Getting deep into Nam's Cu chi

The day after we went to the Mekong Delta Erica and Claire went on with their journey north to Dalat. From there it was just Mike, Andreanne, and me. We totally played that next day low key and made sure to buy tickets for a tour of the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, more on that in a minute. Actually we treated ourselves to watching 007 Casino Royal the evening before, it was so nice to see a movie completely in english and of high quality for a change. The following day we woke up early, got some damn good cheap pho and boarded the bus. The ride over was the usual three hours and I made sure to listen to as much Muse as I possibly could along the way. We arrived to see that our tour guide was totally the best of them all. There were a few tours happening at the same time, each taking their turn to see the sights and hear the stories, but our guy was so enthusiastic that he put all the other guides to shame. The Cu Chi tunnels were basically a really elaborate underground tunnel system that the Vietnamese used to defend themselves and fight against Americans during the 'American War.' The tunnel network was actually really very impressive. The tunnel network spans over 200km in length and is actually multiply tiered. The shallowest tier is only 3 meters below the ground while the lowest is down 9 meters. Our guide explained that the tunnels were dug out using no electricity of any kind, only a small shovel and a bamboo basket to transport the dislodged earth. At the wars midpoint, there were thousands of people living and fighting from the tunnels, it was really weird to hear the tour guide speak about the war. We saw a video in english that was about the Cu Chi tunnels made by Vietnamese. It spoke all about the various specifics of the tunnels themselves, but then went into some of the Vietnamese war heroes that fought there, that's where it got sort of weird. For instance, there was one war hero that was young girl, no more than 14 years old, who was given a high medal for killing over 50 Americans. Their heros were totally our enemies and listening to the Vietnamese accailmades was not exactly pleasant.

01 A model of the Cu Chi Tunnels

But luckily they didn't dwell on that small bit of history for too long and moved on to more specifics about the tunnels. Our tour guide showed us around to some of the totally secret entrances that lead into the tunnels and let us each try and get in, Mike and I had no trouble, but some of our British counterparts (no one we knew) couldn't fit Vietnamese proportions. Then we spent some time being shown how the Vietnamese used bamboo and metal spikes to trap and kill lots more American soldiers. These traps were really nasty so be sure to check out the photos. Afterwards we were led around to a few huts which had mechanical manikins enacting how the Vietnamese used the unexploded American ordinance (UXO) ie bombs that were duds, to make their own bombs and weapons. After that we were taken into the tunnels to crawl through 200 meters. The tunnels themselves are teeny tiny, you can hardly fit in them even at a full squat, at points the tunnels were so narrow that you had to crawl on all fours and still that was tight! I felt really bad for Andreanne because she was in front of me and I had to see her six foot frame condense into the tunnel and somehow maneuver her way through, I must admit it was kinda funny and we all got a good kick out of it. Afterwards we were all hella sweaty and took a few moments to stretch. We were then led to an area where we could shoot guns and have a quick snack. The gun shooting didn't really appeal to any of us so we just went from there to the 'light lunch' provided and then that was about it. Oh, never mind how could I forget, on the way out we were greeted by a sign that just said, "Some victims of Agent Orange." This was a really depressing sign because it just had about 25 pictures of children born with deformations due to agent orange, the sign was totally unnecessary since all throughout the tour they had never once mentioned agent orange. After that we got onto the bus and made our way back to Saigon. The tour was actually pretty cool and eye opening, it's still sort of weird to be a citizen of the country that was the enemy for so long, but at least the tension almost appears non-existent. The healing that the Vietnamese have exhibited is pretty impressive especially considering that I never once felt alienated for being specifically American. Stay tuned for more folks, thanks for reading.

02 Getting into the tunnels

03 Doing what I do in the Cu Chi

04 Before...

05 After!!!

06 Manicans making bamboo spikes

07 Mike in the Cu Chi

08 I don't know how she fit

09 Vietnamese art?

10 For you Buddy, it made me think of your Mike