VIETNAM – CU CHI TUNNELS

FEBRUARY 19, 2026

We took a day tour to CU CHI TUNNELS, about an hour drive from Ho Chi Minh. The tunnels were a massive underground maze extending 250 km (155 miles) along 3 levels of tunnels. The tunnels were not level or straight. They dipped up and down as well as zigged and zagged. It housed up to 16,000 soldiers and civilians. About 120 km (75 miles) of the tunnel system have been preserved by the Vietnamese government as a memorial park. The soil composition is a durable red clay that is nearly impossible to collapse, even from bombing and traffic, which is why the still exist today.

The first level, 3 m (10 ft) deep, was designed for living, cooking and hiding from artillery and tanks. Soldiers could pop in and out of hidden trap doors on the surface, then disappear into the labyrinth. They had little bunkers disguised as a small hill. They had tiny slots with which to observe American troops, and also fire on them, completely hidden from sight. I was able to fit into the hole, but Pierre did not.

We had an opportunity to crawl through a section of tunnel, entering from a different way. It was a pretty tight squeeze. As I came out of the tunnel and turned back to see if Pierre was behind me, a bunch of bats flew out.

We were shown a number of booby traps used by the Viet-Cong, all scarily deadly. A fellow could be walking along and easily step into one of these rolling traps. How did the Vietnamese not fall into their own traps? They had a system of marking where the traps were with clever markers, like a bamboo stick woven through a leaf. Things that a city American boy would not look twice at, but a local guy could easily spot.

The air vents and chimneys were cleverly hidden under leaves. As the smoke from the cooking fires escaped, it filtered through the leaves, which caused the smoke to creep along the ground. As the area is humid, the smoke looked like mist.

The second level, 5-6 m (16.5-20 ft)deep, was used for storage, communication and basic shelter. The third level, 8-12 m (26-39 ft) deep, served as secure shelters, hospitals and command centres. There were even factories where the Viet-Cong would take unexploded bombs and craft them into weapons for themselves.

The Viet-Cong soldiers wore sandals that were shaped so as not to reveal which direction they came from or were heading.

There was a shooting range at the tunnels. We took the opportunity to test shoot AK-47s. There were shell casings covering the ground, inches deep.

We went to a different tunnel system at Vinh Moc, near the DMZ. (Separate blog)