The Imperial City of Hue in central Vietnam was formerly the capital of Vietnam until the French colinization. The Citadel is the former capital building in the heart of Hue. Its a huge castle with a large moat surrounding it. In 1968 the NVA invaded Hue and captured the city. It took the US and South Vietnam Army 3 weeks to retake the city.
Hue is just south of the DMZ which was the official dividing line between North and South Vietnam. This is the region that saw alot of the fighting durring the war. A local told me that many water buffalow are still killed when they step on a mine or unexploded bombs. This seems to be a reocurring theme in South East Asia.
We took a day long bus tour of the DMZ and some of the surrounding battlefields. On our tour was a American Vet who flew Cobra gunship hellicopters in 1970-71. This was his first trip back to Vietnam since 1971. He brought along his original map of the DMZ area from the war. Since he was a chopper pilot he had a birds eye view of the area and was able to point out alot of the sites. He was a better tour guide then out tour guide was. He shared stories with us of his life and death experiences. It was quite interesting.
We drove accross the DMZ into North Vietnam throught the flat rice patties which still have huge craters from the 5-52 Archlight bombing missions. We visited some more NVA caves and drove back to the south and visited Firebase Alpha 1 and Alpha 2, the Rockpile, and finally Khe Sanh. The hills around the DMZ are still bare from all the Agent Orange that was dropped to help reduce the folliage that hid the NVA soilders. Plants are only now starting to regrow.
After another day or so in Hue we traveled back down to Da Nang and caught a flight to Bangkok. We have now been in Bangkok for 6 days. Basically just lounging around and shopping. Today we sent back our 6th box full of stuff home. We cant wait to get home it will be like Christmas when we open all the boxes.
Tonight we take an overnight train to the south of Thailand. We plan on spending the next 2 1/2 weeks on the southern Island of Kho Pagn Nan and Kho Tao. Then back to Bangkok for 2 or 3 nights and off to the middle east. Our time in South East Asia has been fun, but we are about ready for a change of scenery and food. We love the cuisine here, but you can only eat so much rice and noodles before you want a good old American Hamburger.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Vietnam Continued
From the Na Trang we took a 12 hour overnight bus ride to the town of Hoi An. The overnight buses in South East Asia have a top and bottom row of sleeping berths. Since the buses are designed and manufactured in Asia, they are built for Asian sized people. Heather had no problem fitting into the 5'11" berth. I obviously had and extra 4" of me that didnt fit no matter how hard I tried of what angle I layed at. You cant even curl up since the berth is too narrow and you cant bend your legs at the knees with your knees in the air since there is a pocket you legs and feet fit into. So I had to just let my legs hang out the side of the berth and into the isle. Fortunately for me I had a bottom bunk. I ended up getting an amazing 6 hours of sleep. Not bad consicering the circumstances. I think Hether didnt fare as well. She had a top bunk and they seem harder to sleep in due to the distance from the road to the bunk. Every turn of the bus and bump in the road is magnified at that height.
Hoi An is a world heritage listed city and is well known for its architecture. The city itself is quite charming and is fun to just stroll around in and look at. It is also famous for its large number of quality Tailors. Heather had 2 wool jackets custom made for her for $30 each. We spent a couple days in Hoi An and then moved up to Hue.
Hoi An is a world heritage listed city and is well known for its architecture. The city itself is quite charming and is fun to just stroll around in and look at. It is also famous for its large number of quality Tailors. Heather had 2 wool jackets custom made for her for $30 each. We spent a couple days in Hoi An and then moved up to Hue.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Uncle Ho, KFC, Etc. Etc.
So we are back in Bangkok for the time being. We apologize for not being able to post on the blog for the last couple weeks. It wasn't for lack of trying. Unfortunately it seems the Vietnamese government doesn't approve of free speech or freedom of the press. While in Vietnam we couldn't post on the blog or read blogs or do anything with our blog. It also seemed that there was a sort of choking off of the news. No CNN, no BBC etc. We were still able to read our email and check Yahoo, so it isn't quite as oppressive as other places in the world.
