Underground passages during the Vietnam War. The Cu Chi Tunnels is a rebellious city in Vietnam. Cost of cartridges at the Kuchi Tunnels shooting range
Saigon was a stronghold of the American army, soldiers and officers lived here, but they only dreamed of peace. Constant terrorist attacks and attacks by lone northerners did not allow the Americans to relax. Until the end of the war, they did not suspect that right next to them in the forests west of Saigon, an entire city called “Charlie” was functioning underground. You don't have to be a fan of the Vietnam War to want to take a look at this underground museum, a museum of human resilience and the struggle for freedom.
In one of the offices of the Vietnamese company TheSinhTourist you can buy an excursion to the Cu Chi tunnels for 200-300 rubles. The bus will take you straight into the jungle. An English-speaking guide will lead you through history.
The underground city stretched for many kilometers in width and several levels down.. Through camouflaged hatches 30x40 centimeters, and sometimes smaller, nimble Vietnamese partisans after night sabotage, the pursued Yankees disappeared into the underground labyrinths. Large American military personnel could not get into the narrow holes and were forced to blow up the passages, which did not bring significant results due to their length and ornateness. Tourists will also be offered to try to crawl into one of the hatches and disguise themselves.
If you take your eyes to the side, it is almost impossible to detect the hatch under the foliage. Some of the tunnels have been expanded for tourists. Even the expanded tunnels do not exceed 1-1.2 meters in height. You can go down into them and experience for yourself what it’s like to be in an earthen trap that has become home for thousands of Vietnamese. The tunnels constantly wind and change level stepwise, so as not to be shot through by pursuers and provide the opportunity to set up ambushes and traps. The latter occupy a separate exhibition in Ku Chi. It becomes clear what the Americans were so afraid of in Vietnam. Fighting an invisible enemy, the soldiers fell into the most ingenious and nightmarish traps, which became the whole of Vietnam for the United States.
If you have the courage to walk along the entire length of the tunnels, without running away halfway to take a breath of fresh air, then you will find yourself in an underground kitchen, where you will even be given some dishes from the meager partisan rations to try. Not only did partisans live underground, near the village of Ku-Chi, but residents who had escaped from American atrocities and high-ranking military personnel also took refuge there. An American tank fell into one of the tunnels, which, having covered it with flooring, the Vietnamese turned into a command center. The Americans could not understand where tens and hundreds of partisans were disappearing, so they simply flooded the entire surrounding landscape with napalm, while simultaneously liberally spraying the perimeter with bombs.
If you look closely, the entire ground in the area of the village of Ku-Chi is dotted with craters, and the thin trunks of young trees hint at what this land was like during the war. In numerous buildings of the museum, tourists will get acquainted with the household items of the Vietnamese during the war, the structure of life, weapons and crafts. Bombs, rusty bullet-ridden tanks - modern Vietnamese can look at them with pride, because their ancestors went through the most terrible and difficult trials and emerged victorious.
In the souvenir shop you can buy crafts made of tin, wood, silk paintings and many other souvenirs created by hand by the local population, and not by a factory in China. And the most important thing that partially takes you back to the hot times of Ku Chi is the constantly heard shots in the jungle, and sometimes bursts of automatic weapons. The fact is that at the end of the excursion, tourists will have the main attraction - the opportunity to shoot at the training ground with real military weapons: a Kalashnikov assault rifle, M16 and even a Rimbaud M60 machine gun. Just know - pay for the cartridges.
Amazing experience. After visiting Ku Chi, it is impossible not to be imbued with great respect for this small people, so strong in spirit. And if you went on an excursion from Saigon, you will invariably return to Ho Chi Minh City.
The Cu Chi tunnels are perhaps the most famous site in the vicinity of Ho Chi Minh City (an hour and a half drive from the city to the northwest, 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City, near the Cambodian border). The “tourist piece” of the Cu Chi tunnels (what is shown to tourists) is only a tiny part of the many kilometers of tunnel network dug by the Vietnamese over several decades. The beginning of underground cities was laid in the 50s of the last century. Members of the Viet Minh Resistance Union, who fought the French colonialists, began digging tunnels. Residents of surrounding villages dug out their part of the tunnels. Ultimately, all the pieces were combined into a large, comprehensive underground network. There are several levels underground, where living quarters, hospitals, food and ammunition warehouses, clubs, etc. are located.
This included camouflaged kitchens, the smoke from which came out through air ducts that crowned imitations of anthills on the ground. The smoke was filtered with special filters made from damp palm leaves.
As I said, the tunnels have always been a secret area. According to some reports, the length of the tunnels is about 300 km. Although the data about them is completely different. What tourists see is just the tip of the iceberg. Foreigners are unlikely to ever find out what the tunnels actually are. Just as in Moscow they hide information about secret metro lines, so in Vietnam they still hide information about underground cities. Yes, just in case. You never know what can happen, and then suddenly there’s an “armored train on the underground siding”! During the American-Vietnamese War, the tunnels became the base of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. More than 18,000 Viet Cong partisans were hiding in the tunnels, who were a huge thorn in the Yankees’ side. The Vietnamese called this area the "Iron Triangle".
Several times during the American-Vietnamese War, this area became a carpet bombing zone.
