“Like a bunch of evil devils, the American enemies killed women and children….”
So began our tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. We were seated in a small outside auditorium where we watched a very old and rudimentary black and white documentary on the significance of the people in the Cu Chi area before, during, and after the war. The quote from above is directly from the film, I couldn’t make this stuff up. Using a lot of this very strong language the film detailed the “heroic struggles of the peaceful villagers” as they took up arms and went underground to fight the US.
The Cu Chi tunnels are a 250 km network of underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war. The clear highlight of our group tour to the tunnels this morning was having the opportunity to crawl in the tunnels for about 50 metres. I went first of the tourists but second behind the tunnel guide who quickly squatted down and shuffeled his way through the narrow passages. He did take the time to stop before turning another corner to signify to me the direction he was going. I must have looked ridiculous behind him, slowly crawling on my hands and knees. When I first entered the tunnels I was intrigued but soon I felt a great sense of claustrophobia when one turn turned into another passage into another turn and again and again. It was probably the longest fifty metres of my life. The tunnels are hot, dark, filthy and, depending on your size, practicually hug you while you are in the crawling position (as is evidenced by the number of dirty backs you saw when you climbed out of the tunnel and looked at your fellow tourists). I can hardly imagine spending ten minutes down there, let alone ten years. It gave me a new appreciation for the brillance and cunning of the Viet Cong and the absolute determination they had in winning the war. A more grisly part of the tour was the showcase of booby traps fixed with spikes that were used. It seems they had one made for the intent of harming each part of the body and some were given names such as the “hamburger trap” and the “souvenir trap” (the latter one because you had to have it surgically removed, I won’t detail why). Lunch consisted of tapioca cane with sugar to dip it in and tea and is a meal the guide says the Viet Cong lived on for ten years.
Though the tour reeked of propoganda it was no surprise to us because it seems most of the museums, art galleries, and monuments In Vietnam are designed to demonstrate what champions of war the Vietnamese Communists are. Of course, it is true that they fought and defeated the French in the first Indochinese war and the Americans in the second and that both of these feats are quite amazing. However, the horror shown is so biased and they never mention the pain that they themselves inflicted on their own people and the people of the Southern armies. But then again, why would they?
Considering the hard feelings that the government still seems to hold against the U.S., I think it’s ironic that the American dollar is just as common a currency in Vietnam as the dong. Prices are most often given in both and the choice is yours to spend as you wish. You could travel all you want in Vietnam and never lay hands on the Vietnamese currency. It has nothing to do with the war, the US dollar is simply more stable… but still it seems strange. Something that I can’t figure out is how a free market society works under a Communist regime.. can anyone explain this to me?
So let me take you back a few days. Prior to our stop in Saigon, we spent some time in the central part of the country and specifically in Hue and Danang. Because Danang was the initial landing spot for both the French and the Americans (remember the show China Beach?), it was completely devastated by the effects of war. What’s left is a charmless city of deteriorating concrete building and crumbling sidewalks with a generation of people missing (2/3 of Vietnam’s people are under 25 so the latter part is very much the case all over the country). People don’t smile much, at least at foreigners (who can blame them?) and the overall feeling of the rainy region is depressing. Hue is an ancient city, once the centre of life during the Nguyen Dynasty. The old town has an expansive Imperial City that was designed after the Forbidden City in Beijing. Of course, this too was heavily showered with bombs during the wars and what’s left now is a walled-in section of crumbling ruins. On the outskirts of town there are several tombs from the Nguyen Dynasty and we went to visit a few of them on a particularly rainy day. When you walk in and around the huge tomb complexes you feel temporarily as though you have stepped back into another time… but then you round the corner and see yet another crummy showcase of dusty trinkets and warm Coca-Cola for sale and all you can do is sigh. The central area of the country is altogether in ruins, understandably, and it provides you with a tremendous contrast and perhaps a greater appreciation of the wonderful cities of Hanoi and Saigon.
One word on Saigon. When the war ended in April of 1975 and the Communists gained control of Saigon, they changed the name of the city to Ho Chi Minh City after their communist hero and comrade. “Uncle Ho” (as he is often sentimentally referred as) is a story in and of himself so I won’t go into him much only so say that his name was self-bestowed and means “He Who Enlightens”. Saigon or Sai Gon (in Vietnamese language each syllable is a new word) is still what the city is commonally referred to as, at least in the south. In the north they proudly call it by its full name or HCMC. There seems to be a distinct rivalry between the north and the south that you pick up on when you talk to people about the most mundane things, such as weather. In Hanoi (or Ha Noi) I was asked by a woman working at our hotel if I was going to HCMC and when I answered yes, she said with negativity, “Oh, it is very, very hot there.” I replied with “We have had very nice and cool weather in Hanoi” and she smiled, looked at me and said, “Thank you.”
I feel the same way here as I did when I was in Berlin. I have this overwhelming awe about the place. Finally travelling in a place that I have only read about and seen in (countless) movies gives me tremendous satisfaction because I have a sense now of the real Vietnam and how it has survived (and not) in the aftermath of such a triumphant and tragic history.
Sigh.
tothesea,
k~* (I shall remove Magi's initial from posts from now on because it's silly to write "I" and "me" in the post and then have it be signed by us both.. it's no secret that I'm the author of these posts since Magi is overcome with shyness when it comes to these things. But have it be known that though she refuses to write any posts she does edit them all and claims that they also reflect her thoughts of her time here... at least most of the time.)
p.s. Does anyone remember the band Saigon Kick from the 80's? What was with Hanoi Rocks and Saigon Kick? Were they rival bands or something? Were either of them not American? Oh, strange decade. (It must be pretty evident that I have been waiting this whole trip to use these band names as post titles.. have it be known that they are the only reason I came to either of these cities. HeeHee.)