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February 28, 2007
Wednesday 28th Saigon and Cu Chi Tunnels (Katy)
We've just been to see the Cu Chi tunnels. These are a network of underground tunnels made by the Communists (North Vietnamese) during the war here (1960s and 1970s) so they could escape from the bombings of the American Troops who were supporting the South Vietnamese.
Just when I was starting to understand what happened in the Khmer Rouge Regime, we come here and I'm back to square one.
The local soldiers of the Cu Chi area (communists who supported Ho chi Minh) built a network of tunnels that they sometimes lived in for weeks on end. They had three different levels, air holes and escape roots. There are about 200 km of tunnels.
Today we got to see a few small sections of them. The entrances are really small so the Vietnamese could fit down but the Americans couldn't. We also saw some of the weapons and traps that were used, some of them looked pretty horrific.
We also visited the War Remnants museum. This has pictures of the war and the after effects. They showed people effected by Napalm bombs and there were photos of children born with deformities because their parents had been exposed to Agent Orange (a chemical pesticide used by the Americans)
As with Phnom Penh, these things are depressing but unmissable.
Posted by admins at February 28, 2007 11:53 AM
Comments
Love reading your stuff. We all look every day -It's cool - can't wait to go there - really interesting and sad in some bits
Posted by: Emma Taylor at March 1, 2007 7:54 PM