Cu Chi

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The Cu Chi tunnels are about 2 hours from HCMC and are very well worth the trip. Every tour operator in the backpakers district offers the day trip for only $5.

At the tunnels you see different styles of traps that the Vietcong used during the war and you do get the opportunity to go down into the tunnels. There are three different levels of tunnels with the top level being the biggest. It is still so small that you almost have to get down on your hands and knees. The bottom two levels and not open to tourists but I believe that the bottom levle is so small you have to lay on your stomach to get through, I can not imagine. I was only able to do 20 meters of the tunnels before my heart started racing and I ran to the first light that I could see to get out.

The tunnels started to be build during the Indo China war and were expanded on during the American / Vietnam War. At their peak the Viet Cong had dug up to 200km of tunnels throughout the Cu Chi district.

The video is extremely one sided (as is everything that has to do with the "American War" in Vietnam). Basically the video says, everything was great in Cu Chi, we had tropical fruit, people were happy etc and then the voiceover says "like a crazy bunch of devils the Americans came". Pretty unbiased huh? It was an awful war and I expect there to be some bias but was a little shocked since it is 40 years later.

It was an educational and interesting day, definitley worth the trip.

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Photos

Bamboo Trap
This was one of the deadliest and most common traps

AK47 or M16?
You could shoot crazy guns for a small price at the tunnels. I didnt participate but nothing like learning about traps and hearing machine guns

Going into the tunnel
Once you turn the bend it got very dark and a lot smaller

So happy to be out
Exiting the tunnel, my heart was doing some double time. Our group spread out so there was no one in front or behind me, didnt like it at all