Learning about war

So Thursday was the trip out of HCMC to Cu Chi Tunnels and then back to go around the War Remnants Museum. I'm glad I did them both on the same day, just the museum could have come off quite one sided, but seeing all the traps etc. at the tunnels made it a bit more balanced.

On the way to the tunnels the tour guide stopped off at a local family whose income comes from making rice paper (at $1 a kilo) and collecting rubber from their plantation (about $10 a kilo). They let us try making rice paper,  then feed our failed attempts to their pigs and showed us how to tap the rubber.

We then carried on to the tunnels, which really are in a jungle. They let us get in through a real entrance (I felt blessed for being small at this point)

They showed us some of the traps set up to intercept American soldiers

You then had a chance to fire anything from an AK47 to an M60. However paying per bullet made it a bit expensive for my taste. A few in the group split 10 bullets in their pair which was a more sensible price.

Lastly we went down the tunnels. They are just over a foot wide and two and a half feet high; I felt they were small and claustrophobic so  I can only imagine what it was like for anyone over five three tall. We crawled and slid through them and then was reminded that people lived here for 20 years, in the dark. That gives a great idea how desperate that war was.

After the tunnels we headed back to the city for the War Remnants Museum, I didn't take pictures in there it was far too sobering and bleak for that. Did show some interesting bad use of science and propaganda in places (especially with agent orange) which showed a lot about the government here.

Last bit I went around was the political prisoner section, where they had some of the equipment used on prisoners from an island just off the coast. God, humans can be horrific to one another.

A very interesting day, learned a lot.