So I am going to try and just run through the highlights of our time in Vietnam. Overall we found it a very beautiful country full of amazing hill, mountains, and jungles. The country is obviously struggling to find a balance between their Communist philosophies and the necessity of allowing free market capitalism to exist. It seems the leaders of Vietnam have seen the dollars associated with the world market, tourism, etc. and have slowly allowed it to creep back into Vietnamese society. You still see the obvious signs of a strict Communist ideology. Some towns have loudspeakers that start up at 5:30 in the morning blaring propaganda all day. The most obvious sign though is the thousands of posters and billboards with the picture of Ho Chi Minh, the patriarch of Communist Vietnam. He looks a little like a Vietnamese version of Colonel Sanders, with his prominent white beard. And just like KFC he has great marketing. Instead of pushing fried chicken legs and biscuits with gravy its hardcore communism that uncle Ho has for sale. Just like KFC, uncle Ho's face is on everything. Even all the currency. My favorite are the propaganda posters. I don't speak any Vietnamese but from what I can tell the posters tell of Uncle Ho single handedly defeating the Americans during the Vietnam war, building orphanages, curing the blind, and even helping to stop the spread of AIDS. I should of course mention that Ho Chi Mihn died in 1969 prior to the end of the war or the existance of AIDS.
So after leaving Ho Chi Minh City or as most of the southerners still call it "Saigon" we headed up north to the small beach town of Mui Nea. It is a getaway spot for the well to do of Saigon. We stayed in a brand new guest house that had the distinction of also being the local distributor for all the beer of the area. So needless to the say the beer was plentiful and very very cheap. We decided live it up and we paid the huge sum of $12 per night for the penthouse suite with a beautiful ocean view. Of course the place was only 2 stories tall, but it was still the best room in the place.
Mui Nea is known for its huge sand dunes. Heather was feeling under the weather so I rented a motorcycle from our hotel and drove out to the red sand dunes. It was maybe 15 Km from town and less then impressive. The sand dunes had quite a few local kids trying to sell postcards, gum and other crap. I ended up striking up a conversation with a 12 year old girl who spoke English very well. She really didn't have the same sort of pushy sales tactic as the other kids and she was really sweet. After a while she offered to show me how to get to some sand dunes that were supposedly way better then the red sand dunes. We discussed a price and we were off, with her hanging on the back of the motorcycle helmet less. Being 12 years old she didn't have the best grasp of distances and told me it was like 10KM away. After driving maybe 30KM I began to get nervous. Not too far she told me. Eventually we made it and it was a very impressive place. Huge sand dunes with the wind whipping over top and blowing sand and creating wind lips like in the snow.
We hung out in Mui Nea for a couple days before heading up the coast to Nha Trang. Another beach side town but larger then Mui Nea. Nothing exciting happened here except hanging out on the beach and meeting a local Dutch man who collected vintage vespas and had them sitting out in from of his shop. We talked scooters for a while and admired his collection.
Well enough for now. I will post more about our time in Vietnam within the next few days. We are going to the movies today, so I have to go.
So I am going to try and just run through the highlights of our time in Vietnam. Overall we found it a very beautiful country full of amazing hill, mountains, and jungles. The country is obviously struggling to find a balance between their Communist philosophies and the necessity of allowing free market capitalism to exist. It seems the leaders of Vietnam have seen the dollars associated with the world market, tourism, etc. and have slowly allowed it to creep back into Vietnamese society. You still see the obvious signs of a strict Communist ideology. Some towns have loudspeakers that start up at 5:30 in the morning blaring propaganda all day. The most obvious sign though is the thousands of posters and billboards with the picture of Ho Chi Minh, the patriarch of Communist Vietnam. He looks a little like a Vietnamese version of Colonel Sanders, with his prominent white beard. And just like KFC he has great marketing. Instead of pushing fried chicken legs and biscuits with gravy its hardcore communism that uncle Ho has for sale. Just like KFC, uncle Ho's face is on everything. Even all the currency. My favorite are the propaganda posters. I don't speak any Vietnamese but from what I can tell the posters tell of Uncle Ho single handedly defeating the Americans during the Vietnam war, building orphanages, curing the blind, and even helping to stop the spread of AIDS. I should of course mention that Ho Chi Mihn died in 1969 prior to the end of the war or the existance of AIDS.
So after leaving Ho Chi Minh City or as most of the southerners still call it "Saigon" we headed up north to the small beach town of Mui Nea. It is a getaway spot for the well to do of Saigon. We stayed in a brand new guest house that had the distinction of also being the local distributor for all the beer of the area. So needless to the say the beer was plentiful and very very cheap. We decided live it up and we paid the huge sum of $12 per night for the penthouse suite with a beautiful ocean view. Of course the place was only 2 stories tall, but it was still the best room in the place.