B-52s dropped not only conventional bombs on the Cu Chi tunnel zone, but also napalm and the poisonous defoliant Agent Orange.
Due to the huge amount of highly toxic dioxin, the jungle has not recovered to this day.
In 1966, the Americans launched Operation Grimp in the Cu Chi area, and in 1967, Operation Cedar Falls.
The purpose of both operations was to clear the tunnels.
However, it was not possible to completely destroy the underground labyrinths. American soldiers did not crawl into the tunnels. The only thing left to do was to mine the found entrances.
However, this was of little use. Disguised entrances to the tunnels were not so easy to find. Many loopholes were hidden inside village houses or in tree trunks. Villages were burned out entirely. However, the Americans failed to break the Vietnamese resistance.
At the end of the war, the Yankees created a special battalion to fight the Kuchist partisans. The shortest and most miniature soldiers were selected for the special forces, since a common person, as I already said, it was difficult to crawl into narrow underground holes. The special forces were prepared for war inside the tunnels. They were armed only with pistols and knives. During Operation Cedar Falls, soldiers of the American special battalion managed to capture several underground Viet Cong bases. They even got their hands on a plan to assassinate Robert McNamara (the ideologist of the Vietnam War, US Secretary of Defense). For the fighting in the tunnels, many American soldiers were awarded medals for bravery, but... nevertheless, the tunnels were not destroyed.
“Crimping” of the entrances and mining of the tunnels disabled only a small part of the labyrinth. At the same time, many American soldiers remained forever in the underground jungles of Vietnam.
Some were blown up on tripwires, others fell into camouflaged pit traps, the bottom of which was studded with bamboo knives...
Tours to Cu Chi are offered by almost everyone travel agencies Ho Chi Minh City. The tour takes half a day and includes a visit to the tunnels and the Cao Dai temple. Prices for a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels range from $20 to $25. They will pick you up directly from your hotel. During the tour, you will be shown a “multi-story” map of the tunnels and a propaganda film made by the Viet Cong guerrillas.
You will also see many clever traps and will be able to climb into the tunnel itself.
True, this hole has nothing to do with reality. Part of the hole has been specially widened for fat-bellied farangs, although you will have to literally crawl along it on all fours.
It's better not to climb if you feel claustrophobic.
Here you can eat ice cream and buy souvenirs. Not far from the memorial area there is a shooting range where you can shoot with an AK-47.
Similar tunnels can be seen in the center of Vietnam. In the area of the former demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam (DMZ). In addition to rooms, you can see warehouses, conference rooms and kitchens. Some exits from the tunnels are located right by the sea, like in the catacombs of Odessa. The DMZ tunnels are even longer than Cu Chi. However, no one has exact information about what the tunnels actually are, as I already said... They say that now part of the underground labyrinths are used as “raspberries” by local mafiosi. But these rumors are unlikely to be verified.
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Organize a self-guided tour to the Kuchi Tunnels.
For the first time I heard about the dungeons of the Vietnamese partisans - the Cu Chi Tunnels - from a friend who, having visited, described them as “the most best excursion”, which he visited, “it’s very cool there, you can climb through the tunnels and shoot with any weapon from the Vietnam War.”
After googling and reading guidebooks, it turned out that the tunnels dug by the partisans are located in different parts of Vietnam, and some of the most famous and largest (the length reaches 200 kilometers) are located at a distance of 40-50 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, where we arrive and where our journey begins in Vietnam. We planned to spend almost three full days, one of which was taken to visit the tunnels.
It is believed that an excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels (sometimes called the Cu Chi Tunnels) is the most popular in the vicinity of Ho Chi Minh City and many travel agencies located in the city organize trips there. And one of the options to see the tunnels is to buy an organized excursion in one of them. It is not expensive, 5-10 US dollars per person, starts by bus early in the morning from the center of Ho Chi Minh City. We went our own way and decided to go to the Kuchi tunnels on our own.
There were two reasons for this:
- not particularly fond of organized excursions
- starts at 7:30
The time lag from Moscow to Ho Chi Minh City is 4 hours and a couple of days
This is a short time to adjust to local time and getting up so early is difficult.
Cu Chi Tunnels: how to get there
- Ground public transport. There is no direct communication; transfers must be made.
- By water transport. An interesting method, but it required more time to develop and implement.
- Taxi. We settled on this option.
How to economically get to the Kuchi (Kuchi) tunnels by taxi
Leaving the Grand Hotel Saigon where we were staying at 11:00, 30 seconds later we were already communicating with a Vinasuntaxi taxi driver who did not speak English at all. The doorman from our hotel came to our aid.
Initially, we were offered to go by the meter, but we insisted on a fixed price. The driver contacted the dispatcher, and after that an offer was made to us, which we accepted without haggling - 1,280,000 Vietnamese debts, trip duration 6 hours. Looking ahead, I’ll say that according to the meter, our trip would have cost 1,900,000 wons, that’s how much was accumulated on the taximeter, which was working the entire trip, and this is not counting the time that could have been turned on for the wait, which was 3 hours.
