Ho Chi Minh to Cu Chi Tunnels: Private day trip

Main attractions

• A 250-kilometer network of hand-dug tunnels beneath the jungle northwest of Ho Chi Minh City — constructed by Viet Cong fighters from the 1940s onward and expanded massively during the American War into a fully operational underground city of hospitals, kitchens, weapons workshops, command centres and sleeping quarters that housed thousands of fighters for years at a time
• The tunnel entrances are tiny — the original openings measure roughly 30 by 50 centimeters, deliberately sized to exclude American soldiers; a widened tourist section allows visitors to crawl through a short preserved stretch of the original tunnel network
• The site preserves original booby traps, bomb craters from B-52 strikes and a display of captured American military equipment — the landscape above the tunnels still bears the physical marks of one of the most heavily bombed areas in the history of aerial warfare

Take note

• Two sites are open to visitors — Ben Dinh (closer to the city, more developed) and Ben Duoc (further, quieter and more atmospheric); Ben Duoc is worth the extra travel time for those who want a less crowded experience. The tunnel crawl section is tight, dark and warm — those with claustrophobia should assess carefully before entering.