Mui Nea is known for its huge sand dunes. Heather was feeling under the weather so I rented a motorcycle from our hotel and drove out to the red sand dunes. It was maybe 15 Km from town and less then impressive. The sand dunes had quite a few local kids trying to sell postcards, gum and other crap. I ended up striking up a conversation with a 12 year old girl who spoke English very well. She really didn't have the same sort of pushy sales tactic as the other kids and she was really sweet. After a while she offered to show me how to get to some sand dunes that were supposedly way better then the red sand dunes. We discussed a price and we were off, with her hanging on the back of the motorcycle helmet less. Being 12 years old she didn't have the best grasp of distances and told me it was like 10KM away. After driving maybe 30KM I began to get nervous. Not too far she told me. Eventually we made it and it was a very impressive place. Huge sand dunes with the wind whipping over top and blowing sand and creating wind lips like in the snow.
We hung out in Mui Nea for a couple days before heading up the coast to Nha Trang. Another beach side town but larger then Mui Nea. Nothing exciting happened here except hanging out on the beach and meeting a local Dutch man who collected vintage vespas and had them sitting out in from of his shop. We talked scooters for a while and admired his collection.
Well enough for now. I will post more about our time in Vietnam within the next few days. We are going to the movies today, so I have to go.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Round 2 of pictures
These pics include Australia, Thailand and Laos...on the first album there are some Laos tubing pics. When we put them on discs they loaded out of order. Oh well. THANK YOU MOM FOR HELPING US OUT!! I think it will take a life time to put captions on all of them. If you have any questions, just ask us...we'll be happy to answer them. Fun times! P.S. The Saigon posting below is new. Check it out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/115036798208469437797/MoreAustralia
https://picasaweb.google.com/115036798208469437797/AustraliaToThailand
https://picasaweb.google.com/115036798208469437797/ThailandToLaos
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| Chris&Heat |
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| Chris&Heat |
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| Chris&Heat |
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Heather's Mom Says....
This is Maggie posting for Chris and Heather. They are in Vietnam and have not been able to access blogger from there. They will be back in Thailand in about a week and will update you on all their activities then.
I've received another set of CDs with photos from them and will post them here in a few days.
I've received another set of CDs with photos from them and will post them here in a few days.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Saigon
Here's what Chris tried to publish in Vietnam...It is actually Tuesday the 18th of March here but because he wrote it earlier it will show up where it belongs. My suspicion is that Vietnam's government blocks Blogger, but I could be wrong. We'll update more of our Vietnam adventures soon...above the pics. We are in Bangkok for the next few days until we head to the islands for some R&R just before we hit Amman, Jordan. Looks like the rest of our trip is pretty well planned out (we're even spending a few days in Dublin, Ireland on our way home) and we will be home a bit early, on Sat. May 25th...or whatever that Sat. is. Who wants to pick us up from the airport? :) Time is flying by. And back to the blog:
We said goodbye to Pnom Phen a few days ago and took a bus ride across the border into Vietnam. This border crossing was much less eventfull then the one into Cambodia. Saigon is a huge city, with over 9 million people and 6 million motorcycles. Crossing the street is a real challange. You just slowly walk across and the never ending stream of bikes just flows around you. It takes a bit of getting used to. Saigon is a crazy place with so many sounds and lights. It is a Communist country, but once again you could never tell by looking at it. Business is alive and well here. Its nothing like the Communism I saw in Europe.
We took a day trip out to the Chu Chi tunnels on the outskirts of Saigon. They were a network of tunnels used by the Vietcong durring the war. We were able to climb into some of the larger tunnels and see what the conditions were like for the soilders underground. It is amazing that they could live like that. I am a tall person and it was very hard for me to climb around in them. I think Heather even had a tough time. Towards the end of the tour is a shooting range where for some extra money you can shoot off your choice of weapons. They had AK-47's, M-16's, and even M-60 maching guns.
We were lucky enough to have a actual veteran with us on the tour. He wasnt an American veteran, he was a former North Vietnamese Soilder. While some of the other tourists were off shooting I sat down with the vet and started talking with him. He spoke no English so his grandaughter had to translate. It was very strange sitting there talking with him as machine guns cracked off in the background. He showed Heather and I his shrapnel scars on his legs and arms. His trigger finger on his right had was all twisted and arthritic from so much shooting. He told us about the fighting and being in the tunnels. He said coming to this place made him feel light headed and dizzy. It was obviously a tough day for him. It was strange talking to this former enemy of the United States. This sweet inocent looking man was a Charlie.
