Vietnam was where the Vietnam War happened, and interestingly, in Vietnam, the Vietnam War is called the American War (which does make sense). We went to Củ Chi Tunnels, which is one of the best places where you can learn about the war. Củ Chi Tunnels are the longest tunnel system in the world, going for 250 km, all the way across Vietnam and reaching Cambodia. It is unbelievable that people dug them without any equipment. If you think the soil is very soft, you are mistaken. It’s a very hard clay that doesn’t collapse at all.

The North Vietnamese government and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong (VC), were fighting to reunify Vietnam. The North Vietnamese army was supported by China, the Soviet Union, and other communist allies, and the South Vietnamese army was supported by the United States, South Korea, and other anti-communist allies. In the end, the North Vietnamese government and its followers, including the VC, won. In my opinion, the war was so unfair because big nations who didn’t like each other were on opposite sides and they used Vietnam as a bombing ground against each other. Cu Chi is a series of tunnels made by the VC for protection in the war. Cu Chi was a major cause of loss in the South Vietnamese army and its supporters, and thus helped win the war.

We took a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the tunnels. We stopped along the way to see how lacquerware is made. It looks really nice in the end. The first thing we saw when we arrived at the tunnels was a diagram of them, complete with tunnels, traps, troops, and other things that start with ‘t’ (just kidding). There were lights that lit up that showed us different things on the diagram. I learned a lot. After the diagram, we went on to the floor hole. In the ground there is a secret, camoflauged entrance to the actual tunnel. You can go in the entrance and cover the hole with a board and leaves.

They used this entrance a lot in the war. Another terrible thing we saw was traps. Traps, traps, and more traps, all with different designs and meanings. The most horrible, I think, was the door trap. When you open the door, a spiked stick swings toward you and hits all of your body. Ouchies, and to think that the VC used it in the war to protect themselves against the American soldiers who could have tried to enter houses or tunnels.

When we passed half of the exhibits, we were near the shop, and we went to get some ice cream. When we were sitting down on the bench to eat it, we could hear super loud gunshots. You are probably thinking, ‘WHAT?? Gunshots?’ but Cu Chi has a shooting range that, when you are 18 and bought 10 or more rounds of bullets, you can go and try out guns and rifles. BAD!! We don’t like guns and guns shouldn’t be used for entertainment.

We finally got to the actual tunnels. The tunnels stretch under almost all of Vietnam, and even go into Cambodia. Tourists and visitors are not allowed to go that far, but at least we are allowed to go in the tunnels. It is narrow, damp, dark, and scary. Do not go in if you are claustrophobic. We found the entrance, and went in. The whole group we were in went inside the tunnel. Not all of us came out (I’m joking). Mom, Dad, Evan, and I went out at the first exit. It was cool. There were also 2 entrances, so we went through 2 times. Fact: the VC who lived in the tunnels MEMORIZED them! They didn’t create maps to avoid the danger of the enemy finding out about the tunnels and where they are.

After the tunnels, it pretty much was the end of the tour. We DID see a smokeless kitchen, though. A smokeless kitchen was a room where, the VC cooked with fire, but because letting out the smoke would give them away, VC made rooms where the smoke is passed through. After some time, the smoke is let out somewhere else, therefore not giving them away. The VC had so many ideas, even though they were sometimes bad! We tried tapioca roots – the food that VC mostly ate. It was actually quite delicious and tasted a lot like potatoes.

That was the end of our tour. I hope we come back to Vietnam to go here again! The American war was truly bad, and I hope my country never participates in that kind of war again.