"I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"

  Dong Ha, Dong Ha, Vietnam
Monday, May 12, 2008

Well that's the end of a strange couple of days and my journey though Loas, finally made it into Vietnam, only 15 days late according to my visa! Whooops.. guess that's what happens when you try and book the Gibbon Experience over email.. they hold up your schedule big time, so note to self, if you want to do the GibbonX, book it over the phone.. much easier..

Still, another land boarder has been crossed and another country is in the process of being ticked off..

But yeah, had a couple of odd days, the lackluster effect of Laos has paid it's toll on me, getting motivated and getting on with things is always trouble in Laos, the locals seem to have a way of just going with the flow.. So you just kind of follow.. but never the less I mustered my energy, packed my bags and headed for the Savannakhet bus station.. Both ATM's (cash points, holes' in the wall) were empty and I had to resort to my reserve of dollars, something that you can do pretty much anywhere in the country, the Kip (the Lao national currency) isn't the strongest, so Thai Bhat and USD's are also taken most places..

But I hopped on a bus heading for the boarder, in order to get me that bit closer to Dong Ha and the 17 parallel (former DMZ).  In the time it took to get to the boarder town, I befriended two local lads who worked on the bus, both with limited English, but really keen to learn and simple amused by everything that I did.. including sitting on the open plan area at the back of the bus (all the buses that I've commuted on haven't been designed to fit my rather elongated frame, so it's always a pleasure to be on a bus that has seats removed, just to stretch out a little, even if they're full loaded with cargo) I also helped them load a shipment of goods a couple of hours out of Savannakhet, water mainly, but frogs and chickens were also included!

So I though that was that, myself half nodding off and half reading.. the bus jams to a halt, BUMP BUMP, just as we were making head way for the boarder we run over a dog.. not a pretty sight, but we kept motoring, then, literate a matter of minutes later, a bigger BUMP, BUMP.. and that was a fully grown goat under the wheels.. it's neck stuck to the road and it's head and body twitching away! Lovely..

The locals on the bus were laughing there arses' off about it..

Different stokes for different folks I guess..

Either way the bus drive just kept driving..

So, that was yesterday, today has been just as odd, having spent the night at the boarder town (on the Lao side), only to be kept up until gone midnight with some locals getting on the Lao-Lao and seriously disturbing Thai music blaring, the P.A. system fired up at something like 5am blasting out the local news, views and any other propaganda that is the currently going around..

So staggering across the boarder still half asleep, dodging the local money changer and filing through the upteen passport checks, I eventually made it through.. me being the only one.. there was no one else about.. very odd..

I managed to jump in a mini-van heading for Dong Ha, and yes, I believe I paid quadruple the local price, : ( JOY but hay, what's a couple of dollars.. squeezed in the back we chopped through the rain and made our way through the towns and villages heading east towards Dong Ha.  The book says there's not much to see here, but it was home to the Americans in the Vietnam (if you're from the western world) or American (if you're a local) war.

Within seconds of falling out of the mini-van, a local guide was stood in front of me, touting the usual routine (which after a fair few months on the road I'm getting very used not even noticing, let alone responding to) but this guy seemed different, he politely introduced himself as Hoa and without being pushy recommended 2 or 3 hotels indifferent price brackets and said he could take me to them, (I was a little bit hesitant, fellow travelers have mentioned to keep your guard up in the Nam) he also quizzed me about what plans I had for Dong Ha, I mentioned a few names of places and he came in with a couple more suggestion and we came to a fudged sort of agreement.  So off we went, first stop one of the hotel he mention.. this was amusing, all 16 stone of me on the back of a 100cc bike, Hoa driving with my 100+ litre Bergen sandwiched between his legs and the handle bars! My insurance company would be have kittens! Still when in Rome..

Checked in, and all was well, no scams or dodgy deals in sight.. a blessing for once! 6 bucks, air-con, tv and a hot shower.. such a joy!

Martyrs

So after a quick bite to eat we headed off to the DMZ.  Hoa guided me through the Truong Son National Cemetery where over 10 thousand North Vietnamese soilders were laid to rest at the end of the war, many unknown and all of them are listed as martyrs to the cause.  And now more than few that have been claimed by families that have been in touch with the spiritual side via the aid of soothsayer / fortune-tellers.  Their job, with their magical powers is locate the bodies for families that have relatives MIA.. Hoa had a bit of a chuckle about this; I thought that perhaps the additional identifications had been made by DNA testing! Ha, fortune teller 1, science nil! 

Next up and just across the busy main road where the remains of the American Doc Mieu base, popped marked by craters, and randomly dug holes (where recently, UXO have been made safe and removed - there was even a shell with the detonator thingy still in place just laying on the path - Hoa explained that if the locals haven't taken it for scrap by now it's still likely to be dangerous! V.Nice.

UXO

This outpost was used as one of the main look out points into the DMZ and North Vietnam.  It also was one of the 17 points/bases that stretched the length of the Ben Hai River (the root of the DMZ), 

Vinh Moc Cave

Onwards to the Vinh Moc Tunnels on the northern side of the river - an amazing sight - everyone that I know who has been through this country has always commented on the tunnels, I didn't know there were 140 odd (or so he says) and that they were so complex, this one has 3 layers, one 10-12m deep, another 15-18m and a third that is 23m in parts.  Used for 5 years and took 18 months to dig, the conditions must have been purely brutal! 

Anyhow, that's me for now.. FYI if you're interested tomorrow will be my 275 day away from home! : ) jH

More to follow..
Next up, Hue..
Bonus photos from the 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning' are available on Flickr..