So sang Jimmy, and while I don't condone Australian music, Khe Sanh is one song that holds special significance for Aussie and Kiwi soldiers to this day. It's about an Aussie Vietnam veteran coming home, having been through hell trying to do what he thought was right, trying to put his life back together, to be greeted by people who couldn't understand, didn't care, and in many cases, hated him for what he was.
Today I rode a (painfully, horribly slow... I mean painfully... every other bus driver in Asia is a suicidal/homicidal maniac, this guy was just hoping to kill us from old age and horn overuse) bus north, from sea level up through the valleys and into the hills, passing rice paddies and farm land and jungle growth, into the rocks and clouds where the hill tribes live. A steady drizzle fell all morning, occassionally breaking into decent rain, the wet season running long in this part of the world. I was in two tshirts and long pants, comfy enough, the locals rugged up and shivering in the wind... the shoe is on the other foot now... We made it to the Khe Sanh plateu in a thick mist, the hills on every side obscured from view. It was another one of those moments of disbelief and incomprehension really, to be standing on Khe Sanh. As with every war site in this country there was not much to see, coffee plantations now takeing up the majority of the 1x3km that used to be a huge US Marine base that has since passed into legend. A small museum told the communist version of events, a few old relics, a tank, two helicopters sat outside, all trucked in from other places once the government realised tourists wanted to see more than coffee plants (the original remnants quickly sold for scrap by locals once the bullets stopped flying). But none of that mattered. I stood on Khe Sanh. The thick red mud stuck to my boots, the same red mud that caked the clothes and boots of soldiers fighting for their lives thirty-some years ago. Khe Sanh was, of course, a glorious victory for the communists, so said the museum. In reality when the communists finally made it into the base, the US forces were long gone, having decided that after thousands of lives were spent, the place was not important any more.
We saw a few other interesting spots today I won't bore you all with, apart from mentioning I crossed the DMZ and made my way through a North Vietnamese tunnel network, which was fun (note to self, North Vietnamese folk do not make tunnels for 6ft2, 100-something kilo New Zealand farm boys).
Yesterday I was all around Hue (pronounced kind of rhyming with "way"), including the Forbidden City (not so much forbidden any more, unless you forget to pay the US$4 or so to get in), and the citadel. I nearly died about 80 times, Asians everywhere insist on paving everything with the slipperiest tiles they can find, and then letting the moss grow... Hue was also the site of a major Vietnam war battle, not that it was mentioned anywhere at all, apart from a small sign that said much of the palace and citadel was "damaged by war" (in other words, wiped out). I have no doubt the lack of any further mention was because Hue was pretty much an ass-whupping for North Vietnam. But all the evidence is there if you look, bullet holes in the walls, craters, etc. For a reference the less war-savvy may understand, Hue is where they went for the big battle at the end of 'Full Metal Jacket'... There is (slow) rebuilding of much of the site ongoing, so, as with Angkor Wat and various others, half the interesting things were closed and covered in bamboo scaffolding... which leads me to an interesting question that has crossed my mind several times - if you have a magnificent ancient site or ruins, complete with all the mystery and wonder and atmosphere that goes with it, and then you decide to recreate the whole thing in its full glory on the same spot... doesn't that mean you have just ruined the amazing archaeological treasure you had, and now all you have is a replica? I wouldn't cross the road to see a replica... but that's just me...
Apart from war type stuff, I stand by my initial assessment that Hue is my kind of town. It is not too big, not too westernised, but has plenty to cater to people want the best of everything. There is a nice big river, which is fed from nearby mountains and so is not choked with garbage and weed like most in SE Asia, and plenty of stuff to do... ok the nightlife is not much to talk about, but as soon as you have a nightlife, that means you have a tourist town. I found a better place with local food last night and gorged myself on similar gooey steamed unwrapped dumplings, cooked folded in banana leaves (I think), but got a dozen for the same money instead of four and much better tasting at that... the goat's tendon pho (noodle soup) that followed was not bad at all, and the last course of beef(?) cooked in some kind of leaf packet was good, although extremely strong tasting for beef(?). Tonight was "fried noodle with various foods"... which was also good. Tomorrow I shall be at a bit of a loose end for the day as my bus north is not til late in the afternoon, and through the night. A warning in advance, depending on the train and bus timetables there may not be any email or blog for the next few days, I am going for the long haul and probably not stopping at Hanoi. Shall be in touch... thanks for the news from home, still much appreciated
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