Ho Chi Minh :: Cu Chi Tunnels

Mari sambung cerita yg dah berkurun tergendala ni :) Hopefully I'm able to conclude the story soon!

On the 2nd day, we went for a half day tour to Cu Chi Tunnels. We booked the tour the day before thru our hotel, and the bus picked us up in front of the hotel at 9am.

It took about 1½ hours to the Tunnels.. but before that, we made a few stops to pick up more people from their hotels.

permandangan sepanjang perjalanan.. top-left pic - locals having morning exercise, next to it - the 100 years-old trees.. and the rest are random pics of the city.

that's our guide, Daniel. dia ni boleh tahan gatalnya.. pantang nampak perempuan cantik. boys will be boys :P but he's quite a funny guy :) from him I learned that the Vietnamese prefer the name Saigon over the HCMC. Thus, I will also call it Saigon hereafter :)

about halfway through, we had a quick visit to 'happy house'. apparently that is how they call a washroom! it is actually inside a handicapped handicrafts centre. i say, killing 2 birds with a stone.. melepaskan 'hajat' sambil bershopping, gitu :)

a quick tour around the workshop, where we watched trained craftsmen making exquisite inlay crafts, using egg shells & mother of pearl, on paintings, vases, bowls, plates etc.

these craftsmen are the 2nd & 3rd generation Agent Orange victims of Vietnam War, where they suffered birth defects.

 and then, proceed to the gallery..

look at the size of this vase! and the craftsmanship! amazing :-o

we managed to resist the temptation ;;) syabas bete!

We arrived at the Cu Chi Tunnels at around 12pm. It was sunny, but not too bad since there were lots of trees around.

this is the sticker you'll get at the entrance. we were asked to wear it at all times during the tour. apparently, you're considered an enemy without it!

We started the tour with a short introductory video showing Cu Chi's resistance to the Americans during the Vietnam War, plus a quick lecture on the structure of the tunnels.

The Cu Chi Tunnels system was created during the war against the French in the late 1940s and the building continued during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The tunnels were dug with simple tools (a small shovel and a basket to carry the soil) and bare hands. The 75 mile-long tunnel complex consist of fighting holes, storage caches for weapons & food, medical quarters, workshops, kitchen, living quarters etc. The complexity of the tunnel system give the Viet Cong(VC) a major advantage over the American forces. I'm amazed by how brilliant the VCs are!

adik & few others from our group went into the tunnel thru the hole. although it looked small, a medium size man can fit into it!

we waited for quite a while for the guys to resurface.. in the meantime ;;)

kami yang kepochi tak menyempat nak tengok gambar dalam tunnel :D

this is how it look inside the tunnel. according to adik, it was stuffy & hot! 

next, we looked at a booby trap with bamboo spikes, which sometimes laced with poison

Daniel claimed that this is for those who weren't able to try the tunnel before. Haha.. not funny!

the various entrance to the tunnels & shooting holes..

According to Daniel, the holes were made so small, they can only fit the VC. he also added, "the Americans have big body because they love to eat pizza & hamburgers. If you want to be slim like me, you have to eat veges & rice." tsk tsk.. saya yang makan nasik hari-hari boleh terasa okeh! inikan pulak the 2 Americans in our group!!

not sure whether these mannequins represent the Americans or the VCs. lupa sudah.. tsk!

but obviously the lovely couple are my beloved parents :P

this is the remains of an American tank..

the engine is at the rear part of the tank, so the VC designed a land mine that will explode after a short while, right when the engine part passes over the land mine. smart VC!

the different types of traps. my favourite would be the door trap, the one being shown by Daniel..

recycling bomb shells & weapons in the military workshop

We had a short break at the shooting range, while waiting for the guys to try their hands at shooting with weapons from the Vietnam War. the bullets are wee bit pricey, I tell you!

slippers made out of tyre tubes, if I'm not mistaken :)

here's another brilliant trick by the VC: they wore the slippers backwards to make it look like they went to the opposite way!

i peeked into this tunnel which has been made wider and taller to accommodate visitors.. and then retraced my steps back and waited for the rest at the other end of the tunnel :D

a military uniform garment house, the ventilation shafts & a guard bunker

the kitchen & remote smoke outlets

 the smoke from the kitchen went through several layers of filtration before being release to the surface. during the war, they will cook in the early morning so that the smoke can blend into the fog.

at the end of the tour, we were served with ubi kayu rebus cicah kacang tumbuk - the food of Cu Chi Tunnels' residents

sedap oo (perut lapar makan apa pon sedap!) dihidangkan pulak dengan teh pandan panas, nikmat!

berehat sebentar sementara nak naik bas..

 tak de gambar entrance sebelum masuk, gambar dah nak balik pon jadilah!

all in all, it was an amazing tour; enlightening & exciting at the same time. well worth the long trip! no wonder it's a must-go place while you're in Saigon. You have to visit it yourself to understand!

that's all for now ;)