Cu Chi Tunnels Excursion
Today we were up early and down to breakfast by 6:45 am so we could be on the bus for our day's excursion. Today we drove about an hour and a half out into the rural sections of Saigon to the Cu Chi Tunnel complex. It was in this area that a great deal of the guerrilla warfare took place during the Vietnam War. It was a most unforgettable day for sure! To be fair, while we cannot even imagine what it was actually like, they've done an admirable job of putting together a tourist version of what went on here and recreating the atmosphere. The most "chilling" part of the experience is that guests have the opportunity - though we did not - to fire Vietnam era weapons on a shooting range here. So while you are walking through the jungle (well, their version of it as we had wide walking paths) there is constant machine gun and rifle fire. Seeing the booby traps, tunnels, and the complex of various rooms in the heat and humidity with the gunfire you get the sensation of being back in the late 1960s. So the day's experience......as we headed out of the city proper it was the height of rush hour and while this is far from the most dense photo of them, there are SOOOOO many "hondas" all over the place, weaving in and out of traffic - so glad I'm not the driver!
During the ride out our local historian/guide, Chung, gave about a 40 minute presentation on the historical background to the war and focused on the tunnels and their role in the fighting. Having taught American History and the Vietnam War era I must say he's was spot on .... from what I know. We arrived without incident - we'd been told there were NO restroom facilities on the way and everyone survived! We all put on bug spray and we were most fortunate AGAIN that the monsoon like rains predicted did not hit until we had returned to the hotel. The skies were mostly cloudy so the sun was not intense, but the heat and humidity in the jungle resulted in everyone dripping in perspiration by the time the tour was over.
We walked through the jungle and saw many examples of the various rooms that were hidden below the surface in the tunnel complex. We saw recreations of the kitchen, dining room, munitions room, and several other rooms where they were sunken about five steps down, but not completely underground to make it more convenient for tourists. Then we came to one of the actual entrances and a "liberation army guerrilla" demonstrated how they would slip into hiding in the very, VERY narrow tunnel entrances.
We were also shown several examples of the kinds of booby traps that were used to fight the Americans. A couple of interesting points about the tunnel complex and how deceptive they were - the entire complex was dug out by hand with very small hand tools. But where to pile the dirt? Some was taken to the local river, but a lot of it was simply piled up. Wouldn't this give away the tunnels' existence? No, because you see this area is rich in termites who build huge mounds. So the Viet Cong would make simulated termite mounds like the actual ones and they were very difficult to tell apart. But the one thing that was different about the man-made mounds was they had cleverly concealed holes to allow for the passage of fresh air into the tunnels. Here you see an actual termite mound on the left, a fake one on the right.
What about cooking? First, the kitchens were down on the second level of the complex. Second, the passage way created for the smoke from the fires would go through several smaller chambers where the smoke would be filtered and then once it finally reached ground level it would seep out in nearly invisible mist form. And to add to the difficult in detection the cooking was done very early in the morning when the jungle was filled with fog and mist anyway!
Next, it was explained to us how difficult it was for the Americans to find the hiding North Vietnamese, so they just smothered the area with B-52 bombs. Here's Kim in front of a still existing bomb crater - while you can't truly see how massive it is, it was something to see that it was STILL here some forty plus years later.
Finally, the highlight of the experience, the trip into the tunnels! We were told that the area that was open for us to explore had been widened so we could actually fit, but were warned it was VERY narrow and low - so much so that most of the men would have to be on all fours. We were told it was purposefully kept very dark with minimal lighting to let us get a more realistic experience of what the tunnels were like. Remember, they LIVED in here for years! Finally, the tunnels open for us were only about 50 yards long, and it would take less than five minutes to get through to the other side. Still despite this I can tell you - the first steps down it was very obvious that this was dark, claustrophobic and very narrow. But then we descended more steps and now I could barely move while completely stooped over. A few more feet and you sat on the floor and lowered yourself to yet another level and there was no more standing for me. The top of the tunnel was inches from my back; the sides of the tunnel, inches from my hips. And VERY dark. It was a bit disconcerting that the guide about four people ahead of me kept asking the guests right behind him, "Are you ok?" WHAT! Why not, what's up ahead!
