Today Laura, Leah, James and myself went on a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We had to pay a bit extra ($27 instead of $10 each) because the others ended up not coming and it was just the four of us. I managed the convince the three of them we should go, and it was well worth it!!
Our guide's name was Hai. He was a radio operator for the US in the war and was very kind. He told us a lot of history about the Vietnam War and Vietnam itself. I won't go into too much detail, but I remember learning about the Vietnam war in year 11 and since then I've always wanted to come and see the tunnel network for myself. As far as I can understand, Vietnam used to be spilt into two parts - the north and the South. The north were communist and tried to infiltrate the south. I still don't fully understand why America got involved, if someone could email me and explain that would be great. Was it because they wanted to stop communism? But why in Vietnam particularly?? Maybe because they were afraid of communism after the Cold War?
On the way to the tunnels we stopped at Nam Quoc Handicapped Handcrafts. Here victims of agent orange and napalm who are disabled make lacquered artwork using eggshells and mother of pearl. They were beautiful! I bought one for me, mum, nan/pa and grandma/grandpa.
The currency here is just ridiculous though! I spent 2 million dong on the four of them because $1 US = 21,000 Vietnamese dong. So it sounds like I spent a lot, but really I didn't! Does feel nice to say I'm a millionaire though ;) and all the money supports the victims.
After seeing many rubber trees, we arrived at the tunnels. Cu Chi is named after trees in the area. Hai told us that the tunnel network spanned 150 kilometres, while the area was 42 square kilometres. The Vietnamese people and Viet Cong used them to hide from the Americans and their bullets and bombs. First we watched an old propaganda movie which was very communist and anti American (obviously). Here I sat next to a woman wearing an Essendon cap and I had my Collingwood one on. Funny how footy brings people to talk so far away from home! We saw an army tank that was left there, B52 craters from bombs, and we climbed inside one of the original sized tunnels. I fitted easily because the Vietnamese people are tiny like me, it was weird putting the lid on and being in complete silence.
We saw many bombs and booby traps (ouch!!!) all with many spikes to inflict pain and death on those who stumbled upon them.
The entire time we were there you could hear gun fire, and it turned out there was a shooting range. When I'm away I generally just give everything a go because I figure I'm only here once, so James and I bought the minimum 10 bullets on a carbine (?) gun and fired five shots each. We had earmuffs luckily because it was SO loud. I can now say I've shot a gun, weird! Don't think I have to again!
Next we went to a tunnel that has been "widened" for tourists to go in. I say "widened" because the original tunnels were 27cm x 50cm. Now it's double this, so we still had to crawl through on hands and knees and duck. Lucky I wore my leggings, was dirty and sweaty work! But I have a new appreciation for the people who lived inside these tunnels for weeks at a time to stay alive (eg women and children and soldiers). It was very hot inside and I got a bit claustrophobic at one point, but managed to go through the entire 100m.
Finally we enjoyed some tapioca and tea which was nice!! Overall the experience was really educational and interesting. I'm so glad we came, seeing the tunnels and the craters and everything was a bit surreal, but an experience I'll never forget.
Next we were dropped at the War Remnants Museum. This was a hard few hours, much like the killing fields. The museum was mainly photos. Downstairs was about everyone all over the world protecting against war, I even saw a poster about a moratorium in Melbourne and a meeting at Dallas Brooks Hall. Then the second and third levels were all about the horrific nature of the war and the after effects of napalm, agent orange etc. I do remember learning all this at school, but I don't remember learning how truly brutal and disgusting the chemical warfare was. Maybe because we were all 15-16 at the time. 85g of dioxin (in agent orange) could kill a city with population 8 million. I can't believe how the Americans treated the Vietnamese, especially violating international law during war by spraying chemicals everywhere. 100 million litres were dropped, and to this day people in Vietnam are still affected by eating food contaminated with dioxin, as well as inheriting DNA from those who inhaled the chemicals and suffering deformities as a result. The images were saw were shocking. But again, by learning we remember those who suffered.
Then we walked to the flower garden that has been set up for Tet/lunar new year. There were so many people here! All dressed up and walking around looking at the beautiful flowers and gardens. For some reason ABBA was playing over the speakers - a bit weird!!!
Now the four of us are sitting in a bakery having something to eat after what has been a physically and emotionally draining day. Tonight we take an overnight 12 hour bus to Nha Trang. Was meant to be a train but due to Tet has changed. To make up for it Quinny has bought us beer, vodka and soft drink to have on the bus!!! Hopefully we get some sleep.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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