Củ Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi tunnels are a massive network of tunnels in the Cu Chi district of Saigon, which is a bit outside of the busy part of town. There are around 75 miles of tunnels in this complex. Construction of the tunnels began during the first Indochina war, when the Vietnamese were attempting to rid themselves of the French. They were added onto and used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war as well. Now they are primarily a tourist destination.

The tunnels are largely intact, though some have collapsed. And in the tourist area some sections were made larger to allow us hefty western tourists to climb inside for a bit.

The area is now covered in forest, but was apparently only grass during the Vietnam war due to extensive bombing and likely some use of defoliants. The US tried many tactics to combat the tunnel system. They flooded them for a while, but the VC dug a tunnel to the Saigon river to drain them. Grass fires were also used to try to combat the VC in the area, but obviously they had the tunnels to return to.

We were told that there were as many as eighteen thousand Viet Cong in the area, some of whom lived in the tunnel system. There were underground meeting rooms, hospitals, even kitchens. The kitchens would have a long, disguised chimney so that the smoke from cooking would vent away from the structure. The workmanship was very impressive.

The area was also booby-trapped heavily. There were the tiger traps that we've all heard of (pictured below), filled with bamboo punji sticks. But also many other terrible devices made of iron rods that when you stepped on them would impale your feet and legs.

The section of tunnel that you are permitted to venture through is about one hundred meters, I believe. There are a few exits along the way, as many people get claustrophobic. The tunnel at the beginning has been widened significantly to allow tourists through, but it continues to get smaller as you progress, and the frequency of lights decreases. Not to mention that it is swelteringly hot. Most people bail at the first exit. I thought I'd go a bit farther, but sixty or so was enough for me. Here's a picture of a stranger in the beginning of the tunnel. And a selfie from farther in:

With such an extensive network of tunnels it was necessary to have a lot of vents to allow oxygen to circulate. One of the methods used to disguise vents was to build these false termite mounds and include a small vent somewhere on it.

This is a picture of the tourist-sized secret entrance. Later we saw one of the original entrances, which I'm not sure my shoulders would've fit through diagonally. Very, very small.

Also you can pay a few dollars to shoot a variety of Vietnam-era weaponry, so I tried out an M16.