50km outside of Ho Chi Minh City lies a vast network of underground tunnels that served as a military camp for the Viet Cong soldiers during the war in the 1960s ad 70s. The tunnels cover over 250km and once contained hospitals, kitchens, bunks, store rooms, meeting rooms and munition assembly rooms; everything you need to wage an underground war against invading American soldiers.
The soldiers and villagers of Cu Chi were forced to dig the tunnels and move their lives underground to escape the carpet bombing of their village, on the outskirts of HCMC. The construction of the tunnels is amazing, an architectural wonder. The Viet Cong used hollow bamboo to ventilate the tunnels, concealing the bamboo in termite mounds at the surface to hide it from the Americans; they channeled the smoke from the kitchens to be released far away from the tunnels into an area of dense vegetation so that the smoke would not be seen. The tunnels had booby traps, secret escape hatches, hidden peep holes from which they would shoot the enemy, even trapdoors that once closed would protect them from chemical such as agent orange and napalm.
The tunnels at Cu Chi have been preserved and the area has become a war memorial where tourists can go into some of the tunnels and see what life might have been like. The tunnels have been widened and made 'safe' for tourists but it was still a struggled to move around inside: hot, dark and claustrophobic, bats flying around your ears. There are displays of the deadly traps used by the Viet Cong, some constructed out of unexploded US bombs, and photographs to show what life was like living underground.
The tour agencies and hotels in HCMC were charging between 100,000 and 130,000 VND ($5-7) for transport to the tunnels and an English speaking guide. We decided we'd do it alone, partly to save money, partly because we like a bit of a challenge. We took the local buses and made it to the tunnels in just under two and a half hours - thank God the local buses were air conditioned! We made a friend on the bus, a young man from Hanoi who was also visiting the tunnels, he acted as our translator for the rest of the day so we didn't even have to pay for an English speaking guide (Vietnamese guides are free.)
The visit started with a very anti-American film from the war, shot in grainy black and white. Then we visited the different tunnels that are open to tourists. Going without a tour group meant we had the place to ourselves, we could spend as long as we liked looking around the tunnels and the exhibits, and it was perfect silence in the jungle where the tunnels are situated.
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| Ric almost getting stuck in the tiny tunnel entrance. |
- If you're thinking of going solo to the tunnels, aim to arrive there for about 11am, just as the morning tour groups are leaving, and before the afternoon groups arrive.
- Take mosquito repellent! The area is surrounded by tropical jungle full of hungry mosquitoes.
- You don't need to befriend a local on the bus, English guides are available at the entrance for tourists without a group.
How We Got There...
- From district one, take the north bound number 13 bus from 'Cach Mang Thang Tam' (one of the main streets that runs through the centre) out of the city centre to Cu Chi bus station (the terminus). Cost = 7,000 VND
- Change onto the number 79 bus at the bus station and it will drop you off outside the entrance (look out for signs in English signaling the entrance and tell the bus driver you want the tunnels). Cost = 6,000
