A first-hand experience at the claustrophobic life of Vietnamese soldiers during the war.
We organised a trip to Cu Chi Tunnels with TNK Travel, the cost was $67 for the 4 of us. Unfortunately our hotel was not central enough to be picked up so we were told to arrive at their office at 7:45am which was no problem. However, we got there with about 30-40 other people all waiting to go on different tours, 2 people behind desks with minimal English or interest in any of us and there was nowhere to sit which results in kids being tired and BORED! We didn’t set off until at least 8:30am which meant a long 45mins sitting curbside – thank god for the Starbucks opposite to keep me and Phil sane!
Once on the bus it took about 2.5 hours to get there, we did a stop off after about 1.5hours to a big warehouse with people selling lots of different items – clothes, pictures, magnets etc. We are not a fan of this concept, touting the tour groups out to sellers and making us feel guilty and obliged to buy something….especially when little kids want to buy everything in sight! So we escaped round the back way for the toilet and a banh mi and we were on our way again…even managed to get Elis for a sleep! Bonus!
When we arrived at Cu Chi we went on a little walk through the forest and paths (run free boys!) and arrived at a little camp with some seats and videos. The guide and videos explained the tunnels in more detail and gave us some information. The tunnels were built by the Viet Cong (North Vietnamese) in order to surprise the Americans and South Vietnamese during the war. There are more than 200,000km of tunnels that were used for around 19years. It really was a little town with kitchens, hospitals, living areas and bedrooms all built down there.
We then moved on to see the tunnels, there are 3 different levels going deeper and deeper underground. There were many mounds built to look like animals homes which were actually look-outs or ‘breathing-holes’ for the soldiers. The entrances to some of the tunnels were heavily disguised so that the Americans couldn’t see where they started. These man-holes were tiny and it was hard to imagine how soldiers clambered up and down them.
Some parts of the tunnels were opened up with steps and proper entrances for tourists to go down. All 4 of us went down the the tunnels that were first level, leading onto second level, we had to crouch and bend in half and even crawled on our knees at some points. For the boys (4 and 2) they were fine just ducking their heads. We both had a boy and a torch each so we could see where we were going. It started off as a great adventure but after a few minutes after being engulfed in darkness and claustrophobia the boys did start to get a little scared so myself and my 2 year old Elis got out at the next exit. Dylan and Phil continued and did one quite long tunnel, it was certainly an unforgettable experience.
We then continued to go down and look at the hospital and kitchen which were set up with models/dummies to give an idea of how it looked. We then ended the tour by looking at different traps, by this point the images on the walls were getting a little more graphic and the information a bit intense for an eager-eared 4 year old so I took the boys off for a wander in search of some ice-cream.
Our guide then told us we were going to make a final stop at the shooting range. We had absolutely no interest in being anywhere near a gun let alone firing one so we sat and the boys ate their ice creams at the top of the steps to the range. Unfortunately even that was too close for Elis who was screaming at the sound of the guns. Time to get back!
It had said that the tour included lunch so we then drove 2 hours back to HCM and were dropped off at a hotel near pub street and ushered inside to sit down and order from the menu, from there we all made our own way home.
The tunnels was a great day out and for Phil as a history teacher it was something not to be missed – we are definitely glad we took the boys as it is important for them to learn about history and they can always look back on the photos and videos if they don’t remember it. There is plenty of space to wander off if information gets a bit much and, to be fair, although it is probably the biggest tourist hotspot in HCM we didn’t interact with any other tour groups so felt we had a good insight as to what life in the tunnels was like.
Please comment below and let us know if you have been to the tunnels and what you thought…..
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