Back in Saigon later that day I took a motorcycle to the post office to mail home a package. My driver started talking to me and asked where I was from. I told him USA. He said "I love America, USA is #1" Turns out he was a South Vietnamese soilder during the war and fought with the Americans. He said that "Ho Chi Minh is not my friend, VC is very bad" and that he was so happy when the US came to help South Vietnam and bomb Hanoi. Then his tone changed and he said that "Americans had to leave, I had to stay. I had no choice. I went to prison for fighing with America, America left me"
So in the same day I got to meet both a vet from the North and the South. One of them was on the winning side, the other from the losing. But at a human level I dont think either one of them could be considered having won anything. They both have lingering emotional and physical scars. It was an interesting day.
We said goodbye to Pnom Phen a few days ago and took a bus ride across the border into Vietnam. This border crossing was much less eventfull then the one into Cambodia. Saigon is a huge city, with over 9 million people and 6 million motorcycles. Crossing the street is a real challange. You just slowly walk across and the never ending stream of bikes just flows around you. It takes a bit of getting used to. Saigon is a crazy place with so many sounds and lights. It is a Communist country, but once again you could never tell by looking at it. Business is alive and well here. Its nothing like the Communism I saw in Europe.
We took a day trip out to the Chu Chi tunnels on the outskirts of Saigon. They were a network of tunnels used by the Vietcong durring the war. We were able to climb into some of the larger tunnels and see what the conditions were like for the soilders underground. It is amazing that they could live like that. I am a tall person and it was very hard for me to climb around in them. I think Heather even had a tough time. Towards the end of the tour is a shooting range where for some extra money you can shoot off your choice of weapons. They had AK-47's, M-16's, and even M-60 maching guns.
We were lucky enough to have a actual veteran with us on the tour. He wasnt an American veteran, he was a former North Vietnamese Soilder. While some of the other tourists were off shooting I sat down with the vet and started talking with him. He spoke no English so his grandaughter had to translate. It was very strange sitting there talking with him as machine guns cracked off in the background. He showed Heather and I his shrapnel scars on his legs and arms. His trigger finger on his right had was all twisted and arthritic from so much shooting. He told us about the fighting and being in the tunnels. He said coming to this place made him feel light headed and dizzy. It was obviously a tough day for him. It was strange talking to this former enemy of the United States. This sweet inocent looking man was a Charlie.
Back in Saigon later that day I took a motorcycle to the post office to mail home a package. My driver started talking to me and asked where I was from. I told him USA. He said "I love America, USA is #1" Turns out he was a South Vietnamese soilder during the war and fought with the Americans. He said that "Ho Chi Minh is not my friend, VC is very bad" and that he was so happy when the US came to help South Vietnam and bomb Hanoi. Then his tone changed and he said that "Americans had to leave, I had to stay. I had no choice. I went to prison for fighing with America, America left me"
So in the same day I got to meet both a vet from the North and the South. One of them was on the winning side, the other from the losing. But at a human level I dont think either one of them could be considered having won anything. They both have lingering emotional and physical scars. It was an interesting day.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Killing Fields
We took a bus from Shionokville to Penom Phen yesterday. It was a less eventfull bus ride then last time. Penom Phen makes Bangkok look like childs play. Bangkok has more smog and is busier, but all of Cambodia is lawless so it stands to reason that the capital city of Cambodia would be just one large out of control place. Durring our time in Cambodia we have witnesed one car accident a day. So far in Penom Phen we have seen two in 24 hours.
In Bangkok the drivers operate under some sort loose set of rules and regulations that end up falling into place creating a sort of controlled chaos. Cambodia dosent seem to have even the loosest set of traffic laws. The police seem to be in place merely to extort the citezenry and tourist out of small portions of cash. I assume they would get involved if some sort of serious crime were to take place, but Im not sure. Our guidebook even said not to worry about miscelaneous gunfire in the city. Apparently its usually just some average every day local celebrating some event with shots into the air. They also seem to think that when there is a thunderstorm that gunshots into the clouds will make the storm go away. Some well travled Australians we met said that Cambodia is a small scale India in terms of sights sounds and intensity. I dont know if that is true but it has been an overwealming experience for us so far.
