The DMZ

Today I took a day long bus tour to the DMZ, the "demilitarized zone" at the 17 parallel in Vietnam.  This is the area which used to separate North Vietnam from South Vietnam, and was the scene of the bloodiest fighting during the Vietnam war.

The first part of the tour was quite boring.  We stopped at various sites of military interest, and people got off the bus to take the obligatory picture. The first stop was a non-descript hill that the Americans had used for surveillance during the war.  Sure enough, as soon as we stopped everyone clamoured off the bus to frantically take a picture.  After the nameless hill, we stopped at the Ho

Chi Minh Trail, a path that was used to smuggle ammunition from North Vietnam down to South Vietnam during the war.  Although this sounds glamerous, the trail has been paved over and today is just a highway.  Finally, we went to an abandoned American army base where helicopters and guns intrude on the jungle.

In the afternoon we stopped at the Vihn Moc tunnels, which are simply amazing.  These are a series of tunnels that were built during the war to protect civilians.  An entire town took refuge in the tunnels during the period of the most intense fighting.  About 300 people lived in the tunenls for 4 years.  There are classrooms, bedrooms, and even a maternity ward down there.  During the 4 years that the tunnels were occupied, 13 babies were born and most of them still live in the surrounding area.

The tunnels were not as claustrophobic as at Cu Chi.  They are much bigger since they were built for day to day life, rather than a combat situation.  However, I still cannot imagine living down there.  I initially thought that the bedrooms were just little storage holes, but it turns out that entire families lived in a space that is probably no bigger than 5 feet by 5 feet.

Also, the tunnels are really dark and slippery.  There are lots of steps heading down that can't be seen properly and its really easy to trip.  I was navigating the tunnels behind an older man, and I think that he was have a complete breakdown.  He started sweating profusely and muttering to himself, over and over, "just remember that this is an adventure just remember that this is an adventure just remember that this is an adventure...."  Definitely not an ideal place for people who are claustrophobic.

The tunnels exit onto the beach, but these exits are carefully hidden by dense trees and foliage.  They remained undetected by the Americans throughout the duration of the war.  However, today they have been overtaken by hawkers selling cold water and pop to tourists exiting the tunnels.  It's kind of strange how the remnants of war have become tourist attractions, and I wonder whether its a tribute, misplaced national pride, or a scopophilic fascination with blood and guts?