The Cu Chi Tunnels
Located 70km to the north-west of Hochiminh City is the famous tourists attraction, the Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels were first dug up and used by the Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communists) during their resistance fight against the French colonialist in the 1940s. They later became the hide-puts for the Vietnamese Communists, who reportedly extended the labyrinthine of underground burrows to sites beneath the Mekong Delta headquarters of the US 25 Division.
From the hiding places, the Vietnamese Communists units were able to launch devastating surprise attacks on enemies. The soil through which the tunnels dug I red clay, which is well suited for axcavation. To avoid detection, Vietnamese Communists dropped the soild the digged into bomb into bomb craters, rice fields or the Saigon river. The tunnels are regarded as representing the ingenuity and perseverance that eventually helped the Vietnamese communits win the war.
The 124-miles (200 km) tunnels were divided into living quarters, hospitals and schools. They were originally only 332-inches (80cm) high; some parts of them have now been expanded to make room for larger-sized visitors. The width of the tunnel entrances from the ground level varies between 9 and 12 inches (20-30cm).