Cu Chi Tunnels

Only 50km west of Ho Chi Minh City is a huge complex of tunnels built by the North Vietnamese communists (Liberation Forces) at the end of the Ho Chi Minh trail from the north.

It comprised 250km of tunnels and underground facilities at Cu Chi and included schools, hospitals, weapons areas and living areas for 16,000 people, albeit in considerable discomfort from disease, air and water shortages and US offensive missions.

It was used successfully by the Vietcong to launch counter offensives such as the Tet Offensive and frustrated the US forces who could neither find nor disable the tunnel system.

The area was obliterated by B52 bombers and Agent Orange but could not destroy the tunnels.

Our guide Phou explaining the tunnel system (in red on the map):

The tunnels are extremely small and almost impossible for the average western soldier to enter. They were also protected by very nasty man traps, clever camouflage and deceptive devices.

The tunnel entrances are barely big enough to a small person to enter:

Smoke outlets up to a km away from the tunnels to avoid detection:

Very nasty mantraps to catch the unwary soldier:

Don’t walk on the grass:

A B52 bomb crater:

Left over American munitions. It’s an extreme irony that the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) north of Hué which separated North from South Vietnam is now the most dangerous place in Vietnam, as 10% of all bombs failed to detonate leaving an ongoing tragic legacy.

Although it is possible to visit the DMZ area, most tours (including ours) bypass the DMZ by flying over it direct from Hué to Ha Noi:

After all this horror and memories, why is no one laughing? It was a harrowing and sobering experience.

The war was a very dirty affair on both sides, but it did happen, it can’t be denied and I’m glad we went and learned more about it. It wasn’t pleasant but ultimately it didn’t diminish our enjoyment of the country.

To lighten the atmosphere a bit we visited a firing range near the Cu Chi Tunnels where you can fire real war era weapons, rifles and machine guns, something you don’t get to do every day. Sounds dangerous and it was, but it was also a lot of fun, and we needed some. See this article and video.