Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Adventures of a Global Wanderer
This morning I had booked my Chu Chu War tunnels tour for $5. There was the half day tour that I chose or the full day tour for $8 that included going to a large temple to see the worshippers. Originally I wanted to do the full day tour with the temple but because I had arrived a day late I only had time for the half day so that I could see the city when I got back in the afternoon. Also the hostel did not provide breakfast. Fortunately there were convenience stores, one at the end of the alley. Here I bought an egg sandwich for 15,000 (.75 cents), cake for 10,000 (.50 cents). I went back to the travel agency to wait for the bus, and for simplicity sake booked a one day mekong delta tour the following day with them for $8. There are lots of travel agencies and hostels all selling the same tours for the same price. I decided to book both with them as they spoke good english, could exchange my money, and were friendly and helpful. When the large minivan arrived I was the last pickup so he was already full. I was told to sit in the front windscreen seat next to the driver which was good as I had more room and a better view. Our guide was an older gentleman who spoke reasonable english. Somewhat bizzarely mixed in with his anectodes he would break into song. These are communist style songs children are told to sing. However, he is singing an english version which is not how they were written, and not intended to be sung by an older gentleman! Our first stop which was to become quite common was to factory outlet. Here former fighters who are not allowed to work in government contracts with US companies (or something I didnt quite follow) were working making laquered furniture. Often with these mandatory factory stops people arent buying anything as they didnt ask to come here. We then drove to the Chu Chu tunnels (pronounced like gucci). At the start of the tour we were taken to large meeting hall style huts to watch a video about the resistance of the villagers. The dialogue was quite interesting. "Like wild devils the americans came shooting at women and children. The even shot chickens, cooking pots, the grass, the dirt, and even buddha statues" Video : Chu Chu Tunnels Video About American Invasion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUOJO7pN mGc There were many large ditch bomb craters that are now used as frog ponds when they fill with monsoon rains, but were now dried up. We then saw one of the manholes to get into the tunnels. These are about the size of a folded newspaper and camoflagued with leaves. Clearly these were built for smaller built people to get in/out and to keep the larger americans out. Similar to the tunnels the north koreans had built in the DMZ that were too short and cramped for larger amercian soldiers. A few people tried to get in and pose with manhole covers but I didnt. Then we saw some of the floor traps. These were revolving camoflagued boards that will drop a person into a pit full of spears. It usually didnt kill but severely wounded a person. For the construction of the tunnels they studied and learnt from the rats. I've also seen documentaries about how they were engineered to withstand the bombing from above. Children would also come and ask the soldiers for candy. While they were distracted a child would pull out their grenade pin and signal the other children to run away. Another method was for beautiful lonely women to invite them into their hut. They would get the soldiers drunk then blow them up. The locals would steal the food that was airdropped. They would carefully open and eat them. Then they would reseal them with booby traps and hide them again for the soldiers to find. We then went to a shooting range. I went without earphones to take a pic and had to leave right away it was deafening. You could buy a bullet for $1 each for various machine types but had to buy a minumum of 10. I dont like how some younger people were posing with their victory pics on tanks and with guns, yet they've probably never fought in a war and have no idea of the suffering that takes place. Finally we went into the tunnels themselves. First thing is they are very short and the exact width of one person so are very cramped. You have to crawl on all fours. It was very dark. There was some lighting put in but if someone was moving ahead of you they would block the light. The photos appear bright but this is only due to the flash, it was almost black down there. The biggest problem is I could hardly breath I was starting to choke. I had to leave right away at the first exit after 50m rather than go the further 100m to the end. I dont know how people managed this long term. Back outside there was some smoke coming out the ground to symbolize cooking. They would do all their cooking at dawn so that the smoke would get covered by the mist and the soldiers wouldnt know where people are hiding. Its interesting how a group of villagers could fight a superpower and something they are still very proud of. Finally for lunch we were served with local cooked yams and local tea. We got back to town at 1.30 which was an hour earlier than expected and gave me more time to explore before the museums started to close.
- comments