Just over 50 years ago this was an active war zone

Not only is it the last day in Vietnam but it is also the day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels! I have learned a lot about tunnel rats during the Vietnam War in school so I was curious about what they looked like (no FEEL) in real life (although, all the tunnels that tourists go in have been modified to a bigger size so it’s not 100% accurate).

The tour guide said the average size of Vietnamese soldiers was 45kg (99 lbs) and 1.5 meters tall (4’11). The only source in Cu Chi was cassava root. They ate it for every meal for 10+ years since their crops got destroyed.

As we walked through the forest we stopped at different sites where the tour guide would show us the types of traps they used (and wow the methods the Vietcong used was very smart, I can’t even list how many) bomb shrapnel, bunkers, and of course tunnels.

It was crazy for me to think that just over 50 years ago this was an active war zone. I could tell the forest was thin and the trees weren’t very thick in the trunk yet. There was actually a regulated shooting range on the property so as we walked through we heard gunshots which made it not so hard to imagine what it was like.

The tour guide was saying that this village was fighting for the communist side not because they were communist (in fact, they didn’t even know what that was) but for revenge since their families were killed by American bombs.

At the end there was a 100m underground tunnel that we could choose to go into. It was dark, dusty, and cramped (and yeah that’s the tourisfied version…). A lot of people had to take an early exit since it was so small. I can’t imagine doing that amidst gunfire (or deadly gas) while also running for your life (for 10 years).

Later went to a cafe (took us an hour of indecisiveness to find one) and since it was too late in the day to get coffee I decided on pumpkin milk! It was weird but good at the same time? Then we went into some stores and got dinner. It was too long of a wait at the place I went to last night but fate brought us to a delicious banh mi place, thank goodness!