Road from Ho Chi Minh City to Cu Chi Tunnels
The distance to the town of Cu Chi, next to which the Cu Chi Tunnels are located, is from the first district of Ho Chi Minh City, which is the main attraction for tourists due to the many business and shopping centers, hotels and various tourist attractions is approximately 40 kilometers away. From it to the tunnels, which they obviously got their name due to their proximity to this locality is another 15 kilometers. Thus, from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to the attraction the distance is 50-55 km.
At first we wandered through the streets of Saigon, crowded with mopeds and cars; it was difficult to determine the boundary between the city and the suburbs since the city itself was replaced by urbanization with a continuous row of buildings along the highway, including residential buildings, various shops, workshops, etc. And only after an hour and a half of driving, the landscape outside the car window began to resemble a country one. The one-way journey took about two hours, although we did not make a single stop.
Tour of the Cu Chi tunnels
At the entrance to the territory where the tunnels are located, there is a booth where you can and should purchase tickets. The cost of a ticket for one adult was 70,000 debts ($3.5), a child's ticket costs 20,000 ($1).
After driving another 200 meters after the ticket office, the road came to a square where, in addition to cars, a tank, a plane and a helicopter from the Vietnam War were parked. By the way, in Vietnam this war is called the American War. Having got out of the car, we immediately went to the large gate shown in the photograph, but the man in uniform who was guarding it turned us around and directed us in the opposite direction. 
Three minutes later we were already at the entrance, next to which there was such an exhibition of war artifacts. They checked our tickets and gave us further instructions, which were as follows: we need to walk 200 meters through the jungle, find a cinema and watch a movie lasting 20 minutes. 
On the way to the cinema we came across this installation. 
There was no one else in the cinema hall under the canopy except us, and we sat in the first row opposite a switched-off ancient TV above which was a portrait of Ho Chi Minh. A few minutes later, an employee appeared and turned on the movie. The movie turned out to be black and white and it was clear from everything that it was filmed a long time ago.
The history of the Kuchi tunnels
The film talked about how peaceful peasants lived happily, grew rambutans, bananas and rice on fertile lands, and then foreign invaders came. And the peasants had no choice but to take up the hoes with which they cultivated the rice fields, dig tunnels up to 10 meters deep and 200 kilometers long and begin to fight the adversaries.
Almost all residents of the area, including women and children, took part in the construction of tunnels, as well as in partisan warfare. They waged a heroic struggle, initially armed only with agricultural implements. Gradually, they obtained weapons from dead American soldiers and extracted explosives from unexploded bombs and made homemade mines from them. At the beginning of the fighting, the population numbered about 10,000 people, by the end no more than 2,000. At the slightest suspicion of helping the militia, the Americans destroyed entire villages.
While watching the film, the audience became much larger; about 30 people came. We decided to move on without watching the movie, so as not to go in a crowd, but the employee insistently asked us to stay. Then the realization came that the excursion would be organized. The film ended and a Vietnamese-looking man in a green uniform introduced himself as a guide and asked to approach the panorama to the left of the TV. Yes, I forgot to mention, the excursion took place on English language and quite bearable. 
The Kuchi Tunnels are an extensive system of underground passages that were dug and used by partisans, most of whom were local residents, to fight American troops. The entrances to the tunnels were carefully camouflaged and were extremely difficult to detect. The tunnels had an extensive system with many exits, including exits under the water of local reservoirs. The underground passages were specially made very narrow, so that it would be difficult for people with a European build to move around them.
Architecture of the Kuchi tunnels
The Kuchi tunnels have three levels, the first lies at a depth of about three meters, at this level are located most of the rooms dug underground in which headquarters, hospitals, kitchens, rest rooms, living quarters and other domestic premises were located. One could stay in these rooms for a very long time; one could practically live in them without going to the surface. Oxygen was supplied underground using ventilation systems, which were made of bamboo and, like the entrances to the tunnels, were carefully masked.
Deep wells were dug in the tunnels from which the partisans obtained water. Food was prepared in underground kitchens, including using fire. To ensure that the enemy could not detect the tunnels by the smoke emanating from underground, a special multi-level system of filters was provided, through which the smoke was so purified that it was no longer visible on the surface and the smell was not felt.
The second level of tunnels is at a level of 5-6 meters. The partisans hid in them during bombings and special operations of the American army. It was possible to spend some time at such a depth, but it was impossible to live there, since there was not enough oxygen and it was very stuffy.
The third level reaches a depth of 9-12 meters. They descended to such depths only in emergency cases when the Americans sprayed poisonous gases or during bombardments with heavy bombs. Even the most powerful bomb could not penetrate to such a depth. But it is so deep that a person could stay there for no more than a couple of hours.
With the help of such traditional agricultural tools, local residents dug many kilometers of underground tunnels.
The partisans conducted very effective combat operations, carrying out deadly attacks from them and taking refuge in them after the completion of operations.
To combat them, a special unit was created, which was called “Tunnel Rats.” Soldiers of small stature and slender build were specially selected for it so that they could move in the tunnels. A huge number of soldiers died during the operations, falling into deadly traps placed in the tunnels. They failed to achieve great success and to fight the partisans they actively used terrible chemical weapons, poisonous gases, all-burning napalm and agent orange. Due to the effects of chemical weapons, even those who managed to survive remained disabled.
The area under which the tunnels were located was repeatedly subjected to carpet bombing.
