It was an early start, because we live about a half hour drive (without rush hour traffic) from the tour guide that we booked through, and were told to be there before 07h40, or we would miss the bus and be left behind. We should have known not to take this very seriously because, Asian time - much like African time - is... flexible. Anyway, like the stupid Westerners that we are, we rushed to get there on time and arrived at about 07h30. We were invited to sit on some standard, tiny, plastic stools and wait for the bus - which should have been a very manageable, 10 minute wait. The manageable, 10 minute wait turned into a frustrating, 50 minute wait and when the tour guide eventually met us, we walked to the bus. But not before stopping at various other hotels to pick up other travellers. Once we finally got to the bus, we spent a further hour driving from one hotel to the next looking for more passengers.
On a side note, there was some excitement while we were waiting on the bus: We were parked 'on the side of the road' - realistically still taking up one entire lane - when all of a sudden, somebody crashed into the back of the bus with their car. The bus driver stormed out, looked at the damage and started shouting and waving his arms about, all while the other guy just sat in his car smiling stupidly back at him. The bus driver lost whatever 'patience' he had at that point and stormed back to the driver's seat of the bus. He then grabbed a metal rod and started marching towards the other car with intent! The other driver (clearly in trouble) tried to reverse to get away however, for those of you who have read any of our traffic posts, this was an impossible expectation - well at least to reverse quickly enough to get away from an angry man with a metal rod in his hand. The bus driver lifted the rod and accelerated towards the windscreen. He brought the rod down sharply, but stopped just before making contact. He ordered the man to get out of the car, which he did, and they had a few words. The guy who crash into the bus looking very weary of the metal rod. Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. The bus driver got into the bus, and off we drove.
Finally we were off. The trip to the tunnels took us towards the Cambodian border, and took about 2 hours (including a 25 minute stop at a lacquer workshop). We were at least out of the city, and into some openish country-side. When we arrived at the tunnels, we realised just how big our tour group was - 42 people! It was too big! And, because we left almost 2 hours late from Ho Chi Minh, we were rushed through the excursion.
First up was a short explanation by our guide about where the tunnels were in relation to important landmarks during the war (Saigon and The Ho Chi Minh Trail), the significance and purpose of the tunnels and an outline of the tunnels layout using a diorama. We then watched a short, heavily biased film on the lives and times of the Viet Cong and the families of Cu Chi.
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| A diorama depicting the tunnels |
Next we walked along a path through the forest (during the war the landscape was completely barren due to all of the bombs dropped on the area) to an entrance to a tunnel. We were given the opportunity to try and squeeze into the entrance and then cover up our hiding place with a small, wooden board (which would be covered with the same ground cover as the area that it's found). It was a very effective hiding place, and you can appreciate just how difficult it must have been for the U.S. troops during the war! It also helps you to appreciate just how difficult life was for the Viet Cong at that time. The tunnels were tiny, hot and stuffy, pitch black and occupied by all sorts of creepy-crawlies, like bats, rats, insects and snakes!
Not everybody in our massive group got the chance to try climbing into the 'hatch', but luckily we both pulled rank, made use of our Vietnam acquired 'manners' and pushed our way in to get a turn. We were then shimmied on to the next part of the tour: over to a 'swinging floor trap', past a few more entrances to tunnels, through a bunch of mannequins dressed up to resemble the Viet Cong soldiers, around huge, B52 bomb craters, a short stop at an air vent and to an old tank. Without kidding, it probably took longer for me to type this paragraph than it took us to be rushed past these sections of the tour.
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| The teeny tiny entrance to the tunnel |
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| Going... |
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| going... |
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| gone! |
At this stage, the rain decided to pour down and we all squeezed in and around an old room where the Viet Cong used to build bombs, grenades and other nasty things that would effectively wound their enemies. The room was scattered with a bunch of mannequins which have been set up to imitate people working on their deadly arsenal. After the guide had explained what each 'person' was working on, he flipped a switch and they 'came to life'. The mannequins are all linked up to motors and move just like a person who was working on those weapons would. It was very cool.
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| A man made "ant hill" used to create ventilation in the tunnels |
The rain didn't look like it was going to ease up, and we were kind of regretting not having brought along our rain jackets. We moved quickly on to the next part of the tour, which happened to be the part that I was most excited about, the various booby-traps which the Viet Cong used during the war. The tour guide walked us through each trap, demonstrating how they worked - effectively mutilating opposition soldiers, but not killing them. That way his friends had to help him, thus slowing them down significantly and exposing them to further, lethal attacks. The traps were awesome, but again, the massive group which we found ourselves in made it difficult for us to get close enough to see each of the traps properly, but we got the idea.
The next part would've been really cool to do, if it wasn't so expensive. They have an assortment of the types of guns which were used during the war, and (for a price) tourists are able to fire them at the shooting range. Only a handful of people actually had the money to spend on this activity, so the rest of us (probably about 36 out of the 42) had to arb around and wait for them to finish. Luckily (I think?), they have strategically placed a curio shop at the shooting range. So the less wealthy tourists are able to spend their money on other stuff, like war memorabilia, snacks or cool drinks. We treated ourselves to ice-creams, which were delicious!
After the rich tourists had finished firing their dollars away, we proceeded to the penultimate part of our tour (and probably the main reason anybody goes to Cu Chi in the first place) - a short walk through some tunnels. At this point I bring to your attention, the fact that these tunnels have been widened to accommodate us 'big' Westerners, and that the original tunnels were narrower and way scarier! Anyway, down we went (all 39 out of 42 of us). It was certainly an experience - 39 of us all fighting for what little oxygen there was down there, crouched to an uncomfortable squat, and bumping our heads on the low 'ceiling' with every shuffled movement forward. In no time, it was dark, and HOT! There were options to go 20m, 40m, or 60m. We felt that 20m was more than enough, and were pleased with our authentic guerrilla soldier experience.
Once everybody from our group had clambered out of the tunnel, we went to check out how the Viet Cong effectively disguised where their kitchen was. Now if they just had a vent which opened directly above the kitchen, it would have been ridiculously easy for the Americans to expose them and deal with them. As a result, they created a number of smaller chambers off of the kitchen, which directed the smoke out and towards the surface. It would take some time for the chambers to all fill with smoke, and for it to finally surface above ground. By this time, it was far away from the kitchen - very smart. The Viet Cong also only cooked in the early hours of the morning, when there was a lot of mist in the air. This also helped to effectively disguise the smoke from the kitchen.
From there, we were offered tapioca which we ate with a crushed peanut and sugar seasoning. Apparently that is what the Viet Cong ate quite often. It was then back to the bus, and time for the treacherous trip back to HCMC. We are glad to have done the trip, but wish that it was with a smaller group and a more professional tour guide.
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