Cu Chi Tunnels

---

Sin Chow New Zealanders!

We woke up around 5.30am this morning to find that again the city looked as though it had not slept. The traffic does not stop all through the night - there is constant revving and tooting from the street below. The people selling food and products on their sandwich boards and cane baskets walk the streets until they find someone who might look interested. The sunglasses men have now made a habit of following our tour group from the bus to the hotel and even as we moved hotels they followed! Unfortunatley I made the fatal mistake of looking to hard at one of their products and so he followed me to the bus and stood outside the window whilst I sat looking the other way. Needless to say most of our group have a pair of sunglasses or more by now!

Today we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Vietnamese fought, hid and moved through during the war. It was our first trip out of the city and to see some of the countryside was a relief.There are fields and fields of rice paddys some with water buffalo, others with people pulling up the rice plants. There isnt as much traffic but more tractors than the city. On the way we also stopped at a rubber tree plantation that had some people lying in hammocks between them. There was also a small shop on the way that had gifts and souveniers for all of you back home! Then we arrived at the tunnels.

The Cu Chi Tunnels were astounding. A 250km network of tunnels and bunkers all underground and all hidden from the enemy. Things such as the smoke from fires in the tunnels were hidden from the Americans by funnelling it away from the actual tunnel itself. The surrounding area was also booby trapped. The guides showed us how these worked. One of the biggest ones was a 2m bamboo plank covered in grass that when you stood on it, swung over itself to reveal a pit of spikes below. According to the guide the Vietnamese used to cover the spikes with animal (buffalo) faeces and their own urine. This concoction would then infect the victim and therefore they would become a drain on the american armies resources whereas a dead man would not. The tunnels themselves were tiny we went through a 100m tunnel that everyone had to bend down through and at one point crawl face first down a slope.
We also had the chance to fire military arms. The AK47 and the M60 machine gun seemed to be the favourite for those of our group that tried this activity. We got ten rounds for about $20 New Zealand dollars. This was a high Vietnamese price but well worth it!

We also visited the war remenants museum. This was an experience in its own. The museum was not afraid to show photographs of the high cost their countrymen had paid for the war. The most memorable was the section on agent orange. Photographs covered the walls of people who had burns and were disformed due to agent orange. Some were people born after the war and had their photos taken in recent years. There were families who all had the same problem. It was a saddening experience.

Today we are off to the Mekong Delta.

Hen Gap Lai!

Alex

---