I’ve gotta be honest: The Vietnam war was the last thing on my mind when I was traveling through Vietnam. Whether I was catching rays on the concrete beaches of Mui Ne, soaking in the otherworldly Cat Ba Island or traveling overland from Hanoi to the Lao border, the last thing I wanted to do was torture myself with the memory of a war that began and ended before I was born.
Indeed, it was at the suggestion of my travel companions that I took a trip to an important war relic located about 30 miles northwest of Saigon. I’m glad I paid a visit to the subterranean Cu Chi tunnels, one of the most impressive defense systems in the history of war, in spite of how low a priority seeing Vietnam war history was for me.
Not only did a person fit down there, but an entire town existed down there
History of the Cu Chi Tunnels
The Cu Chi tunnels were originally started in the 1940s as a means of camouflaging and protecting Vietnamese fighters, initially as a means of combating French colonial occupation. Locals expanded the tunnels, which were dug using simple tools and bare hands, as tensions with the United States escalated in the 1960s.
More than just tunnels as their name suggests, the labyrinth that exists beneath the soil of Cu Chi is a complex, elaborate system that enabled an entire town to go on living in the wake up unspeakable terror happening just above. The Cu Chi tunnels are not just significant because of the role they played in the Vietnam war but indeed, because of how they testify to the human will to live.
Careful — it’s a trap!
Sinh Cafe Bus to Cu Chi Tunnel
Several public and private transport options to the Cu Chi Tunnels exist. The Sinh Cafe, whose Vietnamese bus services I highlighted in an earlier article, offers buses departing from their office in the backpackers area of Saigon for about US$5. A public bus from central Saigon — specifically, bus 13 at Ben Thanh bus station — costs 25 cents.
Alternatively, if you have a group of several travelers, it might be just as economical to hire a private taxi. Cars holding up to four passengers can be had for as little as $30. If you can do simple math you’ll see that’s not quite as economical, but it’s definitely more comfortable. No matter how you travel, expect the journey to take around 90 minutes.
Inside the tunnels
Inside the Cu Chi Tunnels
Once you pay the 80,000 dong (about $4) entrance fee, you can enter the Cu Chi tunnel complex. Several of the tunnels themselves are open for exploration and I highly recommend you crawl inside. They’ll seem extremely small but trust me: They wouldn’t let you in if anyone had ever gotten stuck.
You’ll also seem some of the traps that exist at Cu Chi, which include pits filled with sharp daggers pointing upwards. You can also seem the remnants of craters left by bombs, which the residents of Cu Chi were thankfully able to survive thanks to their well-designed system of tunnels.
Tour guides are on-hand to explain the intricacies of the tunnels to you
Cu Chi Tunnels Tour
Most privately-operated buses departing Saigon include a tour guide, the quality of which varies greatly. Although tour guides are uniformly friendly, the problem you will likely encounter is difficulty understanding everything they say.
Indeed, I spent most of my time roaming freely around the tunnels and taking photos. Whether you stay with the group or chart your own course through the Cu Chi tunnels — just don’t fall into any of the traps! — your experience at the Cu Chi tunnels will transcend a simple history lesson.
Robert Schrader is a travel writer and photographer who’s been roaming the world independently since 2005, writing for publications such as “CNNGo” and “Shanghaiist” along the way. His blog, Leave Your Daily Hell, provides a mix of travel advice, destination guides and personal essays covering the more esoteric aspects of life as a traveler.
