Cu Chi Tunnels

In the south of Vietnam, near the community of Cu chi, (and not too far from Ho Chi Minh City) they have preserved some of the original areas where the war with the American soldiers was fought. This area is where the most intense fighting and bombing focused.

I knew nothing about this history but what I saw in the big American movies and I was shocked and alarmed by the truth.

Because of the ingenuity of the local people and their spirit of preservation, they built tunnels to assist in the communication and safe travel through the area in war time. The tunnels were originally begun during the war with the French, but weren't really used to there fullest until the American war years. (1960's)

So the building of the tunnels took place over a period of 25 years and the total length of the tunnels was somewhere around 120 km (in fact all the way to the Cambodian boarder) There was a whole community there, underground! 

The guides were excellent in explaining the inner workings. Models and diagrams showed where the people lived, the hospital, the cooking areas, how and when they cooked (and kept the smoke contained until the early hours of the morning when they could release it safely without risking detection)

The tunnels were up to four levels deep and in the planning they included traps in case they were invaded by the Americans. The final escape tunnel went to the river bank and at high tide their tunnel exit was under water.

They dug themselves underground areas to shoot at the Americans undetected. They collected all they could find from the Americans, metal from unexploded bombs, guns and other equipment and fashioned it into weapons or tools to use against their enemy. They built traps throughout the forest that were deadly and built with the simplest tools and included a lot of bamboo spikes.

They had nothing and were up against the equipment and technology of the US. And they were never defeated. They tried to bomb them out but they would just re-dig. Many thousands died there defending their freedom. The digging went on at night, like so much of their lives and they dumped the dirt from the tunnels in old bomb craters to hide it.

They walked us through the area to view some tunnel sights, traps, escape holes... and finally through a restored tunnel. It had been enlarged to accommodate tourists but I was on my knees through parts of it (and I'm not all that huge) Originally there was no light but they added two small bulbs at the beginning of the tunnel (to get you well in before you hit the thick darkness) I only travelled 30 meters before I ran for the air and light of day. Some travelled the entire 100 meters and down to the second level... very brave.

For me, this was a life changing experience.