Saigon - Cu Chi Tunnels, ho chi Mihn city (Saigon), October 24, 2015

Today was an interesting and emotional day visiting the CuChi tunnels near HiChiMihn City.  These are the tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war.  Below is a rubber plantation. During the war the plantation was American owned and our government agreed to not fight in it, so it became a site for Viet Cong to hide out.

 Our guide said we lost the war because of corruption in the government of the south and these tunnels. There are rules while visiting.

This is the entrance to one of the tunnels. They were very well hidden.

We also saw examples of the various types of booby traps used in the jungle

The one just above is hooked to a door so that when you open the door, a wall of spikes hits you

Below is a look into the jungle. These trees have all grown since the war because this area was  heavily bombed and burned

The man below is making sandles out of old tires.  They made some of the sandles to be worn backwards to the tracks looked like you were going the other way.

This a crater left from a bomb

Here betsy goes into the tunnel. There is no way you can stand up in the tunnels.  I got part way through, but got to a point where the tunnel went down two ladder like steps while the top of your body had to go back.  I tried to turn around so that I could go down backwards, but there was not space enough to do it so I backed out of the tunnel.  It pays to be small and agile. Many in our group made it through.

Betsy emerges

My failed attempt

The main attraction on the way back to town was the traffic. I tried to figure out the rules of the road and finally decided it is survival of the fittest. There are scooters everywhere.  At each big intersection the motor bikes make there way to the head of the pack and blast off as the light changes.  It looks like a free for all. We saw no accidents, but we're told there are many.