Undgerground in Vietnam

One of the districts of Ho Chi Minh City is Củ Chi.  This area was a key area during the Vietnam War because beneath Củ Chi is a series of tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong.  They used the tunnels to hide, to transport people and food, as well as serve as communication routes.  

It was really interesting to be on a tour of a war area in another country.  Obviously, the Vietnamese have a different perspective on the war than the Americans do.  Our tour guide actually acknowledged this and did a pretty good job of not bashing America during our tour.  A few other Americans from my office have been here and actually took quite a bit of offense to the tour.  I guess you have to be somewhat open-minded to enter a former war area when you are from the opposing country.  Especially one that is still so fresh in so many minds.

The Củ Chi tunnels cover an area of approximately 75 miles...from Ho Chi Minh City to the Cambodia border.  It must have been very frustrating for the American soldiers to walk through an area and then all of a sudden have somebody pop up virtually out of nowhere.

The entrance to the tunnels were well hidden in the soil.  If you weren't looking for them you could easily miss them. 

They were also incredibly small.  You probably can't tell from the picture above but that guy isn't a big guy.  To give you some perspective here is a shot of the entrance to one:

I wear a US ladies size 7.5 shoe.  The entrance to the tunnel was just a little bit larger than my shoe.  I'm actually not certain that I would even fit down through the hole.  Granted, the Vietnamese tend to be a bit smaller than Americans and most of the guys fighting were probably 16-25 years old so would have had a smaller frame...but man, it would have been a tight fit.

Wandering through the war memorial park it is pretty clear where the entrance to the tunnels were because they were marked.  However, this is what the area would have looked like to the soldiers who were there:

The tunnels were two and three levels deep underground.  The first level was the tallest and where most of the living quarters and meeting rooms were located.  The lower levels were primarily used for moving from one section of the tunnels to another.  There were a series of dead ends and to this day there is not a complete map of the system of tunnels.  Apparently you would only know the section that you lived and worked in.  This was done as a safety precaution in case you were ever caught.

On the tour you are actually allowed to get down into the tunnels.  It was dark and incredibly hot underground.  I cannot imagine living there and spending more than the 10 minutes I was in them.  This is a picture looking up the steps from level 2 back up to level 1 of the tunnel:

Walking through the tunnels you had to bend over or do a sort of duck walk in order not to bonk your head on the ceiling.  It was not easy and I wouldn't want to do it for any significant length.

The thing to take note of in the picture above is that they have actually widened and made the tunnel taller.  As I was walking through my shoulders were brushing up against the walls in some spots.  It is certainly not a place for you to go if you are claustrophobic. 

You may be wondering how they were able to breathe underground.  They used bamboo pipes to vent in air and to vent out smoke from cooking.  The ventilation holes were then hidden in termite mounds.  Apparently, the Viet Cong would come up and reshape the mounds a couple of times a week since real termite mounds were always changing shape.

It was a really interesting place to visit and I especially liked getting the opinion from the opposing side.  I honestly think I got a small feeling for what it must have been like for the Viet Cong during the war.  I also feel like I understand a little better what the conditions must have been like for the American soldiers as well.  I realize that I didn't have bad weather or guns or bombs or the other things that come along with war but I did get to see an area where our soldiers fought.  Whether or not you agree with war I think it is good to get an understanding of what our soldiers go through to defend our country.