All the hway to Hue! (And the DMZ)

Hi All -

History Lesson at Khe Sanh, DMZ

Arrived in Hue a couple of days ago and have been busy doing the touristy sightseeing thing ever since! Hue was the former capital of Vietnam and home of the Nguyen emperors.....so needless to say, they have a rather impressive Citadel here. Mostly its full of people trying to get you to buy stuff and rent their cyclos or motorbikes. However, when you manage to break free, there is some really lovely old ruins (thanks mostly to the "American" war).

Went today on a day tour to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) for a bit of a history lesson. Drove about 400kms today, in fact we ended up only about 15kms from the Laos border at one point. We learned a lot about the history behind the American War, and with just a little imagination, you could really see what it would've been like here. Although its been 30 years, there are still plenty of bomb craters about and other signs of the war. In fact, we actually saw some mine clearing today - seriously!! At the side of the road in between a couple of houses, there was red tape up around some posts, and our guide quickly pointed out the MAG UK(Mines Advisory Group) was there clearing the area. Hard to believe this long gone, still there are mines about. Especially when we saw how much of the DMZ has now returned to farm land - there are a lot of people and animals living and working all over the place here.

Home for 5 Years, Vinh Moc Tunnels, DMZ

We went to Khe Sanh in the far west of Vietnam, along Highway 9; we passed by Camp Carroll and several other American base sites. In fact, our guide was telling us that he sometimes takes returning war vets trekking and camping back to sites they remembered, and just a couple of years ago found a cave still with sandbags and an American Army jacket. Our guide himself was born in the area and lived during the war as a child.

We went in the afternoon north from Dong Ha to the river Ben Hai (the division along the 17th parallel that marked the border of North and South Vietnam) and then to the Vinh Moc tunnels. These underground tunnels were the homes of 300 people for the seven years of the war. There is approximately 1700m of tunnel, over three floors, with living quarters for each family (approx 2m x 3m and would house 4-5 people in each!), a hospital (where 17 children were born), meeting area, work rooms, kitchens, storage, etc. The tunnels are about 1.6m high - so I could walk through okay, but Malcolm had to be careful about his noggin! We walked through about 400m of tunnel over a couple of floors, and lemme tell you, that was enough for me - it was hot and humid and pretty close in there!!

Imperial Citadel, Hue

We are hoping to do a little more sightseeing around Hue tomorrow, and then on Saturday morning we are heading south again to Hoi An for a little R&R. Hoi An is renowned for having excellent beaches and food, and plenty of custom tailors. (So eating 'til our clothes don't fit, and then buying more sounds like the order of the day!!)

All our love,

Karyn & Malcolm

PS: POSSIBLY (no promises!) more pictures might appear tomorrow.

Imperial Cuisine, Hue

Imperial pot in Imperial Enclosure, Hue

Leftovers from the American War, DMZ

Tallest Flag Pole in Vietnam, Hue