After a rather brutally long flight from Vancouver via Beijing, we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City just after midnight last night. After a brief sleep, we set out to the Cu Chi tunnels this morning. The tunnels are a historical site about 70 km from Saigon and vividly demonstrate the resourcefulness of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war - or as the Vietnamese call it, the American war.

There are over 200 km of these underground tunnels which were carved out under the jungle floor and allowed the people to escape from the American soldiers and be safe from the bombing. The entries to the tunnels were cleverly concealed so that they were invisible once closed. The photo shows Ron in a tiny entryway about to close the lid over his head as he melts into the tunnel.

We crept doubled over through a small length of the very warm tunnels and quickly realized that only the small-statured Vietnamese would be able to maneuver in these narrow spaces. The tunnels had kitchens, hospitals and even meeting rooms located over numerous floors with an elaborate venting system to provide fresh air to the many people living underground. It was a fascinating site and a stark reminder of this tragic war.