Cu Chi Tunnels part two

Here's the second part of the Cu Chi post. Again, some of this is a little disturbing, so please be aware. I debated even posting these, but I had never really seen these before (and I'm fairly well-studied on this period of history) so I wanted to put it up.

These are all examples of some of the booby traps used by the villagers of Cu Chi against the American soldiers. I definitely wondered if the tour guide felt strange at all, describing these traps and their effects to a group of Americans. It didn't make me uncomfortable at all, but I would imagine that some would definitely have an issue with seeing these traps.

This mural was behind the trap exhibit.

They would recover unexploded bombs and other explosive devices and saw them open and reuse the gunpowder to make land mines. Land mines are, without a doubt, among the most destructive device in any war, since they're always left behind after every war and take countless innocent lives.

Some of the bombs dropped on the people of Vietnam.

They were busy making rice paper (the kind used for making spring rolls, etc) and had some batches sitting out to dry.

Here is our tour guide, standing by some freakishly large sandals. I really enjoyed him and his stories about life during this horrible time and during his own life here.

Here I am (yes, with Norah strapped onto me) heading down into one of the larger tunnels (about three feet tall by two feet wide--the smaller ones are about 1.5 feet tall by two feet wide--eek). I got a few feet into the tunnel and felt my hips touch the side of the tunnels and quickly retreated back out. I could just see me getting halfway through the tunnel and Norah (or myself) start freaking out.

A watchtower.

Norah spent most of the time asleep, but woke up and started to fuss for a little while.

Here's one of the kitchens. They would divert the smoke through the tunnels so it would come out through a chimney far away as to not attract the American's attention.

We stopped towards the end and had tapioca. Our guide told us how this was pretty much all that the people of Cu Chi lived on for about 20 years (before, during and after the American War). It actually wasn't bad, having been steamed. It would not be good, though, after eating nothing but that for 20 years.

Here's the chimney (you can see the charred leaves) from the kitchen.