But before I got there I first spent some time in the Vietnam War Remnants Museum, which is in HCMC.
This modern museum, which looks like a modern art museum from the outside, tells the story of the Vietnam War (again from the communist side, of course). It is a rather one-sided account of the story of this war - one of Western aggression and brutality...
In the museum forecourt there are numerous American tanks, fighter planes, armed vehicles, bulldozers, helicopters etc. on display:
Inside the multi-story museum are a number of exhibitions, mainly with black & white photos, maps and statistics on the wall, recounting the events of the Vietnam War:
Some of the war photos were rather explicit, so I was glad that the kids hadn't come along. Probably most moving were the images of the people who had suffered deformities to their body as a consequence to the use of chemical weapons in the war. This was really brought home when - in the final room of the museum - I was met by 20 or so people (mostly children) from the next generation which had all been born with birth defects and which were now working in the museum during the day on some basic tourist souvenirs, which they are hoping to sell for some money. All rather moving and emotional.
Having had the background, causes and consequences of the war illustrated to such an extend, we then drove out to the tunnels of Cu Chi.
Around the area, which was largely bombed and destroyed during the war 40 years or so ago, there are now forests of carefully planted rubber trees (NB: Vietnam is the world' second largest exporter of rubber.)
With all the American superiority above ground in terms of airfare, chemical weapons and firepower, the Viet Congs had literally gone underground to fight this war in a guerilla style. The had created the most elaborate tunnel system, which just in this area stretched an amazing 250 kilometers. These tunnels were dug out by hand and ran on various levels, with underground hospitals, command centers and all sorts of "special effects", like trap doors, booby traps etc. One of these tunnels even ran right underneath one of the US bases and lead one of the US Generals to the statement "You cannot see the Viet Cong, but they are all around us". And how right he was...
The tunnels themselves, from which I had already heard and read a lot, started off rather wide and luxurious:
Well, that's not too bad then.
This was, however, just the entry to the tunnel system area, which they decided to create - get it - as a tunnel.
The actual entrances to the old tunnel system were somewhat smaller. Much smaller, in fact!!! A Western person (certainly one of my shape) would not even get through the entry doors, which had usually been cleverly disguised and camouflaged little openings. The photo below shows a probably 12 year old Japanese boy who did fit through:
For today's tourists they have re-created and widened (!!!) a small part of the tunnel system. Lead by a uniformed man with a flashlight you are going down one person at a time. Even though I probably only crawled 30 meters or so through this "luxury" version of the tunnel, I was rather exhausted - both physically and emotionally from the experience. Certainly not recommended for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia...
In addition to the actual tunnel systems, there are numerous other items on display. Probably most "pointed" (in more than one way) are the various trapdoor devices which are being demonstrated:
What from the surface looks like normal soil with leaves, grass etc. turns out to reveal a much nastier side to it, when stepped upon. Long iron sticks and sharpened bamboo sticks await the unlucky ones who step onto it:
The whole visit was then rounded off by another recollection of the war in a kind of "visitor center": A small TV set showed a black & white propaganda film from 1967 about the war, which highlighted the lives of some Viet Cong war heroes and enthusiastically introduced them as (quote) "American Killer Heroes" in this very one-sided propaganda film.
All in all, it was an interesting excursion - though what it must have been like for those who lived through it one can only imagine:
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