Cu Chi Tunnels

I spent this morning wandering around learning about the Cu Chi tunnels.  Here's some info from my book on the site...

The tunnel network at Cu Chi was the stuff of legend during the late 1960's for its role in facilitating Viet Cong control of a large rural area only 30 km from Saigon.  At its height, the tunnel system stretch from Saigon to the Cambodian border.  In the district of Cu Chi alone, there were more than 200 km of tunnels. After ineffective ground operations targeting the tunnels claimed large numbers of casualties, the Americans turned their artillery and bombers on the area, transforming it into a moonscape.

Parts of this remarkable tunnel network have been reconstructed and two sites are open to visitors.  It's possible to descend into the tunnels themselves. Although some sections have been widened, others remain in their original condition.  If you can fit into the narrow passage ways, you'll gain an empathetic, if claustrophobic, appreciation for the people who spent weeks underground. 

Ya, this stuff is crazy! As I wandered around the grounds, you can hear shooting from the firing range on site, which makes it all that much more real to my imagination.  Some areas show how uniforms were made, where food was cooked, where shoes were made out of rubber tires and even the traps they would set for the enemy. 

I had the opportunity to crawl into one of the tunnels that had not yet been widened.  I'm not terribly claustrophobic, however when you have to crouch and scoot along curled right over, knowing that you are approximately 10m below ground, ya, I boogied through there! It was only a short distance, but it felt very nerve racking! It's hard to imagine surviving there for any length of time.

No photos for this one, the description says way more than photos can, and hard to express the seriousness of it with all the tourists walking around!