Khe Sanh – Vinh Moc – Hue: 180 Km
Nice open highway today. Very hot when we
started. At the first stop I was so hot water dripped
out of my
sleeves. Note: Next time bring a summer mesh
jacket NOT a waterproof one. We stopped at a
roadside shop which sold fresh sugar cane drinks. I
didn't have one but tried Lou's. Rode along the DMZ on the river bank for a while on
the way to the Vinh Moc tunnels. The local villagers
lived underground for 10 years to avoid the US
bombing. Coming out at night to farm. Even cattle
were kept underground as was school and medical
centre. Even births in the tunnels. We did a walk
through one tunnel. The section we did was 10mtrs
underground and probably about 70 to 100 metres.
We rode through back roads to the next stop, the
Troung Son war memorial cemetery. 12000
Vietnamese soldiers’ graves. Such a waste of life.
We met a retired US marine, Len, on his 4th trip to
Vietnam. He was stationed at a few different
locations on his tour and still doesn't think that the
west should have even been inVietnam in the first
place. The back roads to Hue are village after village
almost nonstop for over 30 km. You can see the
prosperity here compared to the country villages in
the mountains. The last 5km was through town in
peak hour. It was very busy after the rural roads.
Traffic was everywhere and required lots of
concentration. Nothing like Hanoi but still a big
change from the last few days.
At the DMZ we stopped on the bridge. Not much left
of the fortifications but there's a huge communist
monument and flag proudly standing on the
southern side of the DMZ to make it clear who won
and unified the country. Jazmin and I both had pizza for dinner at the Why
Not bar. Also 5 gin and tonics for me. Jazmin had 1,
to try it,then 2 strawberry daiquiris and 2 Beverly
Hills something or others. Ah, we got drunk
together. Such an iconic Aussie father, daughter
moment LOL.