Cu Chin tunnelit - The Cu Chi tunnels

Olen viihtynyt Saigonissa eniten kaikista paikoista Aasiassa tahan asti ja tulen ehdottomasti palaamaan tanne. Mutta Vietnam on tietysti muutakin kuin Ho Chi Minh, ja maan historia ja lahihistoria ovatkin taynna minua kiinnostavia asioita.

Niinpa otin ja matkustin Cu Chin piirikuntaan jossa sijaitsee Vietkongin sodassa kayttamien tunneleiden sydan. Tunneleita on ympari maata mutta yleisesti ne kaikki tunnetaan Cu Chin nimella.

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I've enjoyed myself in Saigon more than any other place in Asia so far and I will come back some day. But Vietnam is of course much more than just Ho Chi Minh, and the country's history and near history are full of stuff I'm interested in.

So I traveled to the district of Cu Chi, where resides the heart of the war tunnels used by Vietcong. There are several tunnels around the country but they are generally known as Cu Chi tunnels.

Vietnamilaiset aloittivat tunnelien rakentamisen jo parikymmenta vuotta ennen "varsinaista" Vietnamin sotaa, ja kayttivat niita ranskalaisia vastaan. Tunnetuksi ne teki kuitenkin Vietkong, joka teki amerikkalaissotilaiden tuskin-muutenkaan-niin-rattoisasta sotaelamasta helvettia ilmestyen kuin tyhjasta, iskien ja kadoten kirjaimellisesti maan nielemina yhta nopeasti kuin olivat tulleetkin.

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The Vietnamese started to dig these tunnels already about twenty years before the "actual" Vietnam War, using them against the French. But the acts of Vietcong made the tunnels known to regular people, by making a living hell of the already crappy war life of the american soldiers. The Vietcong guerrillas appeared seemingly from thin air, stroke and vanished again, literally swallowed by the Earth itself.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning..." NOT.

Tunnelit ovat perati 200km pitkia ja ne menevat jopa kolmessa kerroksessa, parista metrista kymmenen metrin syvyyteen, ja ne sisalsivat kaiken mita saattaa kuvitella sissisodassa tarvittavan keittioista kenttasairaaloiden kautta lepotiloihin ja varastotiloihin. Kaiken huippuna ne on rakennettu erittain nerokkaasti: Vietnamilaiset keksivat nopeasti olevansa keskimaarin huomattavasti rakenteeltaan pienempikokoisia kuin lansimaalaiset. Nainollen tunnelien ollessa suht epamukavan kapeita kulkea heille itselleenkin, taysin varustautuneelle jenkkisotilaalle eteneminen olikin sitten jo yhta helvettia ja saattoi pahimmillaan paattya umpikujaan. Tasta esimerkki alla.

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The tunnels are up to 200km long and they run in even three floors, from couple of meters to ten meters deep, and they included everything one thinks is needed in guerrilla warfare from kitchens and field hospitals to resting areas and warehouses. On top of everything they are built really ingeniously: The Vietnamese soon discovered that they are anatomically a lot smaller than western people. So when the tunnels were quite uncomfortably thin for themselves, for fully equipped american soldier they were next to impossible and might end up in a dead end (no pun intended). I'm giving an example of this below.

Ja hop! Sinne katosi nykyaikainen vietnamilaissotilas, tuosta vain!

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And hopp! There went a modern day Vietnamese soldier, just like that!

...ja sitten meika. Ei mitaan jakoa! Jumituin tarkalleen rinnan ja ylaselan kohdalta, puristus oli yllattavankin tiukka ja runttasi veren paahan valittomasti, katsokaa kasvojeni varia. Kokemus oli oikeasti hiukan karmiva. Jumituin nimenomaan kylkiluista ja montun reunat painoivat keuhkoja kasaan.
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...and then yours truly. No way! I got stuck exactly on the spot of chest and upper back, the squeeze was surprisingly tight and it instantly thrusted my blood into my head, check out the color of my face. The experience was really a bit frightening. I got stuck on my rib cage and the edges of the pit were crushing my lungs in.

Erilaisia sisaankaynteja, kaikki liian pienia allekirjoittaneelle ryomia sisaan.

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Several different entrances, all too small for me to crawl in.

Vihdoin naytettiin paikka josta ryomia sisaan. Itselaukaisin ei kerro totuutta, olen itseasiassa polvillani tassa kuvassa.

