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Published: November 26th 2011
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Before we came to Vietnam, one of the things we really wanted to see was the site of the Cu Chi tunnels. It's only an hour in a taxi from Binh Duong so a group of 5 of us went of exploring for the day.
Wikipedia has a lot of information about the history of the tunnels. There are actually two sites, fairly close to each other, and very similar. The first one we went to was Ben Dinh and we were horrified at the number of tour buses and enormous groups of tourists. It was not what we had expected! Nevertheless, we continued on into the jungle and were soon entering an underground hut to watch an informative video.
The tracks continued deeper into the jungle and before long a Vietnamese soldier popped up out of nowhere revealing the tiny entrance to a defensive tunnel. We also saw some of the horrific traps set to maim an unsuspecting GI. It was truly frightening to consider what life must have been like for some of the young men sent out there to fight. We also saw the bomb factories where unexploded US bombs were stripped for their components and
gunpowder. Eventually we came to a clearing where the firing range was. We had the chance to fire an AK47 or a machine gun, and at US$1 per bullet Russ considered it. The minimum purchase was 10 bullets though, and we've both spent too many hours on firing ranges in the dim and distant past to really consider it fun! Our next stop was a kitchen where Vietnamese rice paper was being made. It is an acquired taste but can be quite pleasant.
During the war life wasn't exactly easy for the local population either, and as napalm and Agent Orange rained down above them, they retreated into a vast network of tunnels. These were originally constructed during the war against France, but the network was expanded greatly during the American war. The tunnels are narrow and low. At times our legs ached so much as we stooped along that the only solution was to crawl on your hands and knees! Store rooms, field hospitals, schools, everything was underground so that life could continue in some way. These are the main attraction but not everyone will be comfortable with the experience. It was terribly claustrophobic and there are warning
signs to put you off!
Our taxi driver seemed puzzled when we told him we wanted to go to another location. Ben Duoc is a much bigger site a few kilometres further on. We had to pay again for what was essentially the same experience, but this time there were no large tour groups so we could listen carefully to our guide and ask questions. When he showed us a narrow hole to enter one of the surprise tunnels, there were no volunteers to try it out for size. Russ decided it was a bit disrespectful to the guide for nobody to have a go so he squeezed into a hole barely bigger than his foot!!
The tour was pretty much the same but at a better pace and at the end there is the chance to enter a Buddhist temple inscribed with over 40,000 names of Vietnamese war victims. It was a haunting place but well worth the visit.
If you are reading this ahead of a trip to the tunnels, you may want to consider asking to go to Ben Duoc. We thought it was a much better experience. Whichever site you visit though, you
will not escape the horror of war but you will be full of admiration for the inventiveness of the Viet Cong soldiers.
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