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The Chu Chi Tunnels
are located about 30 kilometers northwest of Ho Chi Minh
City (Saigon) in the Chu Chi Rural district. This rural
district is well known historically as the base
where the Vietnamese mounted their operations of
the Tet Offensive in 1968 whereby using this
tunnel network, the Viet Cong managed to control
a large rural area. At its height, the
tunnel system stretched from Saigon to the
Cambodian border.
The Chu Chi Tunnels
consist of more than 200 km of underground
tunnels. The main axis system has many branches
connecting to underground hideouts, shelters and
entrances to other tunnels. The tunnels are
between 0.5 to 1 meters wide, just enough space for a
person to walk along by bending or dragging.
However, parts of the tunnels have been modified
to accommodate visitors. Parts of this
remarkable tunnel network have been
reconstructed and two sites are open to
tourists, one near the village of Ben Dinh and
the other at Ben Duoc village and day tours, which also
take you to Caodai Great Temple, can be found at
the travelers' cafes located in the city.
Visitors after
paying an admission charge of US$4 per person
will definitely have it easier here as they will
be able to feel the essence of the tunnels but
not the claustrophobia and the sacrifice of the
estimated 18,000 who served their silent and the
unseen war there whereby only around 6,000
survived. This tourist attraction is one of the
most visited place in Vietnam.
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