The first stop was 200 meters from the cinema. We came out into a clearing strewn with withered leaves. The guide deftly cleared the foliage in one place; under the foliage there was a hatch covering the entrance to the tunnel.
Moving 10 meters away from this place, the guide opened another camouflaged entrance.
Tourists are invited to try to go down the hatch and walk, or rather crawl, to the neighboring entrance. You can estimate the size of the entrance from the photograph; any person with normal or even overweight can climb into it without much difficulty. The guide said that the entrance to the tunnel and the tunnel itself in this place were specially expanded so that European tourists could climb into it and move around it relatively comfortably. It is more convenient to do this by raising your arms up, since the body is somewhat extended and the arms do not increase the volume in the pelvic area.
But the expanded tunnel is not equally comfortable for everyone.) But despite certain difficulties, this Malaysian lady in the body managed to descend into the tunnel.
Having squatted down, the entrance directly to the tunnel opens.
The tunnel is relatively dry, but very stuffy and hot. But we visited during the dry season and on a sunny day. I'm not sure if the situation is the same during the rainy season. The walls seem to be plastered with something, and the floor is earthen.
The tunnel is illuminated by several electric bulbs and you don’t have to move blindly. But as you understand, this was made for tourists and during the war the partisans did not have such amenities.
The length of the section along which tourists are offered to walk is about 10 meters. There are two ways to move through the tunnel - squatting single file or on all fours. As you understand, this is not very convenient, especially if the distance is considerable, but walking 10 meters through this tunnel will not be difficult for a person in normal physical shape.
In order for you to move comfortably in the tunnels, you need to wear comfortable sportswear and one that you don’t mind getting dirty, since the probability of this tends to 100%. It is advisable to wear sports shoes, since the tunnels in flip-flops are extremely uncomfortable. They always try to fly off, especially when you start to sweat, and you start to sweat quickly and very profusely, since moving in a tunnel is a decent amount of physical activity in a hot and humid atmosphere.
About half of the tourists decided to crawl through this tunnel.
The photo below shows one of the ways to disguise the ventilation of tunnels - disguising it as a termite mound. The hole in the tubercle is the ventilation hole. You couldn’t stay in the tunnels for long without ventilation, and the ventilation had to be masked in every possible way, because enemies could use it to determine the location of underground passages.
The guide suggested finding a ventilation hole on another hill nearby. This could not be done because it was a real termite mound and there was no hole in it.)
The sign on the tree marks the crater from the explosion of bombs, which were dropped in huge quantities on these lands.
The guide said that the ground in this area is very hard, like asphalt. It became denser due to explosions from the gigantic number of bombs dropped.
One of the many modifications of the death trap that was used by the partisans.
A hospital above-ground bunker in which even surgical operations were performed.
And this is an underground bunker, which during the war apparently served as a headquarters. After examining the premises, the guide suggested going through another tunnel, but immediately warned that the task would not be as simple as in the first tunnel.
The tunnel distance is about 50 meters and there are turns. The path does not go horizontally, first it goes down and then goes up. There weren't many people willing.
Passing this tunnel became the apotheosis of this excursion for me; it turned out to be the most interesting, physically difficult and emotionally intense test! As they say, size matters, and distance certainly does too. We had to move in single file; the tunnel was hot, humid and stuffy. The air was stale. Not even halfway through, the T-shirt became wet through and sweat flowed down my forehead into my eyes. The muscles in my legs began to ache, my lower back began to ache, and each subsequent step became more and more difficult. From time to time I automatically tried to straighten up, and the ceiling immediately reminded me where I was and that I couldn’t straighten up to give my muscles a rest. And although I do not suffer from claustrophobia, at such moments you begin to become well aware of the feelings of people who are afraid of closed spaces, and there is a great desire to leave this uncomfortable place as quickly as possible. 
Movement was also complicated by the fact that I had to carry a backpack in front of me on outstretched arms, which weighed at least 5 kilograms. It was impossible to leave it behind my back, since in this case I would have to plow it along the ceiling of the tunnel.
The pulse increased greatly and felt like it went off scale at 150 beats per minute. There was a great desire to get to the exit as quickly as possible. My muscles ached quite a lot and several times I caught myself wanting to go on all fours, and only my wife, who was cheerfully moving in front, and my pride did not allow me to do this!) The end of the distance was also complicated by the fact that I had to move uphill. In the last meters, my legs practically began to beat to capacity and were close to complete disobedience. But then the light dawned, it became easier to breathe, and here was the exit from the tunnel! Having got out, it took effort to stand up straight, my legs were weak, my pulse was off the charts, and sweat was pouring out like hail. The joy of being on the surface knew no bounds! And I once again wondered what it was like for the partisans to be in the tunnels, especially when they were poisoned with all sorts of terrible chemicals.
To summarize, if you attend this excursion and want to crawl through the tunnels for a more or less significant length, you must keep in mind that it is not so easy and you need to have a certain physical preparation. It is strictly not recommended for people who have claustrophobia and do not want to get rid of it.
The end of the tour was a snack in the style of Vietnamese partisans. The treat included boiled cassava root (the guide called it tapioca) with a seasoning made from peanuts, salt, sugar and several spices. Cassava is a very nutritious fibrous plant, vaguely reminiscent of potatoes without a distinct taste. It was this plant growing in the tropics that became the main food product of the Vietnamese during the war.
