Cu Chi, which is located at Cu Chi District nearly 70km far from central of Ho Chi Minh city, is a very famous war heritage in the South of Vietnam. Cu Chi Tunnel played an important role in the victory of Vietnam communist government over the America and South Vietnamese army in the past. The Tunnels consist of more than 200km of underground tunnels and three levels deep. This tunnel system has many branches connecting to underground hideouts, shelters, and entrances to other tunnels.

cuchi tunnelsThe tunnels are between 0.5 to 1m wide, just enough space for a person to walk along by bending or dragging. However, parts of the tunnels have been modified to accommodate visitors .Cu Chi is an pro-communist area, known as the base where the North Vietnamese army used to organize the 1968 Tet  Offensive. The area was heavily bombarded by American,it was declared a “free fire zone” by America which means that artillery fire fell on it at night, and that bomber pilots were encouraged to drop unused explosives and napalm on the area before returning to base. In essence, anything that moved was considered a target and blown away.

Cu chi TunnelsThe Vietnamese querrillas and Cu Chi local used the tunnel as the hiding spot as well as serving as communication and supply routes, food and weapon caches so the tunnels  network provided sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, hospitals, and other social rooms. The upper soil layer is between 3 to 4m thick and can support the weight of a 50-ton tank and the damage of light cannons and bombs. But the tunnel networks were dug, before the American War, in the late 1940s, as a peasant-army response to a more mobile and ruthless French occupation. The plan was simple: take the resistance briefly to the enemy and then, literally, vanish.

shooting ak 47 cu chi tunnelsThe tunnels were really expanded in the American war as a large base of Vietnamese querrillas surround Saigon. Cu Chi is not so far from the central of Ho Chi Minh city quite easy to reach by bus in one day .Today the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction giving the visitors a unique experience of what underground life in the American war was like.