School is in Session:

Yesturday for our one day in Saigon/HCM City, we went to visit the Cu Chi tunnels of the Viet Cong and man did we learn a lot!

Lesson #1: many vietnamese were awarded the high honor of "American Killer Hero" (this from an amusing black and white video--it's always good to hear the other side of the story)



Lesson #2: there are 200km of tunnels



Lesson #3: the tunnels took over twenty years to create (starting in 1948)

Lesson #4: 3000 people can fit in the tunnels but 2-300 people can fit and stay for up to 1 week which they often did (that would be way worse than our train ride--whoa that's perspective for you)

Lesson #5: the viet cong set up grenades at the entrances to the tunnels after entering and dismantled them when they wanted to get out (not my style i think)

Lesson #6: vents from the kitchens were over 60 meters away from the actual location to throw the enemy(that's us) off track

Lesson #7: the viet cong put American smells around the entrance to the tunnels by wetting the clothes of the enemy (that's still us) and spreading the sent to throw off the dogs (that was pretty darn smart!)

Lesson #8: old tire scraps can be used to make shoes of all sizes but that doesn't mean they're comfortable

Lesson #9: many many many spikey looking booby traps of all shapes and sorts were used to kill or injure the Americans (one was like that pit trap in Swiss Family Robinson, you know the one I'm thinkin' of?)

Lesson #10: all of the spikey booby traps worked splendidly

Lesson #11: if the spikey booby traps were not leathal at first, surely the victim would die later due to infection as the tips of the spikey parts were dirtied for that puropse exactly (eek)

Lesson #12: B52 bombs weigh 250kg and blow gigantic craters in the ground

Lesson #13: if you are within 100m of one, you could die from shrapnel

Lesson #14: if you are within 3km of one, your ears and nose may start to bleed and you could go deaf

Lesson #15: firing a few rounds with an AK47 at the cu chi tunnels costs a few dollars extra but is pretty awesome (yeah i did)

Lesson #16: tapioca (like the pudding) is kind of like a sweet potato but white and more gummy and tates okay if you cover it in sugar and crushed peanuts

Lesson #17: crouching and crawling through 60 meters of zig zag tunnels gives for one dusty and tired girl but dramatically improves the taste of ice cream

Lesson #18: If you go to the Cu Chi tunnels, aske for Tree (like the number, he says) cause he's definitely the best guide around

An afternoon well spent for sure!