Cu Chi tunnels, the Vietnamese hide out against the USA

Its history and landscapes make of Vietnam an amazing country. In it, there was this one place I didn’t wanna miss: the tunnels of Cu Chi, where the Viet Cong hid during its resistance against the American troops. While there are other tunnels, Cu Chi’s are the most famous. So, in February 2016, I made my way there from the southern city of Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon).

It took me roughly two hours to get to my destination. Once there, they played us a video about the war that faced Vietnam against the USA. Afterwards, they showed us the different tactics that the Viet Cong employed to fight off the invaders, which was honestly quite interesting. Of course, nowadays it’s all set up for tourism and every guide knows its speech by heart, including the answers to every typical question from the audience. There’s also a shooting range, though you have to pay extra for it. I didn’t really care too much about it, with all the gun noise and whatnot.

The usual photo that accompanies this entry portrays one of the methods they used for hiding. They’d blend in with the floor so their enemies wouldn’t know where they were. And while the US sent troops to investigate, since they knew about the existence of these “tunnels”, they could never really “crack” them.

Another great experience is walking down the tunnels… although it isn’t fit for claustrophobic people! They have “enlarged” them for tourism, so try to imagine how narrow they really were during the war. However, it is worth pointing out that Vietnamese people are characteristically short, which is far from being an impediment —quite the opposite! You can also see their footwear, which was made out of tire rubber, as well as the workshops in which the Viet Cong reutilized what they found lying around or the bombs that wouldn’t go off.