Easy Riding!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
1
27
169
Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
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Dong Ha,
Vietnam
Saturday, January 8, 2005
We got dropped off at a cafe at the side of the road where we met Mr Binh - abit of a character who lived in Dong Ha all his life and was in his very early teens during the war. He told us so many stories which I won't bore you with now but we ended up getting convinced to spend the day touring the DMZ by motorbike which was out of this world!
We rode through rubber plantations which for those of you who have never seen a rubber tree like me is an amazing experience itself! They basically slice half way round the tree and place half a coconut at the end of a tube and the rubber just leaks out taking about 4 hours to fill the half coconut and it looks just like glue! Mr Binh fondly referred to the rubber plantation as the 'condom jungle'!!!???!! Hee Hee!
Our next stop was at a derelict American bunker where he recounted the history of the war and brought me to tears (and Mr Binh!) with some of the stories - very surreal before heading off to the war cemetery. It makes such a difference learning history when you're in a place from the people that lived through it! It would be great if it could be taught like this at school!!!!! One of the most sobering sights at the war cemetary was the plaque of a young boy who was 9 years old when he joined the army and 12 when he died.
Think we all needed a drink after this which turned out to be the most surreal and amusing part of the day! Paul ended up in a drinking circle at 10:30 in the morning with 2 extremely hammered Vietnamese chaps and our guides, drinking beer and whisky with seahorses in it!!! Don't ask! Paul would like me to say at this point that the BVS won every round and that he is know working on a variation of the whiskey for any up and coming stag dos!
The rest of the day was spent riding through the rice paddies and visiting tunnels where hundreds of Vietnamese lived underground for several years during the war. You should have seen the size of the tunnels - crazy what people have to do to survive! 17 babies were born underground in these tunnels alone and never saw daylight until the end of the war.
The experiences we had here were mind-blowing and something that we wouldnn't have been able to see on a normal tour! At this point I'd just like to say that we are now experienced motorbike passengers and on our fourth attempt it has to be said I loved every minute of it! Think we might even get our licenses when we get back! Only joking Dad!
