25th & 26th March 2010
We had had to postpone our planned trip to Cu Chi Tunnels yesterday because it was Ed’s turn to be confined to docks. Our diet has completely changed since being in Asia and I think our stomachs are taking their time to adapt, which can be tiresome at times. However, having rebooked our trip, we were off to Cu Chi bright and early on the Sinh Tourist bus.
Unfortunately, our English speaking guide had learnt his English from someone Vietnamese, which is quite common in a place where they are crying out for native English speaking teachers to teach them. It was a job to understand him, especially as we were heading out of Saigon with the obligatory horn beeping from the driver. However, things did get better through the day as you started to ‘get your ear in’ and understand the way he spoke.
Cu Chi is a village approximately an hour outside Saigon city. Before the war it was a place where people came from the city to enjoy its luxuriant fruit trees, which produced fruit all year round. The entire area was devastated during the war and became a place for the Anti-American resistance.
Within the Cu Chi battlefield, the Ben Duoc underground tunnel complex was the area headquarters. This underground tunnel system featured several levels in a web of over 200km of tunnels. There were also underground rooms where the Viet Cong lived and held meetings.
The original tunnels were very narrow, designed for the slight build of the Vietnamese. Some tunnels have since been enlarged to enable western tourists to go down and have a look.
Our tour started with a solider showing us how they would hide the hole used to enter the tunnel. This was part of the tunnel that hadn’t been enlarged and while the slim Vietnamese soldier had no trouble disappearing below ground, it wasn’t the same for the tourists that tried.
Next we moved on to look at some of the highly efficient and lethal traps that the Viet Cong set to stop the Americans. One particularly nasty trap involved sharpening bamboo and setting them at the bottom of a pit, then covering the pit with grass and longer bamboo shoots to hide it.
We then passed a diorama featuring a model wearing typical VC clothes, all in black to hide them from the American soldiers. This was accompanied by one of the American tanks captured by the VC using land mines detonated from a distance in order to destroy the tank which is now a tangled mess of metal.
We saw some more examples of traps designed by the VC, including one that was hung from doorways in houses in Cu Chi village, before moving onto the part of the tour where people get the chance to go down into the tunnels.
The length of tunnel only runs a maximum of 150 metres, and there are exit points along its length, so you don’t have to go the whole way. We passed on this as it was extremely hot and even with the enlarged tunnels it would still have been pretty tight and very dark and humid. There were even some people who went down and straight back up.
After all of our group had rejoined the tour we went onto a shaded area where we had some tapioca and lotus leaf tea. This is the food the VC would have had during their operations. The tapioca would provide them with plenty of energy for not a large peice of food so was very useful.
The final part of our tour was a short film about Cu Chi and the Vietnam war (or the American war as it is referred to here). We had been warned that it was very Vietnamese, but we were unprepared for exactly how much so. It was reminiscent of Russian propoganda films I have seen in the past. A very communist and black and white light on something that can never be described as so. Americans were the enemy and the VC who killed them were known as ‘American Killer Heroes’.
It was a very interesting tour. Very well laid out and aside from the opportunity to fire a gun and the souvenir shop half way round, surprisingly lacking in the circus factor that surrounds so many places that tourists are interested in. Once we got to understanding our guide, his information was relevant and very factual. However, I still found it quite difficult to imagine just how difficult life would have been and how fraught with danger for the men and women on both sides with so many tourist groups wandering around the complex. But seeing as it is the number one tourist attraction in Ho Chi Minh with some 40,000 tourists a year, it would be very difficult to see it any other way.
On the way back from the tunnels we called in at a Handicraft factory, where they produce a lot of laquerware, all by hand. The people who work here are all affected in some way by the Agent Orange that was used in the war. This is an ongoing problem here in Vietnam and is now affecting 3rd and 4th generations. They work on a sort of production line. The first person painting the wood, the second laying the mother of pearl, the third varnishing and so on until the final highly polished article is finished.
When we got back to Saigon, we called in at the tailor who is making our outfits to see if they were ready. My ai do was, but on trying it on needed to be taken in a bit, my dress was also ready and fit almost perfectly (just a small alteration to do). We had to wait for a bit for Ed’s suit to come from the tailor, but when it did it fit like a glove. Looked really good too. His jacket wasn’t quite ready and he decided while we were there to have a shirt made so we will collect everything together on Sunday or afterwards.
This evening we were out to dinner with Karen and some of her colleagues who live in the same block. A truly wonderful meal and excellent company was followed by a trip to the school to watch a performance of the Wizard of Oz. It was lovely to see the international school with its students from all nationalities, so very different from my comprehensive school in Wales! The show was fabulous, really professionally done with well thought out scenary and props. The performers were so confident and at home on stage, it was a real privilege to watch.
On the way home we were treated to a spectacular downpour. It was ok for us in the taxi, but Karen on her bike got well and truly soaked.