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Published: August 8th 2007
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I was looking forward to today as we were heading for the notorious Chu Chi Tunnels.
On our way to the tunnels we first stopped at a temple that practiced the religion Cao Dai. Here we learned a bit about Cao Dai, which is an amalgamation of nationalism, mysticism and oriental beliefs; namely Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. I guess if you can't actually make up your mind which religion you would like to follow then this one is a happy medium, perhaps conjured up by an indecisive Libran.
We were welcomed inside as the ceremony was getting underway. Visitors stood on the balconies that surrounded the walls and quietly watched the proceedings, which amounted to lots of chanting. I was slightly confused by a statue of Mary Magdalene that I had spied at the alter, which was clearly part of the Cao Dai religion, so now I'm even less sure which other religions Cao Dai comprises but I'm guessing that whatever you believe you'll probably find it in Cao Dai. The longer I was in the temple the more angry I became with the amount of disrespectful visitors present dressed entirely inappropriately and disrespectfully for such a ceremony. After
sitting through about 10 minutes of chanting however, my concentration abandoned me and I made my way outside to admire the incredibly colourful, even gaudy architecture of the building.
After lunch we headed to the famous Chu Chi tunnels. Briefly; the Cu Chi Tunnels have carved themselves a celebrated niche in the history of guerrilla warfare. The tunnels are a series of hidden and connected routes that follow a system of narrow, often unlit and poorly vented tunnels underground. They were secretly dug out prior to the Vietnam War and provided the resistance base and headquarters of the southern Vietnam Liberation Forces. The Viet Cong would lure the enemy into the jungle and then, literally, vanish.
When we arrived we had a talk from a soldier about the history of the tunnels and then watched a short video. After this we walked a short distance into the jungle and descended the first tunnel. This first tunnel was expanded to allow western visitors, who are far bigger than the Viet Cong were, into the passages. As we entered it became very dark and suddenly I came face to face with a bat, one of my biggest fears. I was
in a tiny hole with no where to get out of its way and it was flapping about so I threw myself into the tunnel right into the arse of one of the ladies in our tour and then shuffled as quickly as she would let me go until I was far away from the bat! The tunnels were dark and extremely hot but we soon emerged a few meters along out of another exit. The shuffling suited me very well as my foot didn't hurt so I was enjoying myself very much.
Next the soldier showed us how the Viet Cong soldiers would have descended into the tunnels. He located an impossibly small secret hatch and carefully lowered himself into it- replacing the lid. As we all looked around for where he might exit he appeared from another tiny whole behind us. He then came back to the group and suggested that only small people should attempt this and pointed straight at me. I was very enthusiastic and lowered myself into the hole with effortless grace that any short ass can and then exited the tunnels in super time. I'm sure I must have been a Viet Cong
in a previous life as I was made for this. We then all made our way to the smallest of the tunnels that hadn't been widened to suit tourists. Only a few of us attempted this. From the beginning we crawled and slid on our hands and knees descending lower and lower, at one point sliding on our butts and backs down to the lowest point. This tunnel was a true test and I kept imagining what it would be like to panic down there in the sweltering heat and darkness. The air we were breathing was thick and warm and didn't feel like it contained any Oxygen and I had to stop myself thinking these things if I wanted to remain calm and collected!! I continued through the tunnel before emerging, proud and self satisfied at the other end - holding a whole new found respect for the men that pretty much lived down there during the war.
The following day we left Vietnam for Cambodia. On the short plane ride to Phnom Penh I was desperately trying to finish the book 'First They Killed My Father'. This was the book that we were recommended to read, to
get the absolute most out of visiting the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum in Phnom Penh. Reading the book was task enough on it's own as it had me in floods of tears at every opportunity but luckily for me they had changed the plan so we were now visiting those places the following day and that gave me some more time to finish my book.
Despite arriving in Cambodia and discovering all of our luggage had been left in Vietnam we continued on with our tour of the city. We began with a trip to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, which stunning as it was, left me and some of the others cold- this being the thousandth palace we'd entered in the last two/ three weeks. The rest of that day was free and we had an amazing Cambodian meal in the evening with yummy dishes such as fish amok and chicken satay. We ended up in a club called The Heart of Darkness that is apparently a bit of a legend in Cambodia and if I'd known how harrowing the next day would be I'd have had a few more drinks there
before heading back to the hotel.
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