Vietnam: Cu Chi Tunnels

After two weeks in Saigon*, and our time mostly having been preoccupied with work and finding an apartment, we finally had some time to feel like tourists.  The 30th of April is Reunification / Liberation Day in Vietnam.  It is a national holiday to mark the end of the Vietnam War (or American War as it is known in Vietnam) which officially ended on 30 April 1975 when Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon.  The war had started in November 1955 and had lasted almost 20 years.  The Cu Chi tunnels had played an important role during the conflict as they provided an underground network for the Viet Cong to hide in.  

The total length of the Cu Chi tunnels is apparently over 200 km.  It included tunnels that were close to the surface and which were used mainly during combat. It also included deeper tunnels, that were less likely to be destroyed by bombs, that were used as short-term living spaces, storage spaces, hospitals, etc.  

Seeing as 30 April is Reunification / Liberation Day, it also seemed like a good day to visit the tunnels.  

One of the American tanks that was destroyed during the war is on show at the tunnels

Our guide, Ken, explaining how the Viet Cong had set traps throughout the area (above)
and various types of traps on display (below)

The holes that were used to access the tunnel system were extremely small, and once the cover was put in place it was almost impossible to find the tunnel access routes.  Apparently the Viet Cong did not draw maps of the area or the access points, but rather relied on memory.  

As small as the hole was that we climbed into, this was in fact not the actual size of the tunnel access holes.  This hole had been increased in size to accommodate European tourists.  The photo below shows the actual size of the holes that were used to access the tunnels. 

Below:  This hole is used to show how small some of the tunnels were.  The tunnels, which lead off from the bottom of this hole, are so small that you could only get through them on your stomach. Oh, and watch out for the bats which have since made these tunnels home.  

It was then time to access one of the tunnels.  The tunnels are now clearly marked and protected from the rain, but this wouldn't have been the case during the war.  Once again, the tunnel that we accessed had been increased in size to accommodate tourists.  Instead of 1m high and 1m wide, these tunnels had been increased in size so that they were now 1.4m high.  

The photo above shows one of the craters that was left behind by a B52 bomb.  Although this area was heavily bombed, there are not as many craters as one might expect to find.  Apparently the earth that was excavated, by hand, to create the tunnels was then used to fill the craters.  This made it less obvious where the tunnels had been built as there were no mounds of soil left lying around.  

And finally, emerging from the ground :)

* Although officially called Ho Chi Minh City, almost everybody here still refers to it as Saigon.

SA Road Trip: Hermanus and Cape Town

The next stop on our SA road trip was the Western Cape.  Our time was spread between Cape Town, still one of our favourite cities in the world, and Hermanus.  

It was great catching up with friends and family, but as usual we just didn't have enough time to see everybody and could easily have spent another 2 weeks here.  

Some of the highlights of our time here included:

- a trip up Table Mountain for Bronwen's birthday - free for South African citizens on their birthday :)

- picnic in Kirstenbosch.  Perhaps we are biased, but there does not seem to be another botanic garden anywhere in the world that competes with the beauty of these gardens.
- meeting Isla and Nathan.  Our nephew and niece were born in the time since our last visit, and meeting them was extremely special.
- exploring the beautiful surroundings of Hermanus, and especially the nearby Hemel-en-Aarde valley.

Table Mountain

Kirstenbosch 

Hermanus

Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

SA Road Trip: Addo Elephant Park

The next stop on our road trip was St Francis Bay.  Our last trip here was in July 2015, and we had included a day trip to Addo Elephant National Park.  There had been a fair amount of rainfall in this part of the Eastern Cape, and so there were areas throughout the park for the elephants to find water.  Whilst that was great for the elephants, it did mean that finding the elephants was more tricky and we ended up only seeing a handful of elephants on that trip. 

This time round we arrived ahead of the seasonal rainfall.  This meant that the elephants had fewer waterholes to choose from, and also that larger numbers of elephant congregated at the waterholes that were available.  This time round we saw lots of elephant!

These are some of the pictures from our latest trip to Addo.  Enjoy!

Secretary Bird

One of the first elephants we saw was this one which came right alongside our car

We thought we were quite fortunate to see a herd of about 9 elephants together, and then we arrived at a waterhole where there were about 20!

This waterhole was quite small, and these elephants were not about to share it with the warthogs.  Every now and then one of the braver warthogs would try and get close to the waterhole, only to be chased away by one of the juvenile elephants.  This involved flapping of ears and trumpeting and a stomping little elephant chasing a much quicker warthog.  Very entertaining!

Eventually the elephants did move on, and the impatient warthogs and the more patient zebra did get their chance to drink at the waterhole.

A bit further down the road we arrived at what would be the highlight of the day:  A waterhole with over 100 elephant.  Some were drinking, some were bathing, and others were just standing off in the distance waiting their turn.  

Every now and then some of the males (well, we assumed it was the males) would get into a pushing competition.  

We also saw lots of dung beetles!

More warthogs

Red Hartebeest

Kudu

Burchell's Zebra