Good morning Vietnam,

Well, after the border panic it was onto the bus to complete the remainder of the journey to Vinh. We consistently kept stopping to collect more 'twigs' to decorate the bus with and the total journey ended up taking 15.5hrs. Rather than the 9hrs it was meant to take - nice! However, the Vietnam countryside was amazing!

Vinh was hectic to say the least - noisy, bustling and traffic everywhere. We were planning to bed down for the night and then make our way down to Hue the next morning. However, the buses only leave at night, so we would have to waste a day in Vinh. Instead of that we enquired and successfully negotiated ourselves onto a overnight bus that was leaving in an hours or so. So the journey continued and it was another 5.5 hour trip to Hue. Being an overnighter, we got a wee bit of shuteye - it was either that or watching nervously as the driver sped down the middle of the road, swerving to narrowly miss a moped! This is very normal in Vietnam......

We finally discovered what all the twigs were for and why it appeared that so many buses were chugging Northwards towards Hanoi. Tet - Chinese New Year to you or me. The twigs, believe it or not, are their equivalent to a Christmas tree. By 17th February (New Year) the twigs would be in full blossom. Apparently all the workers from the South return to their home towns (most being in the North) causing nearly all of the local buses to be full for the whole month of February. So there you go.'Chuc Mung Nam Moi' is Happy New Year in Vietnamese so I was frantically trying to remember this phrase, it may come in handy.

Anyhoo, we finally arrived in Hue at 5.30am the next day and had to bed down in the bus booking agency until some of the guest houses opened. We found a nice room and then headed out for breaky before crossing the big bridge to the 'Citadel' - Old Town. We strolled around, admiring the art work, hundreds of tanked fish and old war memorabilia along the side of the streets. However, it was cyclo time. We enjoyed a slow but steady ride around the Citadel and then up to a Pagoda. We thought we'd never get there as it was about 4km out of town. I bet the poor chap peddling loved us! We got out and wandered about, taking a few snaps before getting back into the cyclo. Before we managed to get back to our starting point however, our hour was up and we knew we'd have to pay more, so we made him stop and we walked the rest of the way. Turned out that he managed to rip us off anyway and we paid double. Jammy old git!

We decided that the following day, it would be a good idea to go on the DMZ Tour, we were being collected at 6am. The alarm rudely awoke us at some stupid hour and sure enough, at 6am, we were collected by the DMZ coach and drove two hours before stopping off for some 'free' breakfast. Another couple of hours driving and we were finally at the first point of interest. I should probably explain what the DMZ is before going any further...

During the war, the DMZ was a 20km width of land classed as the Demilitarised Zone (10km either side of the xxxxx river) - where no gunfire/bombing was allowed (yeah right!!) - that separated North and South Vietnam. The Americans based their troops on the South side of the DMZ.

...The first place of interest was the 'Rock Pile' which was a stone mountain that the US Troops used as a lookout point to see the North Vietnamese coming across to Southern Vietnam to support the Viet Chong. A few of them would stay up there for days at a time, keeping watch, with no water to wash in and no toilet........!!

It was then back on the bus to make our way onto the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail' and cross the salubrious bridge that begins the trail. Here, we jumped off for more photos and got accosted by local kids asking for a photo. Becki happily shot away at the snot ridden child, who then raced after me asking for money - laughter was my reply!

Back to the town for some lunch and then it was on towards the DMZ and the bridge that crossed the xxxx river itself, dividing Northern and Southern Vietnam. The bridge now has a Memorial Figure on the South side, facing the North and it is said that it represents a Mother and a child waiting for the Father to come back from War. We also learnt that from the South side of the DMZ, propaganda was shouted across the river to the Northern Armies. There is even a loud speaker to project the propaganda - what gems they are!

Next stop was the Military Museum and a American/Southern Vietnam army base on the DMZ that many US troops were stationed at. There was a pretty vicious scuffle here and there was some interest photographic pictures of this battle. The result of this battle was that the Viet Chong/North Vietnamese soldiers forced the Americans and Southern Vietnam to flee in choppers etc. There was major blood shed here and lots of soldiers lost there lives. We stopped for a while to view the war memorabilia and look at the bungers, old aircrafts and tanks that were left behind then they fled.

Random fact: 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives were 3 million Vietnam civilians and soldiers lost theirs in the 10 year Vietnam war!

We then headed for the main attraction and real reason of the trip - to the Vin Moc War Tunnels. The tunnels were dug by hand during the war and in them, families lived to survive the bombing that was going on overhead (remember that this is in the DMZ, so the American shouldn't of been bombing this area!! oops). The tunnels were on three levels - 12m, 15m and 23m deep - depending on whereabouts you were. Near the entrance were 'Family Rooms' where people lived, that were no bigger than a stone bread oven, then, further in were 'Meeting Rooms', 'Wash Rooms' and the 'Maternity Room'. 17 children were born underground and the Vietnamese used these tunnels to live in for nearly 4 years! During the war, a bomb hit the tunnels, but amazingly, didn't explode. Instead, it formed a 10m deep hole which the habitants of the tunnels were grateful for - it became an air vent for the tunnels and enabled them all to survive without running out of oxygen. Ironic! The Vin Moc Tunnels were the only tunnels in the war in Vietnam, to survive without any section of it collapsing. To this day, people still go in them and have a look around - which is exactly what we did next.

There wasn't any electricity in the tunnels for the first few minutes and to say I was slightly nervous would be just about right. The tunnels were only a bit wider than my shoulders and to get through I had to bow my head. They were definitely smaller in their day here! Following other people's torch light, we managed to find our way through the tunnels, damp and quite tight in places, going deeper and deeper, finally finding the exit that lead to the beach. Back in the tunnels we then climbed many stairs and came out close to the bomb crater (air vent). I had planned to enter the Cu Chi Tunnels near Saigon, but apparently they are even smaller and harder to get in and out of...I think I've been in enough tunnels!

So, back on the bus it was and the tour was just about over. We got back to Hue at around 6pm and organised our departure for the following day to Hoi An - the place of tailor made clothes.

Bye for now

Miffy x x x