Traditionally, the main dish of Vietnamese people is rice. But this culture requires a lot of attention and effort from the peasant. During the war, the Americans did not shy away from any methods and actively bombed rice fields, preventing peasants from cultivating them, and also burned fertile lands with fire and chemicals, making them lifeless, in order to weaken the local population. And cassava, which, unlike rice, is very unpretentious and does not require human attention for growth, became the main food product for people, did not allow them to die of hunger and served as a source of energy for partisans fighting the invaders.
By the time of lunch, I had not yet had time to really catch my breath from passing the last tunnel and ate without much appetite. But my wife liked the treat and even asked for more.)
This was the end of the excursion. On the way to the exit, the path passed by various workshops in which various things used during the war were made and installations showing the life of the inhabitants of the Kuti tunnels.
For example, in the photo below, a man is making flip-flops from rubber from tires of various vehicles.
Those interested can purchase such shoes for 80,000 VND (3.5 USD)
But these guys are hacking away at an unexploded bomb in order to get explosives out of it and make anti-personnel mines.
And this stand presents the deadly fruits of their creativity.
Right at the exit there is a shop where you can buy various souvenirs, such as a keychain made from a machine gun bullet. We collect magnets, but we didn’t find anything interesting on the subject of the Kuti tunnels; we only sold pop magnets, which are sold everywhere.
Shooting range near the Kuchi tunnels: shooting from weapons of the Vietnam War.
Then we moved towards the shooting range, which we had heard about. Immediately, leaving the tunnel tour area, we saw a billboard that indicated that the shooting range was 1.5 kilometers away. We covered this distance at a leisurely pace in 15-20 minutes. Part of the road ran along a very picturesque lake, which you see in the photographs. A Vietnamese couple from Hanoi brightened up our journey by telling us a lot of interesting things about Vietnam.
There is a catamaran station on the lake and those interested can ride on them. In the photo below, it can be seen on the right side in the distance. 
To reach the shooting range, you need to turn right at a certain moment (or left, depending on which side you go around the lake) and move 150-200 meters away from the lake.
This is what the entrance looks like. 
After going through this tunnel, we found ourselves in the room in which the shooting range office is located. You can shoot from 7 types of weapons presented at the stand. I asked if they had a bazooka, they said they didn’t.)
Cost of cartridges at the Kuchi Tunnels shooting range
You can see the price for one cartridge for them on the cash register window.
We purchased 30 rounds of ammunition, 10 each for the guns that were most interesting to us - the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the M-16 rifle and the M-60 light machine gun. One cartridge cost 35,000 VND (1.6 USD), and the total order was 1,050,000 VND (49 USD). I had to pay in cash, cards are not accepted! Keep this in mind.
In exchange for money, they give you a receipt that states what cartridges you purchased. You go to the shooting range with it and give it to an employee.
When going directly to the shooting range area, it is better to immediately put on the headphones that hang near the doors. When they shoot, the noise is hellish. I tried without headphones, the shot was ringing in my ears. Really very loud! But the shooting range workers, a guy in a green uniform, somehow works without them. I have a strong suspicion that they are already half-deaf.)
These guys, according to the receipt, select the cartridges, load the gun and explain how to shoot. Shooting is not a complicated science, you aim at the front sight, pull the trigger.
When we went to the shooting range, I immediately found an answer to the question that crept into my mind, what if suddenly there was a psycho in it and he started shooting at those around him?!). To do this, he will first need to tear the weapon away from the stationary stand to which it is tightly attached. Because of this, the rotation angle does not exceed 15-20 degrees left-right, and up and down no more than 5.
Shooting is carried out at targets that are located quite far away at 200-250 meters. There are no targets on them, and there are no optical instruments through which you can look at the shooting results. Therefore, this shooting range is an attraction for those who want to shoot with automatic weapons. Tourists are not offered to shoot for accuracy and hone their skills.
M-16 rifle
AK-47 assault rifle
M-60 machine gun. I probably liked shooting it the most. Caliber 7.62, powerful sound of a shot, cartridges flying out of the tape drive mechanism - class! By the way, interesting fact, behind appearance and shortcomings, the design of the machine gun was nicknamed the pig, which in Russian means “pig”.)) Personally, I did not see such a similarity.
The way back: Cu Chi Tunnels - Ho Chi Minh City
After the shooting, we returned to the taxi driver and headed back to Saigon. The return journey took about an hour and a half. The total travel time was 6 hours 40 minutes. Since we agreed for 6 hours, the taxi driver asked for an additional payment of 60,000 dong. Thus, the total cost of a trip along the Saigon-Cuti-Saigon tunnels route, lasting about 7 hours, was 1,340,000 VND (63 USD). This amount was paid to the taxi driver by bank card. Vinasun taxi cars are equipped with terminals for withdrawing money from a plastic card. This is a pleasant and important option. By paying with a bank card, we save on fees for withdrawing cash from an ATM and earn Aeroflot bonus miles, which we actively use to purchase tickets.
