Tuesday 7th November
We decided to take the standard tour of the old "Demilitarzed Zone" (DMZ) today both to get a flavor of the terrain some of the American War was fought over and to see a bit of the moutainous country on the way to Laos.
The tour is a long one with a bus pickup at 7am, there are considerable distances to cover. First you stop at "The Rockpile", a steep sided rocky hill used by the US as an observation point on the road from the Laos border to the coast. Next stop is the old Ho Chi Minh trail where supplies were brought through the mountains to the Viet Cong in the south. Not much to see now as a new bridge and road have been built where there were once forest trails and river crossings.
First real interest is the old marine base at Khe Sanh, sight of fierce fighting in 1968. Not a lot to see other than some old equipment, rebuilt bunkers and a little museum (the US destroyed everything when they left to avoid leaving trophies for the victors) but facinating to see the terrain that the fighting took place in and the importance of high ground and forest cover.
Back down to the Coastal Road and we crossed the Ben Hai River, once the border, with an old bridge to see and a new monument going up on the South side. Then we headed north and out to the coast for the highlight of the trip: the Vin Moc Tunnels. These were built to protect the population of local villages from aerial and naval bombing in the late 60's and proved to be very successful. A little cramped for Tim but easily enough negotiated by Tracy on crutches the tunnels had entrances on the side of the hill facing the sea and above, close to the fields. People could work normally (well, as normally as you can in a war zone) and shelter at more dangerous times. There was space for families to live, a meeting area, latrines and a maternity hospital cut into the sides of the walls. The soil was suitable enough and the building done well enough that the tunnels have only had to be minimally modified, not recreated for modern tourists and successfully sheltered the people till the end of bombardments. Only one boring bomb (designed to penetrate such earthworks) ever hit and it did not explode: affording a useful new air passage!
The land above shows what still looks like craters (agricultural land was cleared of ordinance and flattened out years ago but not the marginal scrub areas). Other tunnels in the area were not as fortunate, one that was not as well built collapsed in bombing killing the whole village.
All in all the tour was worth it and gave us a little more insight into the reality of the war zone. Once home we found a restaurant close by (good food, crazy owner lady and friendly cat) and finished the night there.
The tour is a long one with a bus pickup at 7am, there are considerable distances to cover. First you stop at "The Rockpile", a steep sided rocky hill used by the US as an observation point on the road from the Laos border to the coast. Next stop is the old Ho Chi Minh trail where supplies were brought through the mountains to the Viet Cong in the south. Not much to see now as a new bridge and road have been built where there were once forest trails and river crossings.
First real interest is the old marine base at Khe Sanh, sight of fierce fighting in 1968. Not a lot to see other than some old equipment, rebuilt bunkers and a little museum (the US destroyed everything when they left to avoid leaving trophies for the victors) but facinating to see the terrain that the fighting took place in and the importance of high ground and forest cover.
Back down to the Coastal Road and we crossed the Ben Hai River, once the border, with an old bridge to see and a new monument going up on the South side. Then we headed north and out to the coast for the highlight of the trip: the Vin Moc Tunnels. These were built to protect the population of local villages from aerial and naval bombing in the late 60's and proved to be very successful. A little cramped for Tim but easily enough negotiated by Tracy on crutches the tunnels had entrances on the side of the hill facing the sea and above, close to the fields. People could work normally (well, as normally as you can in a war zone) and shelter at more dangerous times. There was space for families to live, a meeting area, latrines and a maternity hospital cut into the sides of the walls. The soil was suitable enough and the building done well enough that the tunnels have only had to be minimally modified, not recreated for modern tourists and successfully sheltered the people till the end of bombardments. Only one boring bomb (designed to penetrate such earthworks) ever hit and it did not explode: affording a useful new air passage!
The land above shows what still looks like craters (agricultural land was cleared of ordinance and flattened out years ago but not the marginal scrub areas). Other tunnels in the area were not as fortunate, one that was not as well built collapsed in bombing killing the whole village.
All in all the tour was worth it and gave us a little more insight into the reality of the war zone. Once home we found a restaurant close by (good food, crazy owner lady and friendly cat) and finished the night there.
posted by Tim | 9:55 PM
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