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Published: January 9th 2007
On our first full day we went to my choice: the Cu Chi tunnels, a cleaned up version of an amazing complex of
tunnels from which the Vietnamese conducted guerrilla warfare against the US. The tunnel network ran for 100s of kilometres, allowing the Viet Cong to conduct the war while the Americans defoliated and bombed the surface above them. Some tunnels even ran inside the US army bases, from where they could steal supplies and launch surprise attacks before disappearing back into the bowels of the earth - and from what I've read 'bowels' is the appropriate word to use, considering the necessarily rudimentary conditions they lived in down there. Also on display were various frightening booby traps for man and dog, and ‘lifelike’ dioramas showing brave Viet Cong sawing through bombs and cooking dinner. The final stop is a firing range where you can shoot various ‘nam weapons: the M16, AK47, M60 machine gun… well, couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this: I let rip with the M60 and AK47. The M60 was attached so aiming was limited. Couldn’t tell where the bullets landed and the thing jammed. The AK47 kicked like a mule, left a mark on
David in a sniper hole.
Once you get inside its quite roomy. my trigger finger and jammed. Couldn’t tell where the bullets landed, just puffs of smoke from somewhere on the range. I sure ain’t no Rambo.
Our tour guide had fought on the wrong side in the ‘American War’ as the Vietnamese call it, and had to undergo ‘reeducation’ after Saigon fell in 1975. The new rulers, obviously pleased with his progress, soon found him an interesting job removing landmines until his reeducation was complete, or they ran out of landmines. Because of his connection with the South he was effectively unemployable. Despite being a lieutenant who had experience commanding dozens of men, the best he could do was use his language skills to be a tour guide. He seemed quite bitter about all of this.
On the way back the bus dropped us off at the recently renamed ‘War Remnants Museum’. The previous name, ‘American War Crimes Museum’ gives a better indication of the display inside: full of grisly pictures of the atrocities of war. Outside they had a lot of captured American equipment from the war and a recreation of a prison run by the South Vietnamese government. I leave places like these very sober
Dog sized trap
Americans try using dogs, VC counter the threat. They learnt to use captured American soap, cola, shaving cream etc to give themselves an American smell, and built traps like these for those dogs that were not deterred. In any case , the dogs were soon withdrawn from use down the tunnels because they could not detect booby traps, and their handlers refused to send them down. and thankful that the nearest I have come to acts of violence is schoolyard rugby at lunchtime.
We had met this Australian guy, Neal, at Cu Chi and the museum, and made an arrangement to meet up with him and go to a restaurant together. We waited but he didn’t come, so we went on to a nice restaurant called ‘the Lemon tree’ in middle of the city. We fought our way through vast crowds of santa hat wearing Vietnamese celebrating Christmas their way. Mostly this consisted of driving their mopeds round and round the streets. Quite bizarre to see penguins, polar bears and Santa Claus decorated shops in the middle of a city that has but two seasons (rainy and dry) and average temperatures of around 27 degrees. The whole inner city was blocked off from all traffic except motorbikes and pedestrians, and the pedestrians spilled onto the streets and the motorbikes took shortcuts through the footpaths. All in good Christmas cheer, mind you, with the odd few throwing glittering confetti around. Merry Christmas Eve.
The density of moped traffic on Christmas Eve brings to question conventional wisdom about the environmental frindliness of small motorcycles.
Abandoned tank
M48 that had been abandoned after getting wrecked by a mine. Sure, one motorcycle uses less gas than one car, but Vietnam proves that you can pack 20 of the little buggers in the same space. How much noise gas and pollution would they use? Mind you, those 20 bikes can seat 40+ people, so probably better to compare with a bus… er, know of any research on this??
“The Lemon Tree’ is basically a restaurant for foreigners to try standard Vietnamese dishes that they could get for a tenth of the cost on the streets and in the markets. And the Australian didn’t turn up. Afterwards we sat in a packed outdoor ice cream shop and watched the Christmas eve inspired bedlam around us.
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