Lvs 2 Travel

Don’t look forward. Keep looking down. Breathe. Ignore the panic cries from the couple behind you. Keep crawling. Tell yourself, “If soldiers can survive these ever confining tunnels while carrying 25-100 pounds of gear with bombs shattering the ground above you, without a tour guide, I can make it.” It’s not 1972.

Rewind 30 minutes. The Ben Duoc Cu Chi Tunnel tour guide plays an introductory video. The Vietnam War. Excellent, I know all about this. History class is about to pay off. The faded television screen displays English subtitles featured in a nostalgic 1980s yellow font. The video presents a victorious communist army and exemplary acts of valor by Ho Chi Minh. This isn’t how I remember learning about the war. Wait, I am not in the USA anymore.

Fast-forward 30 minutes. The crawling line has stopped. Great, someone took a wrong turn! Breathe. By golly there’s light ahead. “Really? What else would be at the end of a tunnel? This is a tour after all,” I reminded myself. Soon I emerged from the stale dry air to fresh, correction, thick heavy forest air. Yet, it’s ever so comforting. “Wow”, I thought, “I braved a 5 minute crawl in the Cu Chi tunnels.”

After a quick snack and a Coke, our tired and sweaty group walked towards our motor scooters. Unbeknownst, we took a wrong turn and found a picturesque memorial among the rain forest. A tranquil setting considering what was on these grounds 40 years ago. Walking under an impressively carved three door Ben Duoc arch, we proceeded straight ahead to the massive main temple, ignoring the 9-story tower to the left and gardens to the right.

Still trembling from the enclosing tunnels, I brushed myself off, checked my scuffed elbows and knees, and removed my earthen shoes before entering the traditional Vietnamese shrine. As I walked through, my chest grew tighter, but this time not from the dense tropical air. There were 45,000 names of Vietnamese heroes, civilian and military, carved in granite that stretched 5-7 rows high on three walls. These were people who lost their lives defending their country and what they believed in.

I have always wanted to talk with someone from the “other side” of the war and get their perspective. The introductory video, asthmatic tunnels, and the memorial temple did just that. No need for a personal interview.

No later than 30 seconds of exiting the main temple, the rains came. But I didn’t care I didn’t have proper rain gear. For once Mother Nature and I agreed.