Ralph and Karen's Tours

The Cu Chi tunnels are a network of underground tunnels and caves located approximately 70kms north of Ho Cho Minh City.

They were first built by the Viet Cong during the Indochina War and the conflict with the French Resistance.

However they came into their own during the Vietnam War and became the Viet Cong’s base during the 1968 Tet offensive.

The tunnels in this area alone cover approximately over 120kms of linked tunnels, meeting rooms, kitchen, workshop, hospital all between 3 and 9 metres below ground level.

It gave them the opportunity to hide from the Americans who were desperately searching for the VC during this time.

Booby traps and land mines were spread around the area to trap any US soldiers in search of VC.

Temperatures below ground are always in the high 30deg C range – almost unbearable. And people lived down there for months at a time. Unbelievable.

Today visitors can explore a small number of the tunnels and other rooms below the surface and it’s an uncomfortable experience that’s for sure.

I struggled with the narrowness of the walls and at times had to get onto my hands and knees to progress through to the next chamber or room. It was sweltering.

I have to admit I was very very happy to come up at the end of the short tunnels we explored.

It was brutal. And I was only inside three different tunnels for less than 10 minutes in total.

Some of the booby traps hidden around the surface to trap snooping US troops were barbaric to say the least. It’s hard to imagine them being used.

The US became frustrated that they couldn’t find the VC hide outs in the area so set about on a determined air raid attack using B52 Bombers then flooded the lock marked region with US and New Zealand Soldiers.

Still no luck finding the enemy. When they found an entrance to a tunnel they used gas, water, fire and hot tar to try and flush them out. BY then they’d moved to different areas below the surface.

Ultimately an Australian battalion infiltrated the tunnels and sent intel back to HQ allowing US forces to understand the layouts.

The Aussie Leader of the mission click ed the phrase “Tunnel Ferrets” and of course the US changed that to “Tunnel Rats” to describe those living below the surface.

The tunnels remained in use until the end of the war.

Quite an engineering and logistical feat.

An amazing day out and a fascinating insight to a time that has always interested me. Now I totally get it.

For our last night in HCMC we headed out to one of the more popular (?) areas of the city especially for locals.

It’s called Bui Vien Street or “Walking Street” or “Beer Street” and most cities in the world, particularly Asian cities have one.

It’s a street of about 1.2km in length in the middle of the city that attracts all kinds of visitors on the lookout for a good time.

The road is closed at 7pm until 2am on weekends and for 1.2kms all senses are on overload.

Music, noise, smells, tastes and sights attract your attention 360 degrees.

Either side of the road is wall to wall entertainment – music, dancing, eating, drinking and all venues are vying for your custom, with offers of 20,000VND (about AUD $1.10) for a beer and $4-$5 cocktails.

Food options vary from street food cooked as you wait, to open fronted cafes and restaurants serving local Vietnamese meals to high end restaurants with whatever you want.

The equivalent of “go go dancers” are everywhere and the noise is deafening.

The atmosphere is electric and deciding where to stop is the biggest decision of your night.

We opted for a Hawaiian Tiki Bar – as you do – with a super view up the street and just far enough away from the noise and mayhem to hear each other.

Great cocktails – just like being in Hawaii !

Great people watching.

After a couple of drinks we wandered along looking for a place to eat and still view the madness. Just strolling through the street was insane.

We found a place on the street front showing international sports and a fantastic menu so we sat, relaxed, ate, drank and enjoyed for a couple of hours while reminiscing over the last couple of weeks in Vietnam.

A perfect end to our time in Saigon.