February 12, 2006
Well today I took a $3.50US tour with "Happy Tours" to take me out to the Cu Chi tunnels. If you remember the Oliver Stone film "Platoon" you will remember the little tunnels that the viet cong dug throughout Saigon. Our tour guides name was "Jackie" and he kind of looked like Jackie Chan in a Vietnamese kind of way. He told us there are 8 million Vietnamese in Saigon and 3.5 million of them driver motor scooters which zip around the streets like swarms of bees. When we got to the site he first showed us a small entrance to the vast network of tunnels. He asked for a volunteer to go in and nobody volunteered so I said sure but didn't think I could fit and he assured me I would. Well all was fine until my fat ass could not fit in but everyone else in the bus was able to fit.
In the Vietnam war 58,000 Americans died and 1,000 missing in action (MIA). The Viet Cong lost 3.5 million vietnamese with 4 million wounded and 1 million MIA. We watched a documentary on the Viet cong heroes which was interesting to see things from the "apparent" enemies point of view and how these heroes were farmers and rice pickers who had a knack for figuring out the Americans movements through the bush.
The Viet Cong had absolutely no money and their main weapons were made of bamboo which they made traps and Jackie showed us all of them. Very creative people indeed. They had M-16s and AK-47's at a firing range that you could shoot but most of us weren't interested. The Vietnam war had lasted since 1940-1975 with first the French and then the Americans trying to beat the communists. There tunnels extended 250 km around Saigon and these fighters lived underground for 2 generations.
They showed us a model and it was like a big ant farm with the first level at 3 meters deep and the second level at 6 meters deep and the third level for long distance travel was 10 feet deep. Some of these tunnels went under rivers and there were air holes throughout the forest that helped the ventilation in the tunnels. The Americans had used agent orange on the people and sprayed chemicals throughout the area and killed off all the plant life and trees which made it completely barren and desolate for 20 years.
We got a chance to go inside another entrance and crawl through the tunnels with exits every 30 meters or so. It was pitch black and some tunnels went down and others went up. These people dug them with a small hoe and a basket to carry away the dirt. Later we ate the food they ate which was mostly Tapioca which tastes exactly like potatoes and had tea. We checked out a model village with a kitchen and a hospital and the kitchens fire was ventilated in such a way that smoke did not rise which would be bombed within minutes by the US if smoke was seen rising. There were huge craters throughout the forest where the americans had dropped bombs to cave in the tunnels. They had booby traps throughout the tunnels and there was always two ways to go in each entrance which was left or right and if you went right you were blown up. You wouldn't want to come home drunk from the bar and forget that little rule. Very important!
As I said, for people who had nothing they were very creative to survive the american invasion with basic weapons from bamboo plus weapons they got from the enemy. There was a US tank there that had hit a landmine. Later on half of us went to the War Museum that showed photos of atrocities against the Viet Cong. Like Lenin in Moscow, Ho Chi Minh is embalmed in Hanoi. Not too sure if I am going to see that tourist attraction. I am leaving Ho Chi Minh city tomorrow morning and going to the coast to "Nha Trang" and then to "Hoi an" and then to "Hue" and after that I am not sure but probably to "Halong Bay" since a few travelers have recommended it. My open ticket to Hue which is a "jump on and jump off" ticket at each city cost only $10US.
"Sin chow" means Hello
"Gam on" means Thank you
Oh and in Cambodian "Chi near" mean "Fuck off". Little ten year old taught me that after I wouldn't buy his books off of him. Nice kid.
Talk to you all soon
Kevin
Well today I took a $3.50US tour with "Happy Tours" to take me out to the Cu Chi tunnels. If you remember the Oliver Stone film "Platoon" you will remember the little tunnels that the viet cong dug throughout Saigon. Our tour guides name was "Jackie" and he kind of looked like Jackie Chan in a Vietnamese kind of way. He told us there are 8 million Vietnamese in Saigon and 3.5 million of them driver motor scooters which zip around the streets like swarms of bees. When we got to the site he first showed us a small entrance to the vast network of tunnels. He asked for a volunteer to go in and nobody volunteered so I said sure but didn't think I could fit and he assured me I would. Well all was fine until my fat ass could not fit in but everyone else in the bus was able to fit.
In the Vietnam war 58,000 Americans died and 1,000 missing in action (MIA). The Viet Cong lost 3.5 million vietnamese with 4 million wounded and 1 million MIA. We watched a documentary on the Viet cong heroes which was interesting to see things from the "apparent" enemies point of view and how these heroes were farmers and rice pickers who had a knack for figuring out the Americans movements through the bush.
The Viet Cong had absolutely no money and their main weapons were made of bamboo which they made traps and Jackie showed us all of them. Very creative people indeed. They had M-16s and AK-47's at a firing range that you could shoot but most of us weren't interested. The Vietnam war had lasted since 1940-1975 with first the French and then the Americans trying to beat the communists. There tunnels extended 250 km around Saigon and these fighters lived underground for 2 generations.
They showed us a model and it was like a big ant farm with the first level at 3 meters deep and the second level at 6 meters deep and the third level for long distance travel was 10 feet deep. Some of these tunnels went under rivers and there were air holes throughout the forest that helped the ventilation in the tunnels. The Americans had used agent orange on the people and sprayed chemicals throughout the area and killed off all the plant life and trees which made it completely barren and desolate for 20 years.
We got a chance to go inside another entrance and crawl through the tunnels with exits every 30 meters or so. It was pitch black and some tunnels went down and others went up. These people dug them with a small hoe and a basket to carry away the dirt. Later we ate the food they ate which was mostly Tapioca which tastes exactly like potatoes and had tea. We checked out a model village with a kitchen and a hospital and the kitchens fire was ventilated in such a way that smoke did not rise which would be bombed within minutes by the US if smoke was seen rising. There were huge craters throughout the forest where the americans had dropped bombs to cave in the tunnels. They had booby traps throughout the tunnels and there was always two ways to go in each entrance which was left or right and if you went right you were blown up. You wouldn't want to come home drunk from the bar and forget that little rule. Very important!
As I said, for people who had nothing they were very creative to survive the american invasion with basic weapons from bamboo plus weapons they got from the enemy. There was a US tank there that had hit a landmine. Later on half of us went to the War Museum that showed photos of atrocities against the Viet Cong. Like Lenin in Moscow, Ho Chi Minh is embalmed in Hanoi. Not too sure if I am going to see that tourist attraction. I am leaving Ho Chi Minh city tomorrow morning and going to the coast to "Nha Trang" and then to "Hoi an" and then to "Hue" and after that I am not sure but probably to "Halong Bay" since a few travelers have recommended it. My open ticket to Hue which is a "jump on and jump off" ticket at each city cost only $10US.
"Sin chow" means Hello
"Gam on" means Thank you
Oh and in Cambodian "Chi near" mean "Fuck off". Little ten year old taught me that after I wouldn't buy his books off of him. Nice kid.
Talk to you all soon
Kevin
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