Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Handicapped Handicrafts Workshop, Cu Chi War Tunnels & Shooting Range.
We visited the Handicapped Handicrafts workshop, Cu Chi War Tunnels and shooting range today, it was a very interesting experience and we both learned new things about the Vietnam war.
We were picked up by coach in the morning and driven to the tunnels two hours outside the city. It felt like we were on a school outing, the guide was brilliant and had the greatest sense of humour!
Our first stop was at the Handicap workshop, all of the workers had been affected by the chemical Agent Orange. They were so talented, the art they produced was beautiful! We liked it so much we have the website details so we can order something when we get back home. They worked in groups like a production line, each group had its own task from cutting the stencil designs, filling in the drawings with tiny eggshells, to polishing the final result.
The guide called the group his family and made jokes all day even though we were being shown around a place that once witnessed such misery and death.
The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped achieve ultimate military success.
Life in the tunnels would have been very difficult. Air, food and water were scarce and the tunnels were infested with ants, poisonous centipedes, scorpions, spiders and vermin. Most of the time, guerrillas would spend the day in the tunnels working or resting and come out only at night to scavenge for supplies, tend their crops or engage the enemy in battle. Sometimes, during periods of heavy bombing or American troop movement, they would be forced to remain underground for many days at a time. Most of the people living in the tunnels would have caught malaria, which was the second largest cause of death next to battle wounds.
Our guide had asked us a couple of questions while we were on the coach. The first one was "How did the Viet cong hide all the soil dug up when creating the tunnels?" the answers were, scattered onto the rice fields, spread around small trees to look like they had just been planted, thrown into B52 bomb craters and also used to replicate termite mounds. The fake termite mounds were built over the tunnels and had small air holes put through them so air could circulate though out the tunnels. The second question was "What did the Viet cong do to hide their toilet waste?" Only two people on the bus got this question correct, I was one of them! :-D The answer was they pooped and peed into an ammo box then buried the waste above ground when it was safe. The guide knew all this because his parents fought in the Cu Chi tunnels.
Our guide showed us examples of how the Viet cong trapped the Americans. They used hunting skills normally used for killing animals, large pits were dug and filled with long spikes either made from bamboo or metal from the bomb shells. The pit had a revolving platform over it, camouflaged with foliage so the Americans didn't know it was there, when they stepped on to it, they fell to their death. Other traps were created, spikes on a wooden block were tied up in a tree, when an American tripped the line holding it with his feet, the block would have swung right into the American, piercing their body with the spikes from their chest to their cruch.
The Viet cong also had very small escape and entrance holes. One of them has been kept open so we could have ago at squeezing in. I fitted into the tunnel with ease, I really wanted to see Chris get his butt stuck in the small hole, he was the first guy to try and squeeze in. We were all so surprised when he slipped in! He had no trouble at all, it was like an illusion!
Part of the tunnels have been preserved and made safe so we could crawl through them, Chris also fitted through them but it was cramped. It was very claustrophobic and dark, we crawled through the 140 meter tunnel and came out sweating! We could feel our legs beginning to ache already.
Before we left the site we were taken to the shooting range where we both had a go at shooting some guns. Chris looked very cool doing it and hit most of his targets, I looked like and felt like an idiot. Chris said I apparently went flying when I shot the M1 rifle so I didn't bother having a go at the M16 machine gun, I left that to Chris. It was so loud!!!
After we finished the tour we were taken back to our hotel. We freshened up and went out for dinner, then we went to a restaurant called the Beir Garden. We were expecting it to be like a pub but it was more like a restaurant. It was very nice though and they did have every beer you could think of! We had a couple then took a taxi to the train station so we could book a sleeper train for tomorrow night going to Nha Trang. We really liked the sleeper train from Thailand to Laos, hopefully it will be similar.
We are going to the War Museum tomorrow, it will be interesting to learn about the Vietnam War from their side instead of Americas side and also learn about the devastating affects Agent Orange had on the land and people and how it still affects people's lives today.
Charlotte & Chris
- comments