Forty years ago the Cu Chi tunnels were home to Viet Cong and guerrilla fighters who successfully kept the Americans and South Vietnamese at bay. Today the 75-mile intricate system of tunnels are one of Vietnam’s biggest tourist attractions.

I hate canned tours.  I always have.  I hate the idea of being inside of a bus passing comfortably by life without the option to stop and deviate at my own leisure.  But I am making myself take all of the local tours available to see what Vietnam decides to put on display for other countries to observe.   Plus you just never know what you may come across.

It was a little strange to walk around listening to the tour guide talk about how they designed the many ways in which they killed Americans. Graphic paintings on a background mural show images of U.S. soldiers stepping into booby traps with spikes impaling parts of their bodies. Meanwhile, Cu Chi tunnel workers dressed in Viet Cong uniforms demonstrate how the traps worked.

The tunnels themselves are tiny.  They have in fact been increased in width and height to accommodate more Western tourists.  As you crawl through them it’s hard not to imagine what it must have been like to live in them for years.

No matter what your political views are or how you feel about the Vietnam-American War, you have to recognize the Vietnamese and their amazing ability for survival.