Cu Chi Tunnel

In the past, Cu Chi tunnel was a war place between the Vietnamese and the Americans. It is a distinctive architecture; network of underground dug-outs of 75-mile-long, consisting of many layers and turnings with living, meeting and fighting quarters for the NLF fighters (guerrillas). In order to hide from the attacks by the American soldiers, the guerrillas dug the tunnel. The reason why the tunnel is so long is because of survivor instinct; the guerrillas keep digging the tunnel to avoid the US army. The tunnel has been preserved by the Vietnam government, and they have turned it into a war memorial park which is a popular tourist attraction now.


During the visit to Cu Chi tunnel, we are allowed to crawl into the safer parts of the tunnel system and the some tunnels were made larger to accommodate some of the tourists who are bigger in size. As the tunnel is very dark thus low power lights have been installed inside to make it easier for the visitors when they are inside. This means that the tunnel which we crawled is of much smaller size and darker in the past.

Besides the tunnel itself, they are also other attractions which include vendors selling souvenirs, a firing range where we pay about US$1 a bullet to shoot AK-47 rifle and some of the quarters where the guerrillas cook their food, make their bombs and weapons during the wartime.

Entrance to Cu Chi Tunnel:


Firing Range:



Weapon Making Quarters:




We also saw holes which are the result of the bombing by the B52 bombs. Besides that, we saw bobby traps like the door traps, window traps, etc. which were created by the guerrillas to trap and kill the American soldiers on the spot.


Some traps:

1. Door Trap


2.Sticking Trap


3. Klipping Armpit Trap


4. Window Trap


5. Fish Trap


6. See-Saw Trap


Before we left the place, we have also enjoyed a simple meal of food that guerrillas have eaten in the past during the wartime. The food consists of steamed tapioca and tea.


I have developed a new image about the Vietnamese. I think that they are very smart; not only did they create bobby traps, they also think of ways to avoid being discovered when they are cooking and after answering the nature call.

They actually dug a hole for their “big business” and used ash to absorb the smell to prevent from being discovered by the American soldiers who used dogs to detect the traces of guerrillas. The smoke created from cooking was spread all over the forest which made it difficult for the American soldiers to track them down. They also used termites’ holes as their air holes for breathing so that the dogs cannot detect them.


I have been down to the tunnel and it was small and stuffy, I am really amazed on how the guerrillas managed to survive through the tiny tunnel during the war. One of the reasons of building small tunnel is to prevent the Americans soldiers who are bigger in size from entering the tunnel.



All these have showed the strong survivor instinct that they possessed and how smart they are. I think that they are not only smart and also very meticulous about everything during the war as we all can see during the visit.