Very creepy - and to think they spent years in here. Really an amazing experience. We were able to walk down into the simulated kitchen and dining room where it was not nearly as confined and then we were at the end of the tour. As Kim said, it was WELL worth the ninety minute ride to experience this. If you haven't yet, watch the 2:27 video at the top.....pretty accurate portrayal of what we went through this morning!
Tomorrow we get to move into our stateroom on the ship and we'll cruise most of the day. VERY excited about getting on board what I'm sure will be a most amazing ship! Tomorrow's journals will be full of photos of our new home for the next week plus!
We walked through the jungle and saw many examples of the various rooms that were hidden below the surface in the tunnel complex. We saw recreations of the kitchen, dining room, munitions room, and several other rooms where they were sunken about five steps down, but not completely underground to make it more convenient for tourists. Then we came to one of the actual entrances and a "liberation army guerrilla" demonstrated how they would slip into hiding in the very, VERY narrow tunnel entrances.
We were also shown several examples of the kinds of booby traps that were used to fight the Americans. A couple of interesting points about the tunnel complex and how deceptive they were - the entire complex was dug out by hand with very small hand tools. But where to pile the dirt? Some was taken to the local river, but a lot of it was simply piled up. Wouldn't this give away the tunnels' existence? No, because you see this area is rich in termites who build huge mounds. So the Viet Cong would make simulated termite mounds like the actual ones and they were very difficult to tell apart. But the one thing that was different about the man-made mounds was they had cleverly concealed holes to allow for the passage of fresh air into the tunnels. Here you see an actual termite mound on the left, a fake one on the right.
What about cooking? First, the kitchens were down on the second level of the complex. Second, the passage way created for the smoke from the fires would go through several smaller chambers where the smoke would be filtered and then once it finally reached ground level it would seep out in nearly invisible mist form. And to add to the difficult in detection the cooking was done very early in the morning when the jungle was filled with fog and mist anyway!
Next, it was explained to us how difficult it was for the Americans to find the hiding North Vietnamese, so they just smothered the area with B-52 bombs. Here's Kim in front of a still existing bomb crater - while you can't truly see how massive it is, it was something to see that it was STILL here some forty plus years later.
Finally, the highlight of the experience, the trip into the tunnels! We were told that the area that was open for us to explore had been widened so we could actually fit, but were warned it was VERY narrow and low - so much so that most of the men would have to be on all fours. We were told it was purposefully kept very dark with minimal lighting to let us get a more realistic experience of what the tunnels were like. Remember, they LIVED in here for years! Finally, the tunnels open for us were only about 50 yards long, and it would take less than five minutes to get through to the other side. Still despite this I can tell you - the first steps down it was very obvious that this was dark, claustrophobic and very narrow. But then we descended more steps and now I could barely move while completely stooped over. A few more feet and you sat on the floor and lowered yourself to yet another level and there was no more standing for me. The top of the tunnel was inches from my back; the sides of the tunnel, inches from my hips. And VERY dark. It was a bit disconcerting that the guide about four people ahead of me kept asking the guests right behind him, "Are you ok?" WHAT! Why not, what's up ahead!
Very creepy - and to think they spent years in here. Really an amazing experience. We were able to walk down into the simulated kitchen and dining room where it was not nearly as confined and then we were at the end of the tour. As Kim said, it was WELL worth the ninety minute ride to experience this. If you haven't yet, watch the 2:27 video at the top.....pretty accurate portrayal of what we went through this morning!
Tomorrow we get to move into our stateroom on the ship and we'll cruise most of the day. VERY excited about getting on board what I'm sure will be a most amazing ship! Tomorrow's journals will be full of photos of our new home for the next week plus!
Cu Chi Tunnel Video
No comments:
Post a Comment