Today we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels 40km from Ho Chi Minh. Bonnie and Carolyn didn't come today so it was a private guided trip for me and Andy.
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| See the dog on the bike |
The tunnel network of Cu Chi became legendary during the 1960s for its role in facilitating the Viet Cong communists to control a large rural area kilometres away from Ho Chi Minh. When built there was 250km of tunnels over 3 levels where the Viet Cong would live, sleep, make weapons and fight from.
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| Demonstrating the size of the tunnels |
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| Tunnel Entrance |
The ingenuity of the Vietnamese was impressive. There were numerous nasty trap doors, booby traps with nails which were intended to injure rather than kill. Air vents to the tunnels were disguised as termite mounds and vents for cooking were dug a long distance from the actual kitchens and disguised under leaves. The tunnels were so thin that Americans couldn't squeeze through them and instead they had to bring in smaller Mexican soldiers to push through the tunnels. Any tunnels which were slightly larger led to underground traps. Sniffer dogs were used by the Americans to detect entrances but the Vietnamese would use pepper to make the dogs sneeze or they'd put American uniforms at the entrances so the dogs wouldn't detect any unusual smells.
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| Demonstrating the traps |
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| Andy crawling through an enlarged tunnel |
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| Andy and his guide through the tunnels - note how much smaller he is |
As a result of the Americans being unable to find the tunnels the Cu Chi area became one of the most bombed, shelled, gassed, defoliated and generally devastated areas in the history of warfare. To this day vegetation in the area still doesn't grow well due to all the chemicals remaining in the ground.
On the way back we stopped at a field of gum trees which produce latex. Each day a small section of the bark is removed from the tree and the latex collected in a small pot. It was sad seeing the workers in the field with no protective hand gear or face masks handling this nasty chemical everyday.
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| Neer collecting latex |
As always it was fun seeing all the different things people carried on their bikes
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| Spot the newly purchased fridge and freezer |
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| Power cabling in the city |
On the way back Neer offered to take us to the Reunification Palace where in April 1975 the republic of Vietnam ceased to exist. The Viet Cong tanks broke through the steel gates, unfurled the VC flag from the balcony of the palace and arrested General Minh (who'd only been head of State for 43 hours).
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| Reunification Palace |
The palace is still preserved as it was then and we saw the upper floors with the presidential receiving room where the South Vietnamese president received foreign delegates. We also saw the Vice President's room and the basement which was used as the telecommunications centre and war rooms. There is also a secret tunnel which runs from the palace into the Chinese quarter of town but sadly it wasn't open to the public.
Afterwards Andy and I went to Quan An Ngon – a traditional Vietnamese restaurant which was recommended in the Lonely Planet. Fortunately we ordered the right thing as the couple next to us ordered a strange medley of dishes which they sent back for something else.
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| Lunch |
After lunch we took a nice walk back through town to the hotel. It was a lovely sunny day and it was nice seeing all the preparations taking place for Chinese New Year. Back at the hotel we had a bit of a rest then Andy 'trigger' Chalmers decided to go off and take some 'more' photos. I stayed in the room as I was still pretty tired.
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| Anyone want a Pepsi? |
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| Children had come to see the Chinese New Year decorations |
In the evening we met up with Bonnie and Carolyn again and went to Huong Lai – another Lonely Planet recommended restaurant where the kitchen and waitstaff are disadvantaged or former street children who are given training, education and a place to live. The food was fantastic.
After dinner we went up to the bar at the top of the Rex Hotel in the centre of town. This wasn't Carolyn or Bonnie's scene and they decided to go for ice cream but Andy and I stayed enjoying a nice beer and good views.
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| Cheers |
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| View from the bar |
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