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Published: August 6th 2007
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Returning back to our hotel in Saigon after our trip to Mui Ne, the first thing we did was book our US $5 day tour to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Temple. We awoke early the following morning, as the tour departed at about 8.15am. Our tour guide was so cute. A Vietnamese man about 60 years of age, who had worked as a translator for the Americans during the Vietnam War. From the aisle of the bus, he spent a bit of time x00guidingx00, and a lot more time talking about how there are no winners in wars, the pointlessness of the Vietnam War and how people should talk to resolve their differences, not use violence. At about 11.45am we arrived at our first destination, the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh. This is the main temple of the Cao Dai religion, and we arrived just in time to see the noontime prayer service. The temple looked impressive from the outside due to its size, although its main attraction was the beautifully and brightly decorated interior. As the procession started, the followers entered the building one by one, each knowing exactly where to sit. Within
Inside the Tunnel
Not much room to move minutes the temple was full of followers, dressed in either white, blue, red or yellow, all aligned in perfect little groups. From the upper level came the music and singing which reverberated through the temple. The procession occurred with such fluency and precision, its little wonder the temple attracts so many tourists on a daily basis.
After leaving the temple, we headed off towards the Cu Chi Tunnels, only stopping about an hour into our journey for lunch. We ate at a really dodgy looking restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Ordinarily we wouldnx00t have eaten here, but the place was full of tourists from various tour companies, so we figured the food must be safe. It turned out to be pretty good, and we even got complementary bananas for desert! At about 3.30pm we arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels. We sat through a x00documentaryx00 about the history of the Cu Chi region, in particular the extensive tunnel network created by the local people to fight the Americans and South Vietnamese armies during the Vietnam War. The short film was more like propaganda, as it only showed one side of the story, but it still gave a good
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Even at this hour of the morning! background into the incredible lives of the resistance fighters, who used their slender physical size and knowledge of the jungle and local terrain as an advantage over the Americans. We then went outside and were shown some pretty gruesome traps created by the Cu Chi people in order to maim American marines. Our tour guide led us to an inconspicuous area in the ground, and our group gathered around. Amazingly a Vietnamese man popped up out of a camouflaged x00spider holex00 which was about the size of an A4 piece of paper. The group was then offered the chance to go in the spider hole, and of course we both declined. A young Japanese man from our group took up the challenge and hopped into the hole with no troubles. Getting out proved more of a challenge. The poor guy tried to lift both arms at once, but of course the opening was too small. He then panicked, thinking he was stuck in the hole and tried even harder to push out both his arms at once. After he calmed down he realised that he had to do it one arm at a time, but his fear and panic proved
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Although you can't see it, all these people are on bikes just how incredible it was that the Cu Chi people thrived in such confined places. There were also displays showing how un-detonated US bombs were dismantled and turned into grenades to be used against the Americans. Then came the time we had been awaiting all day, but also dreading. We had the opportunity to go inside the tunnels, albeit specially made tunnels which were built larger than the originals in order to accommodate, bulkier western tourists. Alicia was trying to talk herself into going through the tunnels, but as she reached the entrance and saw how small they were she freaked out and couldnx00t go in. Josh was similarly freaked out, but was determined to give it a shot. Just seconds after entering the tunnels his heart began to race, and he instantly began to sweat. Of course the tunnels are small, and you have to squat-walk, but itx00s not overly difficult. The real difficulty is psychological, not physical. The thought of being in such a confined space, and wondering how deep you are, where the nearest exit is and even what could happen if the tunnel caved in. Venturing further into the tunnel the air quickly became incredibly hot
and dry and the tunnel pitch black. After only 2 minutes (which seemed like hours) came a junction where you could choose to continue or leave the tunnel. Only the continuation involved going down a ladder to a deeper tunnel. There was no way in the world that Josh was going to go any further, let alone any deeper. Like everyone else from our tour group who had entered the tunnel he was relieved to see light again, and leapt at the chance to leave the tunnel. During the War, these tunnels spread over about 200km and people lived in them for up to 3 months without surfacing. Even after visiting the tunnels and the surrounding jungle, we still really canx00t even begin to imagine how scary this place must have been during the war. Not to mention how brave the US forces were to come anywhere near this place, and how brave and resourceful the local people were to outwit the technically superior US Army.
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