johnsunter.com >> adventures - world >> south east asia >> saigon 2
We Visit Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), famous symbol of the Vietnam war (2/2).
The following day, we went to see the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, 90km from Saigon.
During the war, the Vietcong had setup a series of tunnels, which they used to conduct covert warfare.
We met our guide (dressed in full revolutionary garb) and were led down a narrow trail, into the Jungle.
There were swimming pool sized craters one either side of the path, where B52 bombers had left their mark.
We stopped to look at a diagram of the tunnels, then watched a propaganda film.
Here we were shown a section of ground, and invited to try and find the tunnel entrance.
After spending a few minutes, and finding nothing, our revolutionary, finds the trapdoor easily, and climbs in to his waist.
The tunnels went down 3 levels, and even the first level, 3 - 4 metres bellow the surface, could stand the weight of a 50 ton Tank driving over it.
During the war, the 25th Infantry division were based here (right on top of the tunnel network), didn't know of the tunnels existence, and could never work out where the sniper fire was coming from.
Estimates at the length of the tunnels, vary from 75 - 200 miles.
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We get a chance to go into one of the tunnels
They were amazingly equipped, with mess halls, sleeping quarters, operating room, printing press and even a small cinema.
A briefing room, with replica people taking the role of wartime commanders.
On the surface, innocent looking termite mounds, were hollowed out to provide an air supply to the tunnels.
A similar technique, in reverse, took cooking fire smoke miles away from the actual tunnel network to prevent detection.
Many of the original tunnels, had booby traps to thwart any attempt at compromising them.
We travelled down to a 2nd level tunnel. These could withstand direct overhead bombing from a B52.
They were cramped and hot, and the air was very thin.
I can only imagine the physical and mental toughness of the people who lived in them.
Our guide Long, demonstrating Ho Chi Minh Sandals, made from tyres (they were overly large for demonstration purposes).
Ho Chi Minh wore a pair of these sandals throughout the war.
They were practical and tough, like the people who wore them !.
We were given a sample of food the tunnel dwellers would eat. It looked like banana, and tasted of sweet potatoe (grim!).
They only received rice once a week, as a treat.
Next we had a tour of various forms of traps. Some of them, looked absolutely terrifying.
A tiger trap, is just a big hole with punji sticks in it, right through to small portable devices, which could be carried, and then deployed along a trail.
The most ingenious thing I saw, was how they had dismantled unexploded bombs and used them as booby traps. In this way, it was possible for lightly armed fighters to ambush an entire tank.
We were given a chance to fire authentic Vietnam war firearms.
I got to fire an M60 heavy machine gun.
I have seen them on the television, but the power of one of those things is devastating.
You point it at the target, pull the trigger, and there isn't much of the target left !.
We had more superb food at a restaurant near the fashionable Dong Khoi shopping area.
The exchange rate for Dong, was such that £41 would purchase a million Dong.
Notes of less than 200 Dong, are worth less, than post-it notes and are frequently used for this purpose.
We took a small laptop with us, and were able to connect to the Internet in all of our hotels.
It was also useful to research the things we had seen/were going to see.
Here, Sarah sends an email to her colleagues at work.
The former presidential palace, now named re-unification hall.
The presidential palace was very 60's is in style, and had been the site of many parties and fashionable social gatherings.
A terrace on the roof was used for entertaining (JFK had attended parties here).
Just underneath this, an American UH1 (huey) helicopter, on the rooftop helicopter landing pad.
Its maintained exactly as it was on the morning, in 1975 when the war ended.
The presidential desk.
Our guide long, with Sarah in the basement tunnels underneath the palace.
They lead to the telecom and war rooms.
It is rumoured that a secret tunnel allows people to leave the palace unnoticed but the government will not confirm or deny this.
The bunker reminded me of the building at the end of Terminator 3, with 30 year old computers.
A "portable" radio system, for use when the palace was attacked/under siege.
America first sent troops to Vietnam on the 8/3/65. They left 10 years later.
At 11:30am on the 30th of April, 1975, NV tanks crashed through those gates, and Saigon fell to NV forces.
The acting president (who had only been in office for 26 hours) surrendered.
Many people remember the scene from TV pictures.
This is the actual tank that arrived at the palace.
This is the view from inside the palace.
It shows the view from the flagpole where the flag was hung.
It marked the end of a war for independence which had begun in 1945 with the French, and was finally over.
America lost 65,000 troops, Vietnam lost 3,000,000. Today, 2 out of 3 Vietnamese, are under 30.
On a lighter note, we had lunch afterwards, and the restaurant had made up a pineapple in the shape of a chicken, which was smart.
johnsunter.com >> adventures - world >> south east asia >> saigon 2
