The Cu Chi tunnels are the tunnels that run throughout southern Vietnam that were controlled by the Vietcong during the war. The tunnels are ~124 miles long, and cover the greater area near Saigon. The Vietcong used the tunnels to transport information and troops throughout the area. Today you can visit the tunnels and learn about the war.
The second day a group of us went to the tunnels. The tourist destination is roughly and hour and a half away from Ho Chi Minh and we hired a bus to take us there. The first stop on the tour is a tiny little whole in the ground that the Vietcong used to get in and out of the tunnels. When I say tiny, the whole is barely smaller than my hips and much smaller than my shoulders. It was a struggle for me to fit into the tunnel. Everyone had a chance to climb in and out of the whole, I am about the maximum size to fit inside, that is after I severely contort my body.
The next stop on the tour was a pit trap setup by the vietcong. US soldiers would walk over the trap where they would fall into a whole filled with fecal covered spikes. Generally speaking, the trap wouldn't kill the soldier, rather it would severely wound them. The wounds would quickly become infected because of the spikes. Not a pleasant way to go. We also saw an old abandoned US tank and Vietcong dummies in repose.
The next major stop was a demonstration of various different traps the Vietcong setup for the US soldiers. None of them were very pleasant; most of them were some variation of the original pit trap. There was also the “door” trap, which had a board covered in spikes hung from above a door frame. When someone walked through the door they would trigger the trap which would swing down and impale them.
Next we saw how the Vietcong created all these traps. They used the parts from failed bomb and mortar shells. Unexploded US bombs would be melted down and forged into the spikes used against the US soldiers. Gunpowder and other explosives would be used to create land mines.
Our next stop was an actual opportunity to go through the tunnels. Our guide led us through a roughly 100 meter section of the tunnels. The tunnels are incredibly small and tight. I literally squatted for the majority of the time I was in the tunnels. At some points I had to get on hand and knee and crawl. Apparently, the tunnels have been widened to allow the tourists more mobility. Understand, as an American at 6' 4” I'm about twice the size of the average Vietnamese person, but the point remains that the tunnels were small.
Next came one of the most exciting points of the Cu Chi tunnels, the firing range. I have never fired nor held a fully automatic weapon, despite having one parent from S. Texas and another from Indiana. My range includes deer rifles of various sorts, shotguns, a few handguns, and many .22s and pellet guns. They have a full range of weapons used by the US and Vietcong/N. Vietnamese armies available for use by the tourists. You are required to purchase your own bullets, but otherwise are free to fire any weapon you choose.
I split ten rounds on an AK-47 and ten rounds on a M-16 with another person on our tour. The firing range had ear protection in the form of old headphones for our use. The only other safety precaution was the guns being loosely mounted on a platform. A guide loaded the guns for us, and then let us shoot at will. They had targets setup at the end of the range, but most people were interested in shooting the guns rather than hitting anything. For many people in our group it was their first time firing a weapon, interesting no? Very much an exciting thrill for everyone. This essentially concluded our tour. Ultimately, it was highly education and entertaining, anyone traveling to Saigon should make the Cu Chi tunnels a stop on their trip.
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