Here's my day trip to the Củ Chi Tunnel Complex, an underground network in the northwestern district of Ho Chi Minh.
Củ Chi Tunnels are a huge network of underground tunnels in the Củ Chi District Ho Chi Minh City. During the wars of the 20th century, they became one of the most important bases for Vietnamese revolutionary forces. They weren’t simply tunnels for hiding, but also included living areas, kitchens, storage rooms, meeting spaces, and medical facilities. At its height, the network extended for hundreds of kilometres, with multiple levels underground.
Cu Chi Tunnel Complex
Our tour guide was Sergeant Billy Franco Rivera (I hope I got this right!) a.k.a. “Mr. Bean”, a half-Vietnamese & half-Filipino war veteran. He was full of stories, and kept reiterating that his stories are based from first-hand experience, and not based on books. He also said that he’s the mentor of 700 other tour guides in HCM. How lucky were we? During his early years, he lived in New York with his father for a while where he became a U.S. Navy Officer, then returned to Vietnam and didn’t leave ever again.
Before reaching our next destination, he collected our payment for the entrance. I would have little chats with him here and there. He complimented my look when I said I’m a Filipino too. 😆 He said that he has some family in Quezon City, Philippines that he would visit from time to time.
That’s our tour guide! According to him, the whole place wasn’t like that during wartime. They just planted eucalyptus and other trees later on when they redeveloped it. Basically the whole place has a lot of replicas of traps, as well as other war memorabilia.
The Củ Chi tunnels form a complex underground tunnel system. They were used as hiding spots by the Viet Cong soldiers. They are very narrow to prevent the Westerners from entering easily. Some of them were widened a little bit as the place became a popular tourist attraction.
The ground is made of clay so as they they kept on bombing the place, the surface kept on hardening because of the heat, making the underground tunnels a safer place for the VC’s to stay at.
Afterwards, we went to the firing range. You can try different kinds of guns, but you have to buy the bullets. I didn’t go for it because it was too loud!
Now onto the highlight of the day! Before going through the bunkers, we were informed that there’s an exit every 30 meters. Being the claustrophobic that I am, I exited as soon as I saw the first one. 😆 I think tourists are allowed up to a hundred or two meters. It was really narrow and low, might even require you to be on all fours if you’re really tall. Also, I wore a white shirt which wasn’t the best decision!
It was almost 7 PM when we headed back to the city. Mr. Franco revealed he wrote a book called “Three Moons in Vietnam”, and it’s not published in Vietnam but somewhere else. Would love to read more of his insightful stories! Before we parted, I, together with other tourists, gave him tip/donation for being a great, funny, passionate and informative guide. I couldn’t help but ask for a pic with him too!
Comments
Be the first to comment!