Tour “Kuti Tunnels” and shooting range summary
We liked the “Couti Tunnels” excursion and we recommend it to all tourists who visit Saigon. There are no age restrictions, it can be interesting even for children. For those who want to climb through the tunnels, remember that this will require physical effort. People with severe claustrophobia should avoid this part of the program. It is better to wear comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty and sports shoes (not flip-flops). Girls will be more comfortable in shorts or pants. I recommend taking wet and dry wipes. In the process of climbing through the tunnels, your hands get dirty, so you don’t have to walk until the end of the excursion with dirty hands. You can wash them only at the very end, before snacking on tapioca.
Still have questions about the Kuchi Tunnels? Feel free to ask them in the comments under this post, I will be happy to answer!
Cu Chi is a rural area about 70 kilometers northwest of Saigon that has become a thorn in the side of first the French and then the Americans. The same case when “the earth burned under the boots of the invaders.” It was never possible to defeat the local partisans, even though an entire American division (25th Infantry) and a large part of the 18th Division of the South Vietnamese Army were stationed close to their base.
The fact is that the partisans dug a whole network of multi-level tunnels with a total length of over 200 kilometers, with many camouflaged exits to the surface, rifle cells, bunkers, underground workshops, warehouses and barracks, densely covered with mines and traps on top.
The excursion involves the active participation of tourists in what is happening. For example, they may offer to find a camouflaged entrance to a tunnel in a small patch in the jungle, and then squeeze through this hatch. Surprisingly, this is quite possible; even fairly large tourists can climb through, albeit with difficulty.
The bunkers were brought to the surface, and the flat roofs were replaced with high slopes,
so it becomes spacious enough to comfortably look at the Viet Cong-shaped mannequins depicting guerrillas in their natural habitat.
Like many other things, metal was in terrible short supply, so the partisans collected numerous unexploded bombs and shells (and an absolutely incredible amount of them were dumped on a tiny patch; the jungle was simply demolished by carpet bombing from B-52s, turning the area into a lunar landscape), sawed , explosives were used to make homemade mines, and the metal was forged into spikes and spears for traps in the jungle.
In addition to the workshops, there was a dining room, a kitchen (with a specially constructed external smokeless fireplace that did not give away the place of cooking with a column of smoke), a uniform sewing workshop and, of course, a hall for political information.
Now about the tunnels: a three-level system of tunnels, secretly carved into the hard clay soil with primitive tools by numerous groups of three or four people. One digs, one drags the earth out of the tunnel to a vertical shaft, one lifts it up, and another takes it somewhere and hides it under leaves or throws it into the river.
When the team makes its way to the neighboring one, a thick pipe made of a hollow bamboo trunk is inserted into the vertical shaft for ventilation, the shaft is filled up, and the bamboo on top is disguised as a termite mound or stump.
The Americans used dogs to search for entrances to tunnels and ventilation shafts. Then they began to hide captured uniforms there, usually M65 jackets, which the Americans often abandoned when providing first aid and evacuating the wounded. The dogs smelled a familiar smell, mistook it for their own and ran past.
If they did find the entrance, they tried to fill it with water or fire tear gas into it. But a multi-level system of locks and water castles protected the tunnels quite reliably: only a small segment was lost, the partisans simply brought down its walls on both sides and forgot about its existence, eventually digging out a workaround.
Since numerous shelling and bombing did not bring the desired result, the Americans eventually had to go underground themselves. The “Tunnel rats” recruited short, desperate guys who were ready to climb into the unknown with one pistol, in which they were waited for by tightness, darkness, mines, traps, poisonous snakes, scorpions and, after all this, waiting for them. if you're lucky - evil partisans.
Now sixty meters of tunnels have been widened and illuminated so that tourists can squeeze through them. Even in them you have to move in an eternal half-squat, while simultaneously scratching the walls with your hips, elbows, shoulders and head. It's like running inside an endless nightstand...
The jungle in Cu Chi was fraught with many unpleasant surprises, from the already mentioned mines, which even blew up tanks, like this M41,
to the homemade traps famous in the movies, some of which can be seen up close.
"Tiger Trap" Ji Ai walks along calmly, suddenly the ground under his feet opens up and he falls to the bottom of a hole studded with stakes.
If he is unlucky and does not die immediately, but screams in pain, then his comrades will gather nearby, trying to pull the unfortunate man out. Need I say that around the trap in several places there are exits from the tunnels to the surface, to camouflaged sniper positions?
Or more humane traps,
“Vietnamese souvenir” - a soldier steps on an inconspicuous hole, covered on top with a piece of paper with leaves...
The leg falls through, the pin from below pierces it, the pins on the sides not only pierce it, but also prevent it from being pulled out.
As a rule, the soldier did not die, but as a result he lost his leg, and then received pins removed from his leg in a Saigon hospital as a souvenir. Hence the name.
The next couple of photos show a similar design.
As you probably already noticed, special attention was paid not only to the task of piercing the adversary, but also to pin him in place and not let him get off the hook.
This “basket” was placed in flooded rice fields or near river banks, hidden under water. A paratrooper jumps out of a helicopter or boat, OPA! - we've arrived...
However, it happened that the task was not to injure, but to kill. Then they put on grinds like this, in which G.I. quickly stuffed himself under his own weight.
