On our third day in Vietnam me and Adoara went to see the so-called Củ Chi tunnels, situated a little bit outside of Ho Chi Minh city. These tunnels were used by the local Vietnameese guerrillas under the Vietnam War; not only did they use these tunnels to escape attacks by the Americans, but they also served other purposes such as living quarters etc. Normally the tunnels were being used mostly by daytime, but at times the guerrillas were forced to stay in the tunnels for days in row..
In the Củ Chi area there are a lot of holes in the ground which leads you down to the tunnel system. Obviously a lot of them has been closed down or destroyed by heavy rainfalls, bombings during the war and so on, but some of them remains more or less intact (or modified to be more fitted for tourist..) so that you still have the chance to go down there for yourself and see what it looks like.
One of the entrances to the tunnel.
Our guide talking about the tunnel system..
.. and by moving away some of the leaves on the ground he revealed to us on of the openings to the tunnels. This one, however, is not a regular entrance but was instead only being used as a point of reference: the guerrillas stuck their head up to orient themselves or to check that the surroundings were safe.
Besides the tunnels Củ Chi also has a lot of booby traps to show off. Here you have the classical one where you take a step onto what seems to be normal land, but in reality it is a pit of death..
In fact there are so many different traps to display that they have made a tiny "self made weapon gallery" where you can check out a whole loads of different types of booby traps..
And trust me; you do not want to run into one of these while you're out walking in the park or something..
The picture in the background shows how the American soldiers ended their lives (or got damaged for life) in various booby traps..
Our guide seemed to have a good time demonstrating traps and declairing: Tis is haw we kill Americans!". Adaora on the other hand did not look all that happy... :p
The Củ Chi tunnels has different levels, and the upper levels was used as living quarters not only for the warriors but also for women and children.
If you take a trip to the tunnels you also have the chance to do some shooting at the place the tourist groups stop for lunch (not included in the price of the trip).
And after lunch it is time for the real thing (for those who dares); a trip down to the tunnel itself.
And I can guarantee that the number of people who waited outside was larger than the number of people who went through all of the tunnel area. At first I thought it would be a rather claustrophobic experience, but it was not as worse as I would have thought. There are lights most of the way (the last part did however not have any light at all and I had to crawl on my knees too), and every 10 meters or so there are new stairs going up to the surface and I somehow felt a little bit secured by that.
Anyway, it was a really fun experience! (I mean, I was so proud of myself that I made it through whole of the tunnel xD!!)
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| Picture taken inside the tunnels. A little bit further inside the tunnel you can see another tourist as well.. |
Me and Adaora at the exit of the tunnel.
About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.
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