Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City

Today we had to get up at 4:00 am to be able to eat, stop by “China Beach” in Da Nang catch our flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City.  After landing in Da Nang we went to the Củ Chi Tunnels.  The tunnels of Củ Chi are a network of 125 mikes of connecting underground tunnels located near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  They extend almost to the border with Cambodia. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers (North Viet Nam) as hiding spots during combat and used for communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters. 

The tunnels were built under the jungle in soil that is actually hard clay and therefore did not have to be reinforced. The tunnels had three levels complete with full living quarters (kitchens, meeting rooms, sleeping areas). The third levels were 30 feet deep. They dug the tunnels by hand and disposed of the sand in the river or filled bomb craters to hide the sand. They had chambers built so that fresh water from the river could be accessed for drinking and cooking.  Air holes were created by placing bamboo poles into air chambers. For light, they used oil lamps. 


The North Vietnamese army used these tunnels so they could move undetected during the day. At night they would come out and perform guerilla attacks and hunt for food. Life was very tough within these tunnels: bad air, no light, very cramped quarters, disease, snakes, scorpions, poisonous spiders not to mention the psychological affects.


Sometimes, during periods of heavy bombing or American troop movement, they would be forced to remain underground for many days at a time.  For the American soldiers and South Vietnamese, these tunnels were nothing less than terrifying. The entrances were hidden with booby traps that usually resulted in death.

Myra went into one of the tunnels where she could see the end. These are so small you must bend over, crouch down and duck walk to get through. The last part of the tunnel was so narrow that she had to pull her arms in so her shoulders would not get scraped.

During the war the Americans who went down in these tunnels to fight the Viet Cong were known as Tunnel Rats.  

 After visiting the tunnels it took almost two hours to travel the 35 miles from the tunnels to our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.  The traffic was awful.  The streets are a melting pot of cars, pedestrians, buses and mainly motor scooters.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ho Chi MInh City

Image
Today was our first full day in Ho Chi Minh City, a city of 13 million people and the former capital of South Viet Nam. It is interesting what the people actually call this city.  After reunification the government renamed the city Ho Chi Minh City.  However, most of the residents still refer to it as Saigon. After breakfast this morning our  first stop was the local market in downtown - the largest market in Viet Nam.  Everything from clothes, products, produce, fresh fish, meats and every animal organ can be purchased here. There are fixed price booths on the outer circle, everything else is negotiable. We love these colorful markets where locals come every day to purchase fresh foods. Next we went to a Buddhist temple. Approximately 73 % of the Vietnamese people are non-religious, 12% follow Buddhism, 8% are protestant, and 7% follow Catholicism. The most popular room in the Buddhist temple was one where Millennials come to pray for havi...
Read more

First Full Day in Hanoi

Image
Today is Sunday and the streets of Hanoi are more quiet than during the week. Or so we were told!  Everyone seems to be out relaxing and enjoying family time.   Hanoi is located on the banks of the Red River and is one of the most ancient capitals in the world, dating back to 1010.  The city is divided into two sides by a lake; the French Quarter and the Old Town.  We are staying right on the border of the two in the French Quarter.  Hanoi is an old city with well-preserved colonial buildings, ancient pagodas, and unique museums within the city centre of more modern buildings. The sights, sounds and smells of the streets heighten the senses. Streets are blocked off and children ride battery “cars”, vendors take over the sidewalks with makeshift markets and small plastic stools.  These vendors are not paying rent or taxes on a facility and the plastic chairs can be quickly stacked and moved. The streets are so hectic and busy and ...
Read more

Epilogue

Our trip to Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos was very special.   This is an area of the world that, as kids growing up in the 60s, we never thought that we would visit.   And while the three countries are similar in many ways they each have very distinct characteristics.   They are all third-world countries but are much more economically advanced than other third-world countries we have visited.   Peru, Bolivia and Zimbabwe come to mind. While each of the three countries are beautiful and the spectacular places we visited will remain in our memories forever as will the motor scooters.   It is impossible to explain the overwhelming vision of thousands of motor scooters on the roads in all three countries.   But when you get to the large cities they remind you of locusts swarming every possible piece of pavement.   And yet when you watch them on the streets it is like watching a beautifully choregraphed dance.   Hard to imagine but true. All of...
Read more