February 21 - Cu Chi Tunnel Complex, then Foodie Tour of Saigon

View from our hotel room, above.

Our tour today began with a bus ride outside of the city to the Cu Chi Viet Cong tunnel complex. The term Viet Cong refers to the people (or militants) in South Vietnam who supported communist North Vietnam.  Viet Cong literally translates to “communist people.” The ride took one hour and forty-five minutes. As we left central Saigon, we saw shopping areas along the way: “pharmacy street,” wood furniture, stone carving, piggy bank store, and second hand clothing. We crossed the major north-south highway in Vietnam (takes three days and two nights to travel the distance) and also saw an industrial zone (including a Nike factory). Jonathan told the story of how his grandmother visited the US and brought him Nike sneakers as a gift that, unknown to her, were manufactured in Vietnam. He said, “Grandma, you’re just bringing wood back to the forest!” Jonathan also provided some general information on Vietnam. For example, in some ways Vietnam has more freedoms than the US. For example: you can drive anywhere and anyway you want. Very little is outlawed. Another aspect of Vietnamese life is very low taxes and as a result very few government programs. The government provides no education, health care, or pensions. Families provide the social safety net and take care of each other. There are jobless people, but very few homeless. Also, banks are not trusted. People buy gold bars with savings or invest in real estate. Old people don’t travel since there are afraid of dying away from home. They take care of the children.

Regarding the Cu Chi tunnel complex, Vietnamese tunnel building began in this region as early as 1943. The farmers had initially built bunkers because they needed places to hide from the French. The French came into the countryside and conscripted the farmers to work in their rubber plantations, a form of slavery. Eventually the bunkers were joined together by tunnels, which created an elaborate system. The system totaled 250 kilometers in length. They were built in three layers. American bombs could only destroy the top layer. Americans did not learn of the tunnels until 1966 and developed a new type of soldier, the “tunnel rat.” Over the course of the war, one hundred thousand tons of bombs were dropped in this region. This region was of strategic importance since it provided the link for transportation of arms between the end of the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ended north of the region, to the city of Saigon to the south. Jonathan commented: even though Saigon was in South Vietnam, adherents of the Viet Cong were not only in the country, but also everywhere in the city. They could be your neighbors by day and fighters at night. At one point, Jonathan’s grandfather, who was a mechanic for the South Vietnam military living in Saigon, was warned by a neighbor and childhood friend in 1971 that he would be murdered by the Viet Cong that night – “Leave your home by 4:00 PM.” Assassinations were common, and he was able to escape that day. However, he was killed by a bomb later that year.

When we arrived at the complex, the entrance area had a display of aircraft, including a C130 transport plane. We were told that all of the vegetation that we saw was “new growth.” American bombs wiped out everything during the war. We saw evidence of bomb craters in the complex. We had also seen some pretty large craters in farmland that we passed on the way here. 

As we proceeded in the wooded area, we learned that in the tunnels, no wood was needed to hold up the tunnels. The soil here is very hard, and the water table is very much below the surface. We stopped to see an airhole. Americans used German Shepherds to sniff out the airholes and then would pump in poison gas. The Viet Cong would use red pepper flour to disguise the scent and would wash their own clothes in American detergent to fool the dogs. We then had a photo opportunity for climbing into a narrow tunnel entrance, of which Roy took advantage.

There were some tunnels, one short, one longer, that we could walk through. These tunnels were “refurbished” to make them larger than what actually existed. Either way, one really needed to squat down. Roy walked the shorter tunnel (fifteen feet); we both passed on the larger one (forty-two feet). 

Information as to location of the entire tunnel complex is still classified as secret. This is to protect people from booby traps. The tunnels have so many booby traps that it would take three hundred years to clear them all. We saw a display of booby traps – seven types – designed to injure American soldiers. This was psychological warfare to injure, not kill. If a soldier is injured, the team has to slow down to help him. The Viet Cong also took no prisoners. They also knew (or hoped) that injured soldiers returning home would hurt the morale of the American people.

We also passed a display of uniforms. The Viet Cong would wear camouflage by day and black at night. They wore a special scarf to identify themselves and wore sandals made from car tires. There was a curfew established at 6:00 PM by the South Vietnamese government. That way, if you were out after six, it was assumed you were Viet Cong and shot with no questions asked. We also saw the short hoe used to dig the tunnels.

A&K arranged for our group to meet onsite a Viet Cong veteran who had lost an arm. He had lived in tunnels from 1963 until the end of the war. Tho referred to him as “Uncle Nam.” Uncle is a term of respect for an older man and Nam is his name, which means the number five, as he was his parents’ fifth child. The Vietnamese word for uncle is either “bac,” which is used for a man older than your father or “chu,” which is used for a man younger than your father. Sometimes you would say “chu” as a compliment, to infer that the recipient is a young man. 

The veteran told us that during the war, everyone in the countryside was Viet Cong. You had no choice: Viet Cong or death. Also, the people had no comprehension of political matters. Their understanding was very simple: the white person was considered bad. The French had been bad; therefore, the US was also bad. What did the US do? Drop bombs on farmers. Four of the veteran’s nine siblings died in the war. The famous napalm girl from the photograph was only twenty-five miles from here.

In this region, all of the rice fields were bombed and burned by the South Vietnamese. The Viet Cong ate yucca fruit, rats, frogs, insects, etc. In Saigon the government provided food, augmented by the US government, especially canned food (Spam). The tunnels had kitchens, which required a chimney, which would be one to three hundred meters from the kitchen. All cooking occurred at 9:00 AM, when the fog would disguise the sight and smell of the smoke.

Back on the bus, Tho provided a history overview of Vietnam from ancient times to current. He also told us a joke. Three presidents took a plane ride, from the USA, USSR, and Vietnam. Up in the air, the USSR president stuck his arm out the window and proclaimed that the plane was over the USSR. How did he know? It was cold. The USA president stuck his arm out and said that the plane was over the USA. How did he know? Pollution from a developed country. The Vietnamese president did the same. He proclaimed the plane was over Vietnam. How did he know? His watch was stolen.

Back at the hotel, we had only a short break before our afternoon “foodie tour” of Saigon – no need for lunch today. Five of the group chose this activity of the three that were offered. (The other choices were to visit a war museum or go shopping.) Jonathan was again our guide.

Our first stop was a noodle restaurant called Nhan Quan, which means, Nhan’s restaurant. We ate a noodle dish called Hu Tien Nam Vang. Nam Vang means Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. It was really delicious. 

We then proceeded to the Saigon flower market. Our bus passed Saigon’s “musical instrument street,” selling many ukuleles. 

At the market, named Ho Thi Ky, we saw white and purple wreaths for funerals. Red and yellow are the colors used for happy occasions. The flowers are grown in central Vietnam, near Da Nang. 

We passed a small fruit stand, and Jonathan purchased for Roy some rose apples, which he had wanted to try. They have a similar consistency to an apple but are not as juicy – still very good flavor, though. We stopped at a “syrup” place for a typical Vietnamese ice dessert concoction, which was very unusual. See photo of menu. Roy ordered #17, and Rob had #18. Che is the name of the dessert. It was crushed ice mixed with various ingredients with syrup, very refreshing. Our final stop was a place to try some local beer. Jonathan also ordered some spiced peanuts and fried fish skin, not as bad as it sounds.

Our day ended with some wine at the hotel’s 38^th floor lounge followed by dinner at an Italian restaurant called Ciao Bella that our guide Tho had recommended. It was good – see photos and only cost $63, including a bottle of Italian wine and the tip. On the walk back to the hotel, we again enjoyed seeing all of the colorful lights on the street for the lunar new year.