Cu Chi Tunnels

Another day, another tour.

That being said, the tours have been fun and informative, if you get around the bus thing.  Today we were in the front seat of the bus for a 2 hour ride from Saigon to the Cu Chi tunnels, a 50km network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong to escape bombings and trap Americans. 

Being in the front of the bus was awesome, as we saw firsthand how crazy it gets.  People that our bus driver was cutting off gave him dirty looks and shouts, but he was as calm as can be.  Even our tour guide (who called himself John Wayne) said we had a good driver, with 20 years of experience. 

Before getting to the tunnels, we stopped off at this amazing workshop for handicapped Vietnamese, where they spent all day creating lacquer ware and beautiful art pieces from mother-of-pearl and egg shells, and all natural lacquer.  A tourist stop indeed, but the work was beautiful, and even if something shady was going on (John Wayne said that we should donate money to them in addition to buying, because the government takes half of their income) it seems like such a good cause.

The tunnels were a sight to behold.  There was a trail displaying the various traps and guerrilla fighting techniques used by the Viet Cong in the war, and John Wayne was extremely knowledgeable, having spent 2 years in the army digging tunnels and studying this stuff (and being a tour guide there 6 days a week).  He told us how some of the information in Lonely Planet was wrong (LP says that people would live underground for weeks at a time, eating and sleeping there... after being inside, "you only want to go in for 5 minutes!"  Apparently it was propagated by the government for tourism reasons).  We crawled through an 100 meter section of cramped, dirt ridden tunnels, and it was stunning what people would go through, and how intricate they were.  The opportunity was there to shoot guns of all sizes, including some heavy duty machine guns, but I didn't really want to glorify something like that here...  Lastly, we saw a short "documentary" on the "heroic efforts of Cu Chi guerrilla soldiers, common peace-loving countryfolk who were awarded many heroic medals for killing Americans.  The video also talked about the nonstop "barrage of bombing from Washington DC".  It was a pretty piece of propaganda.  One of the Canadians that we had met on the Mekong trip was with us, and it seemed like she took the film to heart as a documentary.  I realize, and accept that we did some nasty things to the country and the people, but to accept a propaganda film as truth?  A bit scary, if you ask me.

I did learn, however, that between her, myself, and an Irish guy we were talking to, not much was known about the specifics of the Vietnam war.  I knew the most about it, from the minimal amount of studying that we did in school, as well as my own readings.  But it surprises me how few people actually know about the war, its causes, and what happened during it.  Something I definitely want to rectify when I get home, and can sit in an air-conditioned room and read.

On the bus ride back, it started pouring (first rain we've seen here so far), and almost as if by magic, all of the people on scooters/bikes were under ponchos.  We hadn't seen anyone put any on, but there they were.  And just as suddenly, all of the vendors along the street were selling them.  Magic, I tell you!

Oh well, a bit of relaxation, and then a flight to the center of the country.  Danang, here we come!

PS.  What is going on with all the shootings?  I heard about the one at the Texas army base before we left (insane!), but every few days there seems to be another one?  Oy!