hardship, to properly comprehend our proud aspiration...” They had displays of weapons, traps, bomb craters from B52 bombing, etc. It tunnels were a basically a city underground, complete with a hospital, living spaces, weapon manufacture (traps, spikes, etc.). The tunnels themselves are actually on 3 levels and it was reported that 55,000 (?) Vietnamese used the tunnels. 400 children were born in this section. In fact one of the Army soldiers that is stationed here was born in the tunnel. They are built on 3 levels: the first about 3 meters underground; the second level about 6 meters with a third level below that. The American bombs could only
reach to the second level so that this spider web beneath the ground continues to function despite the heavy bombing. This area is just north of Saigon and was a staging area for attacks in this part of Viet Nam. There were many points of access but the openings were very small. The tunnels themselves were quite narrow and it would be like a tight squeeze in caving to get through them. The Vietnamese small and could easily move through them. The Americans had special units called 'tunnel rats' to go into the tunnels. They were recruited from Japanese or Hawaiian Americans. The surface openings were very small and well concealed. The air holes were usually buried in termite mounds so that they could not easily be found. When the Americans used dogs to sniff out the smell from the tunnels, the Vietnamese had stolen American equipment nearby so the dogs would by confused. Sometimes they used chilly power to burn the dogs sense of smell. Another adaptation they used was to release the cooking smoke in the early morning when there is a natural mist. When the Americans would trace the tracks from the sandals to the openings, the Vietnamese would use sandals that faced backwards to confuse the patrols. We were told that the Americans had a few tricks that they used to locate the tunnels but we were left with impression that they were not effective for very long.

The Tunnels

Exit

We also had a chance to view some the the bobby traps that were hidden in the area. The original bamboo spikes tipped with poison could not pierce the boots of the Americans because they had a steel plate in the bottom of them. The Vietnamese would collect the steel bomb fragments, melt them down and would use the steel spikes in the traps.

     Finally we had a chance to go into a section of the tunnel.
They have made them bigger so that tourists can fit in them. They are still quite small. There is very poor air quality and after about 20 meters we were ready to get out. Some on the tour started into the tunnels then quickly backed out. Most were glad to see the opening because the tunnels were not lit. All in all it was a very interesting day and one that we enjoyed very much. The lunch stop was adequate with a basic Vietnamese lunch being served along with some local beer. Needless to say we were a bit exhausted getting back to the ship late in the afternoon after a 7am start.