Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
At HK airport we exchanged the last of our yuan for Vietnamese Dong. ¥265 is about £26 and bought us 650,000 Dong. At the ATM the option was for a million or half a million Dong. I withdrew half a million, then realised this is only about £22 worth! We are now officially millionaires as we currently have 3,387,000 Dong on hand. The smallest note seems to be 2000, about 8.5 pence. Coins were introduced a few years ago, but the people didn't like them so they were dropped.
Today we visited the tunnels at Cu Chi. Dug by hand, mostly at night, there were 147Km of tunnels created by the people of Cu Chi to hide stores and fighters from the US Army. Our guide explained that there are chambers near the surface, about 3m down, another layer at about 9m and the deepest chambers are 18 m below the surface. The Vietcong used existing termite mounds to create ventilation shafts and were very careful to duct smoke from cooking fires through several chambers and thence to the surface via artificial 'termite mounds' up to a kilometre away from the kitchen. By cooking at night, the smoke looked like early morning mist to American observers.
The people here are small and wiry, the visitors from UK, Australia and US giants in comparison, but we were able to shuffle through a short section of tunnel. There was a display showing various designs of ingenious traps which were set to catch unwary GIs. The fighters had no money to buy supplies so scrap metal was scavenged from shrapnel, mines were made from unexploded US bombs, sandals from old tyres, which could be worn back to front in wet weather to mislead. They were fighting for their liberty and their homeland against young conscripts who didn't want to be at war. The psychology was simple; they aimed to wound, not kill, knowing that the wounded would be taken to base thus tying up another 2 men. One sniper would use several different weapons, giving the US soldiers the impression that there were many more of them and causing panic.
The Vietnamese Army supervises a firing range, we had a go with an AK47 but missed the target. The recoil and noise was incredible but even 50m away the jungle made it difficult to work out where the firing was. This area was burnt to the ground by the US army to remove any available cover, but this strategy backfired as the tunnels were already in place, including one which came up inside the American base, enabling Vietcong raids to terrify their enemy when he should have felt safe.
We left feeling admiration for these inventive people who fought so hard for their freedom. The next stop was the Palace of the Republic with its opulent reception rooms, private cinema and helipad. Now the Capital is Hanoi, the palace is open to the public.
The War Remnant Museum was our last stop. It houses press photos from the war, including many famous images, not easy viewing. There is a gallery devoted to the victims of Agent Orange, many of whom are still suffering. Outside is a mock-up of Pho Tuc the notorious jail, and several planes and tanks.
Our guide told us he often guides American veterans, like us they are astonished by the sophisticated tunnel system and the degree of psychological warfare. There are several veterans' groups raising money for children's facilities, education and medical expenses as a way to make amends.
- comments
Lynne WOW I don't think I could ever get my head around the money. What a fascinating trip. xx