There was no chance I was coming to Saigon and not going to the Viet Cong teritory during the 'American War'.

The Cu Chi tunnels were wicked.

For those of you who aren't up to scratch on your history! Cu Chi tunnels were a network of tiny,underground tunnels inhabited & used by the Viet Cong to get around,pick off American troops and generally make things very difficult for the USA.very difficult.Mines and booby traps galore!The guides kept referring to them as 'booby' traps but I thought 'death' traps would have been more appropriate.

Anyhoo,prior to all this,after moving hotel,to a more central location,purchasing our $45 bus ticket that would charter our way all the way to the north of viet nam (sweet) we booked our trip to the famous Cu Chi tunnels!

It was a hot day (perfect for crawling through tiny,underground tunnels!!) and we made our way there (a few km outside Saigon city centre) by coach.

At this point I have to mention the 7,4ft Swede who joined us,amongst others on the tour and my imagination running wild with thoughts of how he was going to sit on the coach,let alone crawl through the western-sized,unfriendly designed tunnels.

Back to the trip...we made a stop at a craft warehouse that was created as a means to support those affected by the war and who had suffered,physically by the Americans use of Dioxin (to torch the forests) during the war.

This wasn't a pretty sight.Growth,body & limb defects were what these people had bestowed upon them and the worst thing about it was not only had many never had anything to do with the war,many hadn't even been born till long after.

What was amazing was the beautiful art work created by them.Huge paintings,sculptures,wood carvings etc.
Real skills and what seemed to be done so effortlessly too,in mass production.

Once we arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels we were greeted by a very funny veteran.Standing tall at no more than 5,3, decked in military shirt,trousers,baseball cap,massive spectecles and armed with a pointer he led us to a hut and after showing an extremely propaganda driven video proceeded to talk the through how the Viet Cong survived in the tunnels despite heavy bombardments by the B-52s,the map of bases and connecting tunnels,then finally finishing with his views on which was the better gun:the AK-47 or the "bulls*** gun" M-16.He was very clear that the AK was better and that we'd better believe him too.
You're probably picturing a military briefing...that's exactly what we were thinking at the time too!

We were then guided to the destroyed american tanks,booby traps and tunnels by our even funnier new guide (I'm not quite sure whether he was a bit crackers or really in love-he kept singing Lionel Richie's 'Hello'????).No way was he old enough to have fought in the war.

He demonstrated (not by actually jumping in them) how the various types of booby traps worked.Enough to make your stomach turn.The Viet Cong ('Victor Charlies' to the Americans) were very creative... If not a bit sadistic.

The tunnels:
We all reached the tunnels and Laura,along with the majority opted against the temptation of crawling through pitch-black,hot,cramped,dirty, vacuumed tunnels.Not me.Rucksack still on my back and video camera in my hand I dragged myself over 120meters (at one time falling down a surpise slope!) eventually surfacing a dirty,sweaty and panting mess.Loved
It & was ready to collect my reward...at the shooting range.

10 shots of an AK-47 was great! Even the not knowing whether I'd hit the target or not to warrant getting a medal because they couldn't be bothered to change the targets didn't sour the experience.

A real good day,for me anyway.I think Laura enjoyed me watching me play Indiana Jones again for the day??

Charlie Bravo.