Those of you old enough to remember the "American War" may also recall that the Vietcong had a network of tunnels that they hid in. It turns out they were even larger and more complex than had been known at the time - more than 250km worth of them, on three levels, including right underneath some US bases. Hundreds of thousands of people lived there - villagers as well as soldiers. The tunnels are the most popular tourist spot in Vietnam, we're told. Among the "things done" at the site are to crawl through about 30m of tunnels which have been widened (significantly) for foreigners. Inevitably some of the clay gets on your cloths. Walking back to the hotel, some local noticed this and yelled "Cu Chi. Bang Bang Bang Bang!". Lovely.
Tunnel
map. Saigon lower right corner.
Mockup
of tunnel system
Guide
show's how it's done
Kathy
and Scott delighted they don't live in a tunnel.
Sample
of trap used to maim American GIs
Better
fit for our Guide, Thu
S & K
on captured (US) tank
"Turning
swords into profits". Ex-munitions for sale
Kathy
tries her skill at ricepaper-roll making
The
Mom & Pop operation turns out 300 of these (x 6 each) per day
Cao is an indigenous Vietnamese religion, founded about a hundred years ago, by a Viet civil servant with the vision that all religions were really the same thing in different clothes. It's a mixture of ideas from Buddhism, Confucism, Christianity, Islam, etc. Add in some ideas from contemporary figures like Victor Hugo and Sun Yet-San. Not a bad approach, actually. About 2 million Vietnamese think so. Mix with colorful temples and costumes, and it draws a lot of tourists, especially with convenient noon ceremonies.
God
(there's a Godess too) temple
Mother
(Godess) Temple
Inside
1st temple
Noon
ceremony
Noon
ceremony
Noon
ceremony