The underground
A quick word on the Vinh Moc tunnels, so that there is some background for the photos that I posted. Dong Ha is a small town that is the base for visiting the Demilitarized Zone, or the DMZ. There are quite a few relevant sites in the area, American bases and war cemeteries and whatnot, but the Vinh Moc tunnels are the main attraction.
We hired two moto drivers, both of which were South Vietnam vets and invaluable sources of information. The Vinh Moc tunnels were dug on the northern side of the Ben Hai river during the Vietnam War (American War, as it is referred to over here) as shelter for the locals to protect against American bombing. They are located right next to the ocean and were absolutely imperceptible – no one ever knew that it existed until long after the war was over.
Innumerable tunnels snake through the land and occupy three different levels. The place is absolutely amazing; entire families lived for over four years in dugout niches the size of small closets, there are water wells and many “rooms” for operations, baby delivery, school and more. There was one “toilet” (ie hole in the ground) for everyone – well over 1,000 people – and could only be used at night. Likewise, there were two cooking areas for all of these people, where a tunnel to ground level was dug in order to create ventilation. Cooking could only be done at night, for the fear of the smoke being seen, and next to each cooking area is a loooong room where women would line up and wait hours for their turn.
They lit the place with oil lamps and had supplies snuck in, again, at night. Soldiers would guard the entrances, which were absolutely invisible to anyone outside, making sure that no one left and gave everyone away. It just blew my mind to crawl through this damp, dark, endless maze of tunnels and know that this was life for so many people for over four years! It was well-conceived, however, as all of the land in the area is absolutely covered with bomb craters – the tunnels were completely secretive and did their job.
Seeing this was just another indication of how absolutely resourceful and resiliant people are in this part of the world. No matter how many bombs or tanks or guns we may have had, there’s no way we’d stand a chance against people that are not only capable of creating such a place, but are willing to do so. All in complete secrecy. Amazing.
It was definitely one of the (many) highlights of our trip and we were very happy that we got over our guide-aversion for a day and went with the drivers. They both assured us that, amazingly, there is very little anti-Americanism in Vietnam and that it’s mostly seen as a horrible, senseless war on all sides, with everyone at fault. They did say that the American chemical warfare was a terrible tactic and absolutely senseless – I don’t think anyone could argue with that, especially when you’re here, seeing the effects of it on countless beggars.
In any case, it was another important history lesson where I received more information in one hour than in 12 years of school – it’s been interesting to realize what we’re never taught at home…
Tags: 1, Dong Ha, history, Photos, Travel, Vietnam, Vinh Moc
allisonrae
November 18th, 2008 at 7:07 am
[…] Original post by allisonrae […]
November 19th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Gabe – I love your most recent photos. Thanks for taking so many of Allison; it is great to see her. There are also many good ones of the two of you; I’m going to figure out how to order those so I can have some updated photos for my house.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Well lucky for you I enjoy taking pictures of Allison! There are many more that arent posted so you will just have to sort through them when we get back.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:59 am
your photos are beautiful! Have you ever heard of the book, Ultimate Adventures: A Rough Guide to Adventure Travel. Beautiful photos and useful info. More about it athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPSRBvJIxRw
November 20th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Speaking of “when you get back” which happens to be on March 5th at 5:50 a.m….I would love to have a welcome back party/reunion for ya’ll on Sat., March 7th. Let me know what ya’ll think and we’ll take it from there.