Cu Chi – once the land of fire

10:07, 31/07/2014

Cu Chi Tunnels, about 70 kilometers northwest of HCMC, is a stunning complex of more than 200 kilometers of underground tunnels served as hospitals, hideouts and shelters in the wartime. It takes about 90 minutes to take a boat ride  from Ben Nghe Wharf in downtown HCMC.

 

Cu Chi Tunnels, about 70 kilometers northwest of HCMC, is a stunning complex of more than 200 kilometers of underground tunnels served as hospitals, hideouts and shelters in the wartime. It takes about 90 minutes to take a boat ride  from Ben Nghe Wharf in downtown HCMC.

The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the French occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the American War in Vietnam in the 1960s to provide shelters and a defensive advantage over the American soldiers. Despite all the bombings in their town, Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Some even wed and gave birth underground, but over 10,000 lost their lives there.

On July 29, Cu Chi preserves many war artifacts and remnants such as underground tunnels under the forest, kitchens, shoe-making factory and many weapons that Vietnamese used to fight the American invaders.

Touring to the place, tourists also have a chance to refresh their lungs with winding canals and forests of biodiversity. Therefore, the venue is recommended as an amazing weekend getaway from bustling city life to discover both nature and history.

A foreigner poses for photographs while trying gliding into a small tunnel in Cu Chi 

Tourists inspect a local rice paper cake making establishment 

A local boatman is seen in a canal in Cu Chi  

(Source:SGT)