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Finally they showed me a place where I could also get in. The automatic-taken photo doesn't give the truth, I'm actually on my knees in this picture.

Pysahdyin tunneliin ja katselin ja kuuntelin. Yritin kuvitella itseni jenkkisotilaana, useampi kymmenta kiloa rojua mukana, hiesta markana, todnak janoissani, valaistuksena vain se mika mukana oli ja jos se sarkyisi olisin keskella pimeytta vihollisen tunneleissa. Kaantymaan siella ei mahdu, eli suunta on tasan eteenpain mika itsessaan on hankalaa ja raskasta tai todella kompelosti taaksepain. Jos "Charlie" paattaisi etta tata osaa tunnelista ei tarvita enaa ja viskaisi kranaatin, paikasta tulisi valiton hauta. Taman lisaksi tunnelit oli ansoitettu monin eri tavoin.
Amerikkalaisilla oli erikoisryhma juurikin Vietkongin tunneleita varten. Kavereita kutsuttiin nimella Tunnel-Rats, ja olen jo vuosia miettinyt mita se touhu on mahtanut olla. Minulla on hyva mielikuvitus, ja istuessani siella maaaidin povessa, karvani nousivat pystyyn. Jo pelkka liikkuminen leppoisissa merkeissa paikassa on hankalaa, klaustrofoobikot eivat pystyisi paikassa olemaan sekuntiakaan ja itse asiassa olin nakemassa kun pari vyolaukkusopulia ilmoittivatkin etta eivat muuten tuonne mene, vaikka olivat jo maksaneet siita. Ajatus siita etta taistelisi tuollaisessa paikassa... En ala glorifioimaan ketaan enka tassa nyt ota kantaa sotaan itseensa, mutta pakko sanoa etta Tunnelirotat olivat todella, todella kovia jatkia. Ehkapa jopa kovempia kuin Cityrusakot. ;)

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I stopped in the middle of the tunnel and just looked around and listened. I tried to think of myself as an American soldier, several tens of kilos of equipment on me, sweaty, probably thirsty, only light being the one I'd have with me, and if it would break, I'd be in total darkness surrounded by the enemy. There's no space for turning around, so the way would be just going ahead, which already is hard, or retreating butt-first, which would be really clumsy and at slow pace. If "Charlie" would decide that they don't need this part of the tunnels anymore and toss a grenade, the place would be an instant grave. In addition, the tunnels were booby-trapped in many ways.
The Americans has a unit specialized in Vietcong tunnels. The guys were called Tunnel-Rats and I've been pondering for many years what kind of thing that would be. I have a pretty good imagination and when I was sitting there in the womb of mother Earth, my skin crawled. Already moving there in peacetime is difficult, claustrophobics couldn't stay there for one second and I actually saw a couple of mundane tourists telling that there's no way they're getting in there, even though they had already paid for it. To think that one would have to fight in that kind of place... I'm not going to glorify anyone and am not commenting on the war itself here, but I have to say that the Tunnel-Rats were really, really tough guys.

Ilmareika

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Air vent

Hyva on Jani, pitihan sita sitten pistaa sarjaa AK-47:lla... Voin kylla todeta sen aika tylsaksi turistipelleilyksi. Aseet oli kiinnitetty siten etta edes rekyylia ei juuri ollut. Ylirusakkomme tuskin vaivautuisi ellei sitten paikan legendaarisuuden vuoksi, mika ainakin henkkoht oli ainoa motiivini.
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So I was a damn tourist and shot a few rounds with an AK-47... It was actually quite boring, the weapons were strapped so that there wasn't any actual recoil. The reason I bothered was simply the legendary place.
Yksi monenlaisista brutaaleista ansoista. Puulevy pyorahti ympari ja pahaa-aavistamaton sotilas seivastyi teroitettuihin bambuihin.
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One of the many brutal traps. The wooden plank turns around and the nothing-expecting soldier gets impaled by sharpened bamboos.


Laitan tahan loppuun viela videopatkan itse tunnelissa kulkemisesta. Hamara, kivinen painajainen josta moni amerikkalainen sotilas ei koskaan herannyt.
Ei vaikka olisi selvinnyt naennaisesti hengissa...
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I'll upload a small video clip of the tunnels here in the end. A dim, stony nightmare which from many American soldier never woke up.
Not even if they seemingly survived it...