One hour north west from Saigon are the Cu Chi tunnels. These are a vaste tunnel system (some 200km of tunnels were built) in Cu Chi province. First developed by the locals in the war with the French, they were re-vamped for the American war. The Ch Chi tunnels were the southern most point of the Ho Chi Minh trail (the trail used by the north to move men and supplies, it wove through mountains, jungle, Laos, and otherwise impassible terratory). Cu Chi was also used as the jump off point for the North's major I(and final) offensive against the South.

The tunnels have three levels, going as deep at 10m. There are whole rooms underground, including cooking and medical facilities. Underground wells supply the residents and tapioca was the major source of food.

The tunnels themselves are really small. I had a hell of a time wedging myself into this one. The Vietcong (VC, North Viet Nam) were great at disguising the entrances. I was not:


This American tank was stopped by the credit crunch. And mines.

The tunnels needed breathing holes, and were usually disguised as termite mounds. The gap (bottom right) is the air hole. These would be invisible if a path had not been swept around it:

The VC man traps were deadly and ingenious. It also meant that VC long drops were the most dangerous in the land.

I managed to catch these two unawares