For those who liked to enter a house without knocking, simply by knocking down the door with a valiant blow, the Vietnamese had another surprise ready - they hung such a device above the door.
The slow ones went straight to the other world, the quick ones managed to put the machine gun forward - for such, the lower half of the trap was suspended on a separate loop. So the efficient one, as the Vietnamese guide put it, then went to Thailand, a paradise for transvestites...
Well, the simplest, most reliable and popular design in the film industry. Since it flies much faster than the “home” one, there is no need to worry about having two halves. And so it will sweep away.
The guide likes her the most...
After watching all these horror stories, everyone will be able to feel like a real Rambo - from any machine gun or machine gun from the Vietnam War, you can crumble bunnies and goats drawn on plywood until you run out of bills in your pocket.
After the money runs out at the training ground, the long-awaited free lunch will come, but not in an expensive restaurant, but in the soldiers’ canteen of those times,
and the food will be appropriate - tapioca (sweet potatoes) with unsweetened tea.
Map of Vietnamese dungeons and methods of underground warfare.
Map of Vietnamese dungeons.
After the end of the excursion, the bus takes all tourists to the Vietnam War Museum, where, in addition to exhibits and weapons, many photos of the Vietnam War taken by both war correspondents and independent photographers from different countries. Attention!!! The spectacle is not for the impressionable and faint of heart!
Details about the program "Cu Chi Tunnels and Vietnam War Museum"
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Distance Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) - Cu Chi Tunnels |
70 km. (1.5 - 2 hours one way) |
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Tour cost (average) There is no point in getting to the tunnels on your own - it will cost more |
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Where to buy a tour |
any tourist office |
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Included |
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Paid separately |
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Tour start/end time |
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Opening hours and address of the Vietnam War Museum (you can visit it yourself) |
Opening hours: 7.30 - 17.00 Lunch: 12.00 - 13.30 seven days a week 28 Vo Van Tan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (84.8) 930 2112, 930 6325, 930 5587 |
Ask any question about Vietnam:
When planning our trip to Vietnam, we decided to visit several very different, in my opinion, corners of this interesting country. We are on the island of Phu Quoc and the next stop was one of largest cities Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh City is a very noisy and vibrant city with its own very interesting story, but I will talk about this in more detail in another article. And now I want to talk about the Kuti tunnels. For any traveler who wants to get to know the history of the country better, I advise you to definitely visit this place on your own or with a tour. This will be especially interesting for fans of military history.
The Cu Chi Tunnels are not just a landmark, they are part of Vietnam’s military past, and to this day many residents of the older generation remember with a shudder those terrible years of the war with the United States.
We planned to stay in Ho Chi Minh City for only a couple of days and therefore we had to immediately decide on the time - where and when we would go. As for travel agencies where you can buy tours, there are not so many of them here as in Nha Trang. We purchased a tour at the one closest to our hotel, so that later, if something happened, we wouldn’t have to run far for clarification. We negotiated the purchase of the tour practically on our fingers, because they did not understand our English, and we did not understand theirs.
The tour indicated to expect a bus at 8.00 near the hotel entrance. As a result, we waited for him for about an hour and didn’t know what to think. To our question to the tour sellers, we received only one answer: that the bus would arrive soon. There was nothing to do and we had to wait patiently. Having waited, we finally hit the road.
The tour cost us $20 per person. Duration: half a day.
How to get there
The Cu Chi Tunnels (some call them the Cu Chi Tunnels) are located in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, at a distance of 50-55 km from the city center.
My advice to you: if you decide to get there on your own, it is better to do it by taxi. Agree on a fixed payment rather than by meter, it will be much cheaper.
There is no direct bus to your destination; you will have to make transfers and this will greatly lengthen your journey.
Sea transport is also long and problematic.
And in any case, it is better to plan your trip in the morning, there will be less traffic jams.
The journey takes about two hours one way.
Wear comfortable sportswear and sneakers. Do not take bags or heavy backpacks with you. Then you will have to carry all this with you.
Google coordinates: 11.144455, 106.464276
Entry price
We were taken to a forested area, then we got off the bus and waited while our guide purchased tickets for our group.
The prices are very cheap:
- For an adult 3.5 dollars.
- For a child 1 dollar.
What are these tunnels?
We then proceeded to the tent, where we were shown a 20 minute documentary, telling the story of creation. Everything on site is as close as possible to a real military atmosphere.
The Kuchi Tunnels are underground labyrinths dug by partisans during the war, 200 km long and up to 10 meters deep. Almost all residents took part in the construction of the tunnels, including women and children. They dug with the help of available materials, mainly with hoes. Thanks to this resourcefulness of the Vietnamese, thousands of lives were saved.
There is also a model of the entire multi-level tunnel system installed here. Now you will be surprised at the skill and hard work, as well as the love for your homeland. The first level is about 3 meters deep - these are various rooms (kitchen, hospital, rest room, etc.), on this level they practically lived, on the second level 6 meters - they hid during American bombings, and then went back up to the first level (on the second there was not enough oxygen and it was possible to hold out only for a short time) and the third, deepest level about 12 meters - here people hid from gas attacks.
Deep wells were dug to obtain water. The ventilation system is thought out thoroughly. For a long time, the Americans were unaware of the existence of partisan tunnels.
