From my knowledge, the co chi tunnels are a series of passageways dug underneath the ground for Vietnamese troops to stealthily navigate the area the tunnels ran through, away from the sight of the American soldiers during the Vietnam war. The tunnels were long and narrow stretching far and wide throughout the land.According to the guides, the tunnel here is the smallest sized amongst the others. I barely managed to squeeze into it as friends persuaded me to do so.
There were many trenches and small huts for the soldiers and the Vietnamese to do their work during the war. Bunkers and long trenches for troops to stay hidden from enemy sights and also weapon workshops where Vietnamese work on metal to create tools for use in the war.
One of the exhibit that drew my attention was the many traps the Vietnamese used. The traps were innovative and smart: one example being the folding chair trap where when someone were to step into the trigger, a wooden structure with spikes would clamp.
This is a large trap where it can flip 360 degrees which causes the person to fall into deathly spikes.Next we had the chance to enter into the genuine tunnels, however were widened 2 times its size for the convenience of tourists. Electrical lamps were added too. This is the entrance of the claustrophobic tunnels.
At the end of our tour through the tunnels, we were served tapioca and tea. Followed by a lunch of fish, eggs, pork and soup.
Our next destination was the war museum: another 2 hours bus trip. There were many accounts and photographs of the war. Mostly showing how brutal and torturous the war was. Weapons and war vehicles were on display in the museum. Seeing the saddened and disgusted faces displayed by people viewing the exhibits tell me that they were thinking the same thing as I was: war is terrible
We took a short bus trip to our final tour destination; which was the reunification palace. There wasn’t really many things to do here as rooms were either sealed off or prohibited to enter. Many rooms were scattered through out the many levels of the building, but nothing really special was going on.
As the afternoon comes to an end, we had an early dinner at Pizza Hut. Again, the meal was very cheap. A personal pizza, side-dish (soup, garlic bread or salad) and a glass of pepsi for around SGD$2. You really feel no pain in spending here.
