Up to this point in my travels I have visited some pretty amazing places, all of which have been interesting to explore, experience and learn about. However, Saigon, Vietnam is the first place thus far that I was a bit apprehensive to visit and unsure about what I was going to see and how I was going to be received by the local people.
The Vietnam War is something that I had read about in textbooks and studied in school, but to be honest (sorry to all my history teachers) knew very little about. I knew it was a controversial war that took many lives from both sides and so I decided, out of respect for everyone involved, I was going to visit an area called Cu Chi and learn more. Cu Chi is an area where much of the gorilla warfare took place and is also home to the Cu Chi Tunnels, an elaborate tunnel system designed and used by the Vietnam. We had a guided tour of the area and I was shocked as we walked around to see that the ground was still littered with embedded pieces of metal from bullets, bombs and other warfare paraphernalia. After only walking a short distant our tour guide informed us that a tunnel entrance was within a 2 meter radius of where we were standing and challenged us to try and find it. The eight of us on the tour searched for a solid 5 minutes and failed to find the tiny wooden trap door hidden beneath the fallen foliage next to a tree trunk. I was shocked at how small the entrance was and our guide explained that the reason for such a small entrance was because the average size of a Vietnam soldier was much smaller then that of an American soldier. Therefore they were able to have very small entrances that prevented the American soldiers from being able to enter the tunnels.
Our guide then asked who would like to venture into the tunnel. At first I shocked and overcome by a wave of various emotions… no way was I going to crawl into a space that was no larger then a rabbit hole where soldiers who were fighting against our troops once ran for cover. But then once the initial shock of the question disappeared I decided that I was being given the unique opportunity to learn about the war not only by seeing these things but experiencing them as well. With this thought in mind I squeezed through the rectangular opening, scraping my shoulders on either side as I made my way down and closed the trap door over my head. I was completely underground… I took a moment in the darkness to try and think about what it must have been like… and I couldn’t. I don’t even want to try and pretend that I could imagine what it is like to fight in a war or be shot at or have to run for my life. All I can say is that in those few moments I spent underground I felt blessed and extremely grateful to be living the life I am living today. I am not sure why I deserve all that I have, but I am so thankful for everything and everyone that has made my life so wonderful.
The day continued on and my head was spinning with different thoughts and emotions. Our guide showed us the various horrible booby traps the Vietnams used, also how they used to wear their shoes backwards so their footprints would look as though they were going the opposite direction. He explained that they only cooked during the hour before dawn so the steam that would escape from the tunnels would look like dew on the trees above and not give away their underground hiding spots… It was a fascinating day and we all left Cu Chi feeling intellectually and emotionally awakened by the days events.
