One of the most interesting and adventurous places that I visited in Vietnam was Cu Chi tunnels. Essentially these tunnels came into being during the Vietnam war. The Vietcongs had dug them to escape the relentless bombings carried out by the Americans in the dense jungle forests of Vietnam. The huge B-52 bombers rained down a barrage of bombs blindly over them. It is also said that they  dropped 'Agent Orange' which was a type of a chemical bomb that left thousands demented for life. These tunnels are located approximately two to three hours from Ho Chi Minh city, the erstwhile Capital of South Vietnam, that is Saigon. Incidentally, we stayed in Rex Hotel at Saigon, the one that was frequented by the Americans for rest and recuperation during those troubled times. You can easily guess what used to happen there.

The tunnels are dug in three layers, the first one is at 3m, the second one at 6m and the third layer is at 10m. They are an intricate system of interconnected tunnels over a 250 km square area that has a beautiful ventilation system to prevent axphyxiation. However, the width of the tunnels is such that only Asians can wriggle through in all fours but it is difficult for the Americans to move in them. Within the tunnels they lead to different rooms including, operations room, ammunition places, medical camp, cooking room, water point and places for relaxation.

One of the tunnels that the guide asked us to enter was the one that directly led downwards, after opening through a camouflaged hatch (something like our waste gutters) and then you were soon on all fours. As you closed the hatch, you were invisible to the enemy outside and now you could come out from a place few metres away. It had locations from where you could observe the enemy and fire at him but to him you were literally invisible. The other tunnels were straight that led down to the first two levels. Lastly, the guide asked us to venture to the third level, that was approx 10 metres down and 30 metres long. This was the most exciting part.

Only two of us (including me) along with the guide ventured in this tunnel. As we went on all our fours and started crawling down; the tunnel narrowed completely, there was no light and it was absolutely dark. I could now imagine how the Americans must have felt chasing the Vietcongs. We continued to twist and turn till we reached the deepest level of that point. It mercifully opened out into an operations room. Here we caught our breath and again started to crawl upwards. After we finally wriggled out of the tunnel did we realize the excitement we had felt going through this complicated maze. It was really an adventurous piece of our stay inVietnam.I'll recommend to all my friends to visit this beautiful country and dont be afraid to get into the 30m tunnel otherwise you would miss the best part of your stay there.

Incidentally, Vietnam is a spotlessly clean country with lovely smiling and friendly people who have pride written into their determined faces. The ladies are in the fore front in most businesses and jobs. However, watch out for the exorbitant rates that the local populace will qoute till you bargain them down to literally one fifth of the price as it is really a very cheap country in terms of sea food, accomodation, cotton and silk clothes and ceramic wares. Have I tempted you.