So today we took a tour of both the Toul Sak prison in the center of the city and then drove out to one of the killing fields. The prison is an erie place and you can feel the horors that took place there. The mass graves of the killing field is only one of over 500 such fields in Cambodia.
The prison originally was a high school prior to the KR taking control. They changed it into a prison where nobody ever was parolled. They were interigated using the most crude and barbaric means and devices possible. The prison remains just as it was when it was liberated in 1980. The walls still have blood splatter, and the floors are perminantly stained. Each torture room still has its original bed, chains, and torture tools. The prison kept detailed photos of all its inmates and they are on display in one of the buildings. You can see the fear in their eyes.
Once a prisoner had been tortured and confessed to whatever it was the KR wanted them to say the prisoners were then transported to the killing fields on the outside of town. The first few years they were executed with bullets, but after a while in order to save amunition other more hands-on means of execution were used mainly invloving hand tools.
There is a large glass stupa 5 stories tall that is piled with the skulls of the victims that were found here. Not all the human remains have been exhumed so as you walk around the field there are pieces of human bone sticking out of the ground. But for some reason even more shocking to us then the bones was all the clothing that is hanging out of the ground. You can see parts of sandals and shirts and pants, some of it blood stained.
Overall not a day full of happy emotions but we needed to see it. So much senseless cruelty. The real shame is that so far none of the KR leaders have been convicted. The trials are just starting and most of the leaders have already died of old age. Even the ring leader Pol Pot lived out his days in relative safety of Thailand. It would be as if the world let Hittler, Georbles, and Himmler live in Switzerland for the rest of their lives.
So I wish I had a positive note to end this post on, but unfortunately i dont. We will stay one more full day in the city and travel by bus to Saigon in Vietnam. Our next post should be from there.
In Bangkok the drivers operate under some sort loose set of rules and regulations that end up falling into place creating a sort of controlled chaos. Cambodia dosent seem to have even the loosest set of traffic laws. The police seem to be in place merely to extort the citezenry and tourist out of small portions of cash. I assume they would get involved if some sort of serious crime were to take place, but Im not sure. Our guidebook even said not to worry about miscelaneous gunfire in the city. Apparently its usually just some average every day local celebrating some event with shots into the air. They also seem to think that when there is a thunderstorm that gunshots into the clouds will make the storm go away. Some well travled Australians we met said that Cambodia is a small scale India in terms of sights sounds and intensity. I dont know if that is true but it has been an overwealming experience for us so far.
So today we took a tour of both the Toul Sak prison in the center of the city and then drove out to one of the killing fields. The prison is an erie place and you can feel the horors that took place there. The mass graves of the killing field is only one of over 500 such fields in Cambodia.
The prison originally was a high school prior to the KR taking control. They changed it into a prison where nobody ever was parolled. They were interigated using the most crude and barbaric means and devices possible. The prison remains just as it was when it was liberated in 1980. The walls still have blood splatter, and the floors are perminantly stained. Each torture room still has its original bed, chains, and torture tools. The prison kept detailed photos of all its inmates and they are on display in one of the buildings. You can see the fear in their eyes.
Once a prisoner had been tortured and confessed to whatever it was the KR wanted them to say the prisoners were then transported to the killing fields on the outside of town. The first few years they were executed with bullets, but after a while in order to save amunition other more hands-on means of execution were used mainly invloving hand tools.
There is a large glass stupa 5 stories tall that is piled with the skulls of the victims that were found here. Not all the human remains have been exhumed so as you walk around the field there are pieces of human bone sticking out of the ground. But for some reason even more shocking to us then the bones was all the clothing that is hanging out of the ground. You can see parts of sandals and shirts and pants, some of it blood stained.
Overall not a day full of happy emotions but we needed to see it. So much senseless cruelty. The real shame is that so far none of the KR leaders have been convicted. The trials are just starting and most of the leaders have already died of old age. Even the ring leader Pol Pot lived out his days in relative safety of Thailand. It would be as if the world let Hittler, Georbles, and Himmler live in Switzerland for the rest of their lives.
So I wish I had a positive note to end this post on, but unfortunately i dont. We will stay one more full day in the city and travel by bus to Saigon in Vietnam. Our next post should be from there.
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