Went to see the Cu Chi tunnels today outside saigon. There are over 200 km of them and one even stretches from Cambodia. Now if I'd only known that before I flew from there!
The tunnels have actually been enlarged to allow the westerner to fit and I followed the Aussie girls in my group who kept a good pace and a sense of humour. Its pitch black as you feel your way along (yes I know what your thinking!) and it gets very hot. The only respite from the claustropobia is the flash on your camera. I used the flash twenty three times purely for this reason.
One tunnel that has not been widened is a hidden surface access panel which we were invited to try and get into. Now as some of my friends already know I have just such a tiny panel in my living room floorboards. Not for the purposes of national warfare but simply to let me get at the satellite wiring for my digibox. Sorry, I digress........
Looking releived after they took the lid back off! Now...how do I get out of here?
In amongst the mass of bomb craters (almost a lunar landscape) trenches criss crossed with the occasional tunnel access for when things got a bit tough.
An example of the booby traps awaiting US soldiers around Cu Chi. Or "bloody traps" as the tour leaflet read.
The next bit I was no too sure about. With the money in your wallet you could buy enough rounds to fill the magazine of a machine gun of your choice from the war and try it out. As we walked through the Cu Chi tunnel network you could hear the crack of the bullets from the firing range but to get a real feel for what it must have been like I decided to have a go.
I'd fired a rifle or two in my younger days (mostly holding up banks) but I'd not experienced a weapon of this power before. The AK 47 machine gun. First of all the sound is the loudest and most painful you will ever hear. What on earth must it be like in the heat of battle? Secondly the power of these weapons turns your stomach as your brain figures out what it would be like to be on the receiving end. I fired off three individual rounds and as soon as I pulled the trigger the puffs of dirt appeared at the end of the range some 100 metres away. Id nailed the tiger shaped target with each one and obviously the rangemaster fearful I would lay claim to the ten dollar award for hitting it five times switched the clip to automatic (the old fox). I was now in machine gun mode. What happened next blew me away (metaphorically or I would not be typing this). With one pull of the trigger the remaining seven rounds left the gun in a fraction of a second and all accuracy went out the window.
We were then taken to see a documentary from the Vietnamese perspective of the war. No hitech plasma facility heare but Vietnam is trying as part of an open policy to reach out to tourism. As I would discover over the coming days its a good thing they retain these museums as its all to easy for future generations to forget the horror of war.
Almost forgot we almost had our own wee war break out in Saigon at rush hour breakfast traffic. A taxi drove into the side of our van and the traffic ground to a halt till the policee arrived and chalk marked the position of each tyre. We were then led into "scary alley" as a couple of Calfornians on the bus described it till the details were taken and we went on our way. All this happened moments after our guide said because there are so many vehicles in Saigon they are all very careful drivers. I looked away at that point to the street on frot of me wondering just what planet our guide was really from.
On our return to Saigon we were also taken to a lacquer factory which the government run to provide opportunities for the disabled through handicrafts. Some really skillful work was there to be seen. A long, hot day out at the Cu Chi tunnels and the thought of the cool breeze on the Mekong Delta tomorrow was a fine one....
No comments:
Post a Comment