Wednesday, December 27, 2006
14 December, 2006
We got on an early bus for the tour to the DMZ. We arrived at the first stop, Dong Ha, for breakfast. We then reached the old wartime bridge crossing the Ben Hai River on highway 1 which was once the demarcation line between North and South Vietnam. This became one of the most militarized zones in the world during the war. Today, the old bridge still stands but there is a newly built bridge with two large towers that is in use. At the end of the bridge there is a newly built memorial of a mother and child waiting for the man/husband to return from war. We then reached the Vinh Moc Tunnels which are now a monument to the determination of the North Vietnamese to persevere and triumph in the American War. Up to 300 families lived in these tunnels at one time and 17 babies were born here between 1966 and 1975. The tunnels are 2.8 km long and walking through a part of them was quite eerie. We then drove passed the Rockpile which is along Highway 9 where the US marine corps had a base and lookout post. On the way we passed the old Ho Chi Minh Trail and the last stop was Khe Sanh Combat Base. This was the sight of the most famous siege and one of the most controversial battles of the American War in Vietnam! Many people died and nothing was achieved and the US forces were redeployed after they realized the whole thing was unnecessary. We walked around the museum and saw some old US navy helicopters and bomb shells still lurking around. We got dropped off in the town of Khe Sanh and from there we were on our own. We got a lift with a minibus taxi to Lao Bao (Vietnam / Laos Border), negotiated and squeezed in. We walked across the border from Vietnam and into Laos. This was the first time either of us had really crossed a border in this manner and it won’t be the last. We felt brave and stupid all at the same time. We got our Laos visa without any problems and we walked into a new country not knowing where we were going. We just walked and walked until we reached a town and the buses were not leaving until tomorrow. So we continued to walk and a truck driver was leaving for Sepon, a town 40km away, so we jumped on the back. We drove through the countryside into the sunset and it was quite an adventure. We arrived in Sepon, which is a one-horse town (and that horse died a few years ago???) and there was one guesthouse. We ideally wanted to get closer to our destination in Laos, but this wasn’t possible, so we walked over to the guesthouse and checked in for the night. They wanted $7 but we negotiated down to $5 (we may have overpaid??). It was clean and I was loving it! Rich was a bit worried and stressed but we had no choice really but to stay the night. We found the only restaurant in the town and dinner wasn’t too bad. Nobody could speak English and so the lonely planet (bible) came in useful with all the phrases. We managed to swap a few Vietnamese Ding-Dongs with Kips (the local currency) since we had no local money on us, only a few dollars- crazy! Luckily we didn’t need too much, the whole day with transport, visas and food and accommodation cost us pittance. The town was dead so we had a perfect excuse to get into bed early- which we did!
We got on an early bus for the tour to the DMZ. We arrived at the first stop, Dong Ha, for breakfast. We then reached the old wartime bridge crossing the Ben Hai River on highway 1 which was once the demarcation line between North and South Vietnam. This became one of the most militarized zones in the world during the war. Today, the old bridge still stands but there is a newly built bridge with two large towers that is in use. At the end of the bridge there is a newly built memorial of a mother and child waiting for the man/husband to return from war. We then reached the Vinh Moc Tunnels which are now a monument to the determination of the North Vietnamese to persevere and triumph in the American War. Up to 300 families lived in these tunnels at one time and 17 babies were born here between 1966 and 1975. The tunnels are 2.8 km long and walking through a part of them was quite eerie. We then drove passed the Rockpile which is along Highway 9 where the US marine corps had a base and lookout post. On the way we passed the old Ho Chi Minh Trail and the last stop was Khe Sanh Combat Base. This was the sight of the most famous siege and one of the most controversial battles of the American War in Vietnam! Many people died and nothing was achieved and the US forces were redeployed after they realized the whole thing was unnecessary. We walked around the museum and saw some old US navy helicopters and bomb shells still lurking around. We got dropped off in the town of Khe Sanh and from there we were on our own. We got a lift with a minibus taxi to Lao Bao (Vietnam / Laos Border), negotiated and squeezed in. We walked across the border from Vietnam and into Laos. This was the first time either of us had really crossed a border in this manner and it won’t be the last. We felt brave and stupid all at the same time. We got our Laos visa without any problems and we walked into a new country not knowing where we were going. We just walked and walked until we reached a town and the buses were not leaving until tomorrow. So we continued to walk and a truck driver was leaving for Sepon, a town 40km away, so we jumped on the back. We drove through the countryside into the sunset and it was quite an adventure. We arrived in Sepon, which is a one-horse town (and that horse died a few years ago???) and there was one guesthouse. We ideally wanted to get closer to our destination in Laos, but this wasn’t possible, so we walked over to the guesthouse and checked in for the night. They wanted $7 but we negotiated down to $5 (we may have overpaid??). It was clean and I was loving it! Rich was a bit worried and stressed but we had no choice really but to stay the night. We found the only restaurant in the town and dinner wasn’t too bad. Nobody could speak English and so the lonely planet (bible) came in useful with all the phrases. We managed to swap a few Vietnamese Ding-Dongs with Kips (the local currency) since we had no local money on us, only a few dollars- crazy! Luckily we didn’t need too much, the whole day with transport, visas and food and accommodation cost us pittance. The town was dead so we had a perfect excuse to get into bed early- which we did!
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 3:44 AM 
