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Published: February 21st 2007
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Bomb Crater
A hole in the earth left by American bombers. Greetings Fellow Perfusionist',
After Saartje and I had successfully negotiated a trade deal between Vietnam and long time enemy China we felt we deserved a little time to see the sites just outside the city. And so it was that we made our way (again) to our good friends at the Innoviet tour company to organise a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels about 70kms from Saigon.
We assembled outside the company orifice (bad joke but Sarah wanted it in there) at 7.30am and met with our guide, Em Toan and two pommie geezers named ...I can’t remember but we will call them Bertie and Agnes. We made our way to Benh Tanh Bus station and boarded a bus bound for Cu Chi. Innoviet give you the real experience so we traveled like Vietnamese on a crowded yet surprisingly comfortable air-conditioned bus for an hour and a half and then hoped on another bus for 30 mins to the tunnel site. The trip to the tunnel site was interesting as it was the first time that we witnessed visible scars left over from the war. The Cu Chi area was subjected to massive air-raids carried out by American
VC in the trenches...
Well not really, but it gives you an indication of what American and Australian soldiers would have been facing. B-52 bombers during the war and as such the land is still pock-marked with massive bomb craters. You can even see some house with bullet holes in them still. The bus finally arrived at the tunnel site which was surrounded by thick and sweaty jungle on all sides and also what seemed to be thousands of Vietnamese school children. When Sarah saw the school children she flew of the handle screaming: "What the hell are these little bastards doing here? I paid good money ($6) to come and see these bloody tunnels and I don't want any little mongrel wrecking it for me by screaming and laughing and pretending they're riding a cheese horse!" I had to do something, she was embarrassing herself so I administered a sedative in the form of a packet of rice crackers and she was fine.
Out of the bus we get and head over to a big building, get our tickets and take our tunnel guide. The whole area consisted of about 250kms of tunnels in three levels one end of the tunnel came out at the Saigon River, in Saigon funnily enough. They were originally built during the French war and then
Rusting and Silent
The remnants of a an American UH-1 Huey. expanded during the American war. The area was heavily fought over during the American war because it was a huge staging base for the Vietcong. On one side of the tunnel site they have a representation of how life was conducted with replica villages, schools and gardens above ground (complete with mannequins), as well as the underground kitchens and the ventilation system they used to take the smoke out of the tunnels and how they made the smoke dissipate so as not to attract attention from the air. In this kitchen we were treated to a meal of what the VC survived on for nearly ten years. Let’s just say it was shit and there is no way in the world Sarah would have survived. It was basically dried blocks of rice and this root thing that kind of tasted like potatoes. We were shown some booby traps, burnt out American helicopters and tanks and some trenches that were used to fight from.
After this we proceeded across to the other side of the site and into the thick and dark jungle where we watched a doco on the tunnels. After this we were taken down the tunnels. Holy
Sarah and Toan
"If we're going the wrong way, I'll come at you like a mighty wind" says Sarah to Toan through clenched teeth. Rottin' Roo Poo! They were tiny and those of you, who know me, know that I have what is called a lethal huge and muscular frame and I JUST fitted down those babies. They’re are the original tunnels that haven't been widened for westerners, because no westerners come to this particular site (thanks once again Innoviet) and they’re tiny, dark, cramped, hot, dirty, smelly and very claustrophobic. These were just the first level as well, I can't imagine what the second and third levels must be like, how they got air down there I have no idea. We were shown booby traps, right angle corners and dead ends. We were taken to under ground hospitals, workshops, and command centres. It was truly amazing even though it was bloody hard work. At one stage our Innoviet guide Em Toan took us down a tunnel that would bring us up at our end point, it was about 200 metres to that point; Sarah was behind him, I was behind her and the two chums were behind me. After about 50 metres in the poms panicked and turned around and headed back, which meant that we had to turn around and make sure
This is fun
Sarah looks like she enjoying herself.... they were alright, (easy said than done for someone my size! See photos), only they took the wrong turn and ended up coming out of the wrong exit. They were very lucky because the site guide told us there were still hundreds of unaccounted for booby traps in the tunnels. Zoinks! When we got back to the surface the poms were screaming and running around like they had gone mad. Sarah slapped them around the gizzards and brought them back to normality. They thanked her.
So after our little excursion down the tunnels it was time to leave and check out the temple the government erected to remember the 40,000 people killed here during the American war. The temple walls have all the names of the 40,000 known dead inscribed on them. It is a somber place to visit. Not much else can be said. 40,000 is a lot of names.
So after this we made our way back to Saigon by bus content with the day we had but also struck by the amount of death and destruction that this small country has endured over the years.
Hazy and warm with a chance of more hi-jinx
Jaso!
On my knees with barely enough room. and book making with an ex-SAS Vet.
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