Crawling the tunnel
A short stretch widened for visitors.
Balon Greyjoy — CC0 · Jorge Láscar from Australia — CC BY 2.0 · Alan & Flora Botting — CC BY-SA 2.0 · dronepicr — CC BY 2.0
A network of tunnels dug under the farmland north-west of Saigon, which the Viet Cong used during the Vietnam War as hiding places, supply routes, field hospitals and living quarters, and as the base for the Tet Offensive of 1968. The Ben Dinh site, about 70 km from the city centre, is the one most visitors see. Guides show the tiny trapdoor entrances hidden under leaves, the bamboo booby traps, and underground kitchens whose smoke was led away through distant vents so it would not give the camp away. Visitors can crawl through a short stretch of tunnel widened for tourists; it is still low, hot and dark, and not for anyone with claustrophobia or back trouble. The site also has a firing range where visitors pay to shoot wartime rifles; it is loud, and families may prefer to skip it. The trip takes half a day from Ho Chi Minh City by car or tour bus, about an hour and a half each way, and some tours go by boat along the Saigon River.
A short stretch widened for visitors.
Tiny entrances under the leaves.
Smoke vented far from the camp.
Ben Dinh site, about 70 km north-west of central Ho Chi Minh City
No, crawling is optional. The trapdoors, traps and kitchens can all be seen above ground; those who go in find a low, hot, dark passage even after widening.