Start of the excursion
We were met by people in uniform and throughout the entire excursion there was a guy with us who showed and told us everything.
There is no one around and thinking that all this is not just models, but military history, you really feel uneasy and terribly interesting. Looking around, I realized that it was better not to lag behind. Otherwise it is very easy to get lost.
At first they tell how the tunnels were dug and strengthened, how difficult it all was, but still the Vietnamese are resourceful people and they succeeded.
Also on display were various military shells and bombs of that time.
Then we saw a real bomb crater. Of course, you can’t say for sure whether it’s true or whether they dug it specifically for tourists, but it’s still impressive.
We're inside
Having walked a little further, we were shown the descent into a tunnel, it was impossible to see anything there, complete darkness. It is so narrow that you simply don’t understand how it is possible for an adult to crawl through there. This was a version of a real military tunnel. Currently, all other tunnels have been specially expanded for tourists, otherwise it would be simply impossible.
Then we had to descend into the next tunnel. The guy who works there was the first to go and demonstrate. It was more like a short and very low underground passage. We bent down slightly and passed it in a few seconds. I was disappointed, so to speak, that all subsequent ones will be like that. As soon as I thought, we had a longer stay underground.
We went down underground and walked bent over. Here we were shown an underground well. Despite the fact that we were underground, there was no shortage of air.
I was overwhelmed with emotions, it was scary and interesting at the same time. The presence of bats and spiders adds to the reality of what is happening. A terrible and disgusting sight. Being in such a place really makes you perceive reality differently. Having climbed the steps and found yourself at the top, you catch yourself thinking how glad you are for the sunshine. It is impossible to imagine the nightmare these partisans experienced during the war. Having stayed below for only 5 minutes, you already want to quickly get to the surface.
Description of the tunnels
Everything is so carefully thought out to the smallest detail, everything is carefully disguised that an ignorant person will never really find where the beginning and where the end of the tunnel is. It turns out that some tunnels had exits to local reservoirs.
We were shown how the Vietnamese during the war watched the enemy, looking through a small crack that came out to the surface. The guy went down into the tunnel from one side and while we were wondering how long he would stay there, he, unnoticed by everyone, appeared behind our back and came out from the other side.
We were also shown a ditch for enemies with sharp iron tips; if the enemy got there, death would occur instantly. Then, after walking a few steps, we went down into the tunnel again, here we saw a very small room underground, with two beds and a table, very similar to a rest room, then we had to walk through the tunnel again in a half-bent state.
This time he was lower than the previous one and we had to walk with bent knees, after which we ended up in a military hospital. Here is a picture of the operation, all the models are made in full size, and taking into account the low lighting with small flashlights, it generally gives the impression that you are present at real events It's getting creepy.
Yes, I forgot to say, the Vietnamese equipped all the tunnels with small flashlights for visitors, and even under such tourist conditions it is still not pleasant to be there. Now imagine that during the war the partisans crawled in complete darkness, and the tunnels were so narrow that they had to push off with their hands to crawl and they could not see the light for many days.
At the exit from the tunnel, there is a model of two partisans carrying a wounded man on a stretcher.
And of course, when you move forward, no one warns you what will happen next and the element of surprise makes the picture come alive.
For camouflage, all descents into the tunnels are hidden under a thatched roof.
The steepest narrow tunnel
And again we had to descend down, to make what was happening believable, speakers with the sounds of a military roar were built in in this tunnel, our legs were already aching quite a bit, but the most interesting thing was waiting for us ahead. The Vietnamese made the last tunnel the closest to reality for tourists, it was lower than all the previous ones, here we already had to walk in a half-squat, after a minute of travel (although time passes much slower underground than in reality) we found ourselves in a room with 4 partisans at a large long table, inside the tunnel was divided into two paths to the right and left. We were faced with a choice of where to go, people from our group were in both directions, but which one was correct was not clear. We chose the path to the left.
We walked half-squatted, then the tunnel narrowed even more and we had to crawl on our haunches. The air in the tunnel was humid and stuffy. Moving forward, we did not see the end of the tunnel and even from afar the light on the surface was not visible, and then two girls in front of us stop and ask if we are going the right way and where is the exit. And then I started to panic, it didn’t last long, a few seconds. But even knowing that there was a way back and that we were very close to the surface, I was overcome with fear, and I do not suffer from claustrophobia. We crawled back and took a different path and ended up on the surface.
During these 5-10 minutes underground, we really felt as close to reality as possible. When you are underground, and even in such a narrow space, it becomes really scary and your greatest desire is to leave this place quickly.
Having come to the surface, I no longer wanted to go underground.
We continue to be amazed at the skill of the Vietnamese
At the end of all the crawling, we were offered to try the food of the partisans. It was boiled cassava root and some kind of seasoning, poured separately into a plate. Some people tried, but we had no desire to try.
The next thing we saw was a small gazebo with various traps. The Vietnamese heroically defended their country without having special weapons for this.
One can only be amazed at their sophistication. Looking at them you understand that you shouldn’t get involved. The Vietnamese are a very proud and cheerful people.
On the way to the exit you can see the life of the partisans, various workshops are shown, how the partisans made shoes from tires and neutralized mines.
Photos of exhibition copies
