Củ Chi Tunnels

Quầy Vé Địa Đạo Bến Dược

Useful Information

photography — Củ Chi Tunnels, Vietnam. Public Domain.

Location:	Tổ 6 -ấp QL22, Phước Thạnh. Củ Chi, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. TL 15, Bus Stop Ngã ba Tỉnh lộ 6, close to the Saigon River bridge. 40 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). (11.1419531, 106.4642814)
Open:	All year daily 7-17. [2024]
Fee:
Classification:	Secret Bunker
Light:	low power electric light
Dimension:	L=250,000 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Tom Mangold, John Penycate (1986): The Tunnels of Cu Chi, Berkley Books, New York, 1986, ISBN 0425089517.
Address:	Quầy Vé Địa Đạo Bến Dược, Tổ 6 -ấp QL22, Phước Thạnh. Củ Chi, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Tel: +84-28-3794-8830. E-mail: Củ Chi Tunnels, Phu Hiep Hamlet, Phu My Hung Commune, Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1948	tunnels started during the war for independence from the French.
1957	Vietnam War begins.
1959	first American combat troops involved.
1965	massive increase of American troops.
1973	U.S. Army leaves the country.
30-APR-1975	war ends.
29-APR-1979	declared a National Cultural and Historical Relic under Decision No. 54/VHQD.
1988	tunnels opened to the public.
15-DEC-2004	declared a National Historical Monument by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Description

The Địa đạo Củ Chi (Củ Chi Tunnels) are a remnant of the Vietnam War between the communist northern and the democratic southern part of the country. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) was allied by the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The Republic of Vietnam (RVN) was allied by the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. It was a so-called proxy war, between the U.S.A. and Russia. For the U.S.A. it was a battle of a high-tech army against low-tech guerillas, and they finally lost the war.

Củ Chi Tunnels are a good example of why the U.S. Army had little success. They were built to fit the small Viet Cong guerillas, had lots of traps and were perfectly hidden. The soldiers left the tunnels, hit, and then vanished without a trace. The tunnels were built by hand, without any complicated or expensive tools, and thus there were little needs for supply, except food and weapons. They were used as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches, and living quarters for numerous guerilla fighters.

The tunnel system originally stretched all the way from Saigon to the Ho Chi Minh Trail at the Cambodian border. Its total length is given with 250 kilometers. This was not built in a few years, it was started during the war for independence from the French, and its construction was continued for 25 years. People lived in this underground city for years, there were kitchens, living rooms, even schools and theaters. Up to 40,000 Vietnamese people perished in the tunnels.

The construction of the tunnels was only possible because of the special geology. The area around Saigon is covered by a thick layer of red clay, the residual of tropic erosion. This clay is easier to mine than hard rock, but it's solid enough not to collapse. It was dug with hand tools, reed baskets filled with clay and then dumped into bomb craters. There were vents for all puroses, fresh air, chimneys for heating and cooking fires, even for hearing approaching helicopters.

It was a joke of destiny, that the U.S. Army built the headquarters of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division right on top of the tunnels. This made them ideal for any kind of sabotage. The army did not realize their existence for some time, but when they did, they had no possibility to destroy them. Special teams of US infantrymen called Tunnel Rats tried to destroy them. They were GIs of legendary skill and courage, armed only with knives and pistols. But the huge American soldiers did not fit into the narrow passages, additionally, they were dark and filled with deadly booby traps. But bombing the area did neither work, the soft clay damped the shock waves, the tunnels were unharmed, or if some collapsed, they were replaced immediately. This was probably the single most important reason why this war was lost.

"The most bombed, shelled, gassed, defoliated and generally devastated area in the history of warfare"
Tom Mangold, John Penycate (1986): The Tunnels of Cu Chi, Berkley Books, New York, 1986, ISBN 0425089517.

Today many tunnels are destroyed or in bad shape. But the central part at Củ Chi is preserved by the government as a national monument. It became one of the country's prime tourist attractions, part of a new industry of war tourism. So peace did what weapons could not: the tunnels are now occupied by foreigners!

To be exact, there are two different tunnel systems. The Ben Binh tunnels remain unlit and unreconstructed, just kept save. It is really difficult for larger westerners to enter them.

The Quầy Vé Địa Đạo Bến Dược (Cu Chi Tunnels Ben Duoc) or short Ben Duoc tunnels were extended, to allow foreign visitors to enter them. But still it is necessary to crawl, and the passages are dimly lit. This three-level tunnel system shows hospital or surgery bunker, kitchen, commanding bunker, trap doors and the Political Commisar Bunker. It also shows the actual command room where the Tet Offensive was planned, which is obviously the reason why exactly this part of the tunnels is protected and open to the public. The war memorial park has above-ground attractions including caged monkeys, vendors selling souvenirs, camping ground, boat rides, bicycle renting, and a shooting range.