During the Vietnam War the village of Cu Chi in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh city became famous for their courageous resistance against the American army. The were not Vietcong, but they took it to fight the Americans, because the latter needed to pass through their territory to control and protect Ho Chi Minh, which then was the center of the Vietnamese political power.
The villagers of Cu Chi, being just farmers living in the jungle, built an amazing system of underground tunnels several kilometers long, in which they would hide from the Americans and show up in a second to kill, and hide back in the tunnels. That's how they made their enemies crazy of panic and fear. The holes to get in were so narrow, that only a Vietnamese could pass. At the same time, it was covered with a wooden plank and disguised with leaves and branches on top. The tunnels were full of curves and never continued straight for more than 20 or 30 meters, so that, in case an enemy could get in, he wouldn't be able to shot a Vietnamese escaping ahead, nor would his electric torch help much either. The Vietnamese were already used to the complete darkness inside the tunnels.
Another extremely effective weapon was their primitive traps which they knew how to hide in the jungle, This included the booby traps, bamboo spike traps, mines, and tens of different types of traps. The villagers recycled the explosives from the unexploded bombs that the Americans dropped in their land, and they converted them into their own weapons. Also, they would steal the hand weapons from the dead soldiers.
In order for the villagers not to fall on their own traps (since there were many men and women building them), the whole area was divided in sectors, and one villager from a different sector couldn't go to another one unless he got permission and company from somebody that was guarding it.
The Americans sent some tanks to the jungle, not to fight (because tanks are clumsy weapons in the middle of a jungle), but to smash the tunnels which were too difficult to find. One of those tanks, blown up by some Vietnamese land-mines, is still standing there.
The village is a must see for anybody visiting Ho Chi Minh city. You can get a half day tour from any of the thousands of tour agencies that swarm in the city, and the price is peanuts. At the end of the tour whoever wants may pay for some rounds of shooting with weapons from the War. There is a shooting alley over there that is controlled by the local army.
Before leaving they make you watch a somewhat ridiculous propaganda film where they demonize the American enemy, and idealize their local heroes. The tape is interesting because you can the faces of the people that participated of the war, and some more historical facts. But the style is so obviously ridiculous, exaggerated and propagandistic in the old communist old-fashioned way, that I had the feeling that the locals in charge and the guides felt a bit of embarrassment mixed with their typical warrior pride.
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