After crawling through a few of the tunnels that have been somewhat expanded for tourists and seeing the displays of recovered bombs, people who were not involved in the Vietnam War (called the American War there) can get a feeling of the horror that occurred during those years. A system of 125 miles of tunnels became almost a complete underground city. The picture offered above is the delivery bomb of cluster bombs from the U.S. The Vietcong recovered many of these and other unexploded bombs and used them against South Vietnam and the U.S. It is a sad place but worth going for a better understanding of why the U.S. lost this war.
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Not the most beautiful of places
After crawling through a few of the tunnels that have been somewhat expanded for tourists and seeing the displays of recovered bombs, people who were not involved in the Vietnam War (called the American War there) can get a feeling of the horror that occurred during those years. A system of 125 miles of tunnels became almost a complete underground city. The picture offered above is the delivery bomb of cluster bombs from the U.S. The Vietcong recovered many of these and other unexploded bombs and used them against South Vietnam and the U.S. It is a sad place but worth going for a better understanding of why the U.S. lost this war.
Cu Chi Tunnels - The Subterranean Labyrinth
Vietnam is a country that doesn’t shy from its past. During my 17 years living in Vietnam, I was lucky enough to learn so much about the turbulent past, especially with regard to the Vietnam War. The shocking stories always fascinated me – it’s one thing to see the stories in movies, but to hear tales direct from people who lived through it…well, words fail me. A resilient nation though, many have turned the haunting past into a lifeline for their families. One such man is Uncle Nam, an ex-soldier who now offers personal tours to the tunnels of Co Chi, a labyrinth of underground passageways that were once a hiding place for thousands of soldiers during the Vietnam War. I wrote about Uncle Nam and the Co Chi tunnel experience in our blog a while back.
Exploring the Cu Chi Tunnels outside Siagon
Interesting and scary visit to a recent historic site, where the Vietcong and local people lived, trained, and fought the U.S. Forces from deep tunnels. We learned how they lived, eat, and survived even with extensive bombing by US B-52 bombers
Cu Chi Tunnels
This complex of underground tunnels is part of an extensive network that once ran under much of the country. Built by the Vietcong as part of the resistance to the U.S. military, these passageways allowed thousands of guerrillas to travel undetected for miles, carrying weapons, food and other supplies. A section of the tunnels is open to visitors: Have a go at wriggling through some of the narrow thoroughfares and try to imagine living in these cramped quarters. If you’re so inclined, head to the shooting range afterward to fire a variety of automatic weapons.
