Julie and Harold Head to Southeast Asia, 2018: Cu Chi -- our last day of touring (June 1)

We were primed for the Cu Chi tunnels by Darlene Voeltz who posted information about her trip last November. The day started early (we left the hotel at 7:30 am), and the drive was a couple of hours (Julie got somewhat car sick). On the way, our guide, Mai, told us about her cousin who, during the war, was raped (?) by a black American soldier. Unfortunately, she got pregnant, which meant, in Vietnamese culture, that she was a ruined woman. The child was born, and looked quite different from a full-blooded Vietnamese which meant the child was harassed mightily as she grew. Compounding the difficult situation, the only person who cared for the daughter was the grandmother. The result was that the girl left Vietnam when she was 13 (the mother could have gone too, but didn’t want to) through a US program for children of US servicemen. Since then she has returned to Vietnam for visits, largely to care for the grandmother, for whom she bought a house. The relationship with the mother has always been strained. It was quite an emotional personal story and affected all of us.

The story was relevant for us on this travel day because this was the day when we learned the most about the “American War” (as the Vietnamese call it) and the reasons behind the various points of view in the country (Viet Cong versus those who supported the US). Mai’s parents, for example, came from families supporting differing sides, with Mai’s mother coming from a Viet Cong family and her father supporting the US. The mother was disowned when she married Mai’s father and after the war, when Mai’s father was not a part of the emigration to the US, they suffered greatly, living in the slums with no ability to get a job because of the “wrong” biography. Mai’s father ended up being a cyclo driver, and the mother became a seamstress. Things were very difficult for the family. Finally, the mother got the father a false identity card, and he was able to work productively for for about 10 years when his place of business found out he had supported the US. He lost his job. Fortunately, he was able to start his own business making motorcycle horns, and things started working out for them, but the family has been intensely discriminated against still, with Mai’s sister loosing a prime teaching position when she applied for an administrative position. When they learned of her biography (or rather, her father’s), she was sent to a small school about an hour from there and ended up loosing much money.

And more of the story – when Mai’s mother was young, she helped dig the Cu Chi tunnels where we are going today. Her family is from that area.

The Cu Chi tunnels were massive and hidden well, with air vents, cooking air vents, a hospital, a military strategy room, and massive tunnels for village people and Viet Cong soldiers. There was also quite a sophisticated system of traps in the area for unsuspecting, opposing soldiers.

A disguised air vent

entering a tunnel via a tourist entrance, far more accessible than the original entrances

This tunnel areas have been enlarged for tourists. They were originally much smaller.

a vent for the kitchens. They would cook at night an allow the smoke to exit in the early morning when it was foggy; thus the smoke just added to the smoggy effect and it was not obvious.

do you see the entrance? There would be a special kind of twig to designate where the entrance was, and the Viet Cong would know this signal.

a vent from the kitchens

We had the opportunity to talk with a former Viet Cong soldier who was leader of the Viet Cong veterans’ association. He had been treated quite well by the government, unlike Mai’s father. He was actually saved by an American soldier who carried him to the edge of the hospital grounds after he had been shot, but unfortunately, he had four brothers who died during the war.

The Vietnamese are compassionate about the Americans who were there, recognizing they were drafted and didn’t want to be there and the Vietnamese also knew how badly the returning soldiers were treated when they returned. They also know about the protests within the US during the time of the war. They understand that it was a fear of Communism that brought the US to Vietnam and that the US was not intent upon imperialism, which is what the Viet Cong feared: that the US was just going to take the place of the French imperialists.

All in all, the day was filled with learning compounded with emotion.

For lunch we stopped at a 4-generation Pho restaurant and had this famed Vietnamese soup, taking 2 days to prepare and compiled from 24 different herbs and spices. It was excellent although Julie spent much of the afternoon in the bathroom.

We then went to our farewell dinner and shared the top 3 things from the trip: Julie liked today (including Mai’s story), the art instruction about Angkor Wat from Rath, and the time at the Killing Fields. Harold picked the Thai boxing afternoon and the iron lung and riding the motorbikes through the iron lung park area, also Angkor Wat, and his last choice was the entire trip (is that cheating?).

We left dinner early and went to the Saigon Opera House to see Ta Dum????, a wonderful performance by a group of dancers/acrobats from the highlands of Vietnam. The production may be travelling to the US at some point.