Củ Chi Tunnels and War Remnants Museum

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: 26th November

Today is gonna be a good day, see thanks to my mum, I have always loved history and today is gonna be a day full of history! This morning starts as many of my mornings have recently, with a bus ride, but this time we are heading to Củ Chi Tunnels. However, before we get to the tunnels we stop off for a toilet break at a charitable Collective. Due to the use of mines and poison gases, like agent orange, by the US during the Vietnam war, many locals are still feeling the effects, being born with defects mainly physical such as missing limbs that inhibit their ability to get jobs and earn a living. At this Collective they hire those who have been unfortunate enough to have been born with such defects to create various artwork – not only as a way to earn an income, but also as a means of expression and therapy. The art ranges from painting to tile work. It is nice to see but, unfortunately, as someone in the middle of travelling, I’m not really in a position to buy artwork. But it is still a humbling and enlightening experience especially for a toilet break!

We are then back on the bus to the tunnels. When we get there our guide for the day gives us our tickets and we make our way in. It is busy but that’s not surprising. Although we only visit a small section of the thousands of miles of tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong during the war, this section is some of the most famous. The tour starts with an explanation of how the tunnels were used, with multiple routes and rooms; some used for storage of weapons and ammunition, others for cooking or sleeping. These extensive tunnels also infamously included many traps for potential invaders. They are also purposefully made small to allow the slender frame of the locals to fit through with ease while causing issue for the bigger American soldiers. Some of the many concealment tactics as well as traps, involved building vents, for fresh air and smoke extraction from cooking, in the shape of termite mounds, of which there are many in these jungles and then, to further confuse, built multiple fakes in the area. There were also false entrances and connecting tunnels to allow for shots to be fired from one opening and then escape to another area all together. One of the tactics commonly used was a wooden lid to an entrance that when covered with leaves is almost undetectable.

I am lucky enough to have a go at one of these holes although it is a rather tight fit; turns out I am a little wider than the common Viet Cong! We also get to see a number of traps the Viet Cong used and a display on how they would risk their lives to retrieve un-exploded American bombs and extract the explosive material from them to use themselves. There was a tank on display that had fallen victim to the explosive being put to work. This amazing tour ended with the group getting a chance to enter and walk some of the tunnels ourselves. Now from what we have been told the Viet Cong would live in their towns as normal during the day and work the tunnels at night only retreating to relative safety during raids by American soldiers. But even a few minutes in the tunnels was enough to make all of us coming out dripping in sweat; these cramped hot dirty tunnels are not fun to be in and the idea of having to stay in them for an prolonged period of time is one that makes me thankful for never having gone through anything like this. In fact the whole tour makes me thankful, this feeling is only added to by the sounds of gun fire I can hear throughout the tour. Originally I thought these sounds were sound effects to add to the experience but it is only when we get to the gun range that I remember Viet saying that there was a chance to fire rifles here, and the gun fire I have been hearing is real. I pass on the experience; I shot some handguns at a range while I studied in America and the experience was enough to make me never want to touch another gun, especially a rifle. Even sitting at the cafè waiting for those that have chosen to shoot, the sound is deafening.

Hidden entrance
(click on the top right hand icon)

After the tour we head back to the bus and are dropped off near the War Remnants Museum. After a quick stop for lunch at a local place that I enjoy but others don’t, we head to the museum. I break off from the group; I like doing museums at my own pace. It is an amazing museum, harrowing but amazing. The first exhibition I walk though is one about the prisons used not just during the Vietnamese war but also by the french colonialists. The conditions sound brutal with many prisoners dying of torture, starvation and disease. There is a small metal cage which was used as an extreme punishment. This cage was barely big enough for one human but the colonialist would make up to four people lie in it naked stacked on top of each other with no room to move. It is a reminder that humans are capable of horrific acts. The rest of the museum mainly focuses on the Vietnam war with the US. There are multiple floors and exhibitions, one based on the timeline and different army movements, another on a photographic series: photos taken by local and foreign photographers designed to allow an impartial and purely factual look at the war. This is my favourite exhibit, but it is hard to look at some of the photos; they really capture the pain and fear in peoples eyes. At one point I can barely hold it together and have to take some deep breathes to stop myself from crying. The final exhibit is based around the immediate and lasting effects of the nerve agents namely agent orange. This is the most harrowing of the exhibitions, it even covers lawsuits in the US and other countries that have come about from veterans of the war still suffering the effects. The part of this exhibit that will be burnt into my memory forever though is the two really deformed foetuses they had displayed near the entrance. I noticed them before I even entered the exhibit or knew what it was about. Curiosity got the better of me as I tried to figure out what it was I was looking at. Only once I had entered the room and read the description did I realise it was two unborn babies suspended in some sort of embalming fluid, barely human in their look, so deformed from the effects of the poison gases, it is an image that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Like I said an amazing museum, one definitely worth going to, but nevertheless harrowing.

Entrapment

War Remnants Museum

Once I had finished with the exhibits I found Viet in the lobby waiting for the final few people. We headed out together walking to the water bus ferry that we had booked the day before. We had a nice chat about Vietnam and its history and life in general. Once we get to the water bus and meet with the few in the group that are joining us, it is starting to get dark as we take the boat along the Saigon river. I sit with Alex and we find the half an hour on the water rather relaxing; a nice break from all the rushing around we have been doing on this trip, we see some beautiful views as the buildings on the shore start to light up for the night, including Landmark 81, the tallest building in Vietnam. Once we are back from the ferry we get Grab bikes and cars to the hostel and then head out to dinner – our last dinner in Vietnam. We eat at the rooftop bar we went to the other night, it is a nice place with lovely views. Once we are all full we end up back on the strip at Crazy Nights bar, seeing our final night away with drinks and dancing. Tomorrow Cambodia, here we come!

Ba Son Bridge over the Sai Gon River

Views at dusk on the Sai Gon River bus

Landmark 81, the tallest building in Vietnam on the bank of the Sai Gon River

Reconstruction of bomb explosive extraction