Hue and the DMZ...

The Citadel, Hue
see all photos »

Looks like I'm getting behind on these things... Hue and the De-militarized Zone (DMZ) were a couple days ago, and I'm now in Hoi An, but here goes...  We spent a couple days in Hue, which is the former imperial city where all the Vietnamese emperors that most people have never heard of used to live.  Interesting place, with a dignified air to it, great food (legacy of the imperial days), with tons of former palaces, royal mausoluems, etc to check out.  One of the emperors had approx. 142 children with 104 wives and like 300 concubines.  Busy guy.  There was a large school on the palace grounds just for his offspring.

Dragon Boats on the Perfume River
see all photos »

The following day, we booked a private tour to the former DMZ (just Laura and I) with a local guide, "Bill." He was a South Vietnamese soldier who worked as an interpreter and guide for the American Marines ("crazy people!") during the war.  He was a trip- his English has gotten a little rusty over the years, but he told some interesting stories, peppered with curse words he learned from the Marines.  There's nothing like hearing the "F' bomb from a giggling 70 year old Vietnamese man.  He would alternate between telling funny stories about his favorite commanding officers to getting teary-eyed as he took us to various sites where thousands had perished (on both sides).  When Bill was wounded in a rocket attack, he received a large transfusion of blood from GI's, and he proudly thumps his chest and says he is "one part Vietnamese, one part American."  He was loyal enough to the Marines that he was offered residency (in Georgia of all places) but turned it down because he didn't want to leave his new wife and infant son.

... that was tempting, considering that it was a 5 mile walk through the jungle, with unexploded landmines still in the area, and the temperature was hovering around 102...

Cyclo ride
see all photos »

The Vietnamese now view the war as a senseless tragedy, given that Communism ultimately failed in Vietnam as everywhere else, and the economy is more or less a free market now.  The death tolls aren't really accurate, but are estimated to be 300k South Vietnamese (if memory serves) and many more from the North, along with 58k Americans.  Many South Vietnamese casualties were shipped home and buried secretly so that their families could continue collecting their army pay.  The only cemeteries are for the fallen North Vietnamese, who are all labeled "martyrs."  Since the North Vietnamese have the advantage of writing the war history, the signage at important sites refers to how the "liberation army" (the North) fended off the Americans and the "puppet soldiers" (ie the South).  It was a fairly sobering day, as you can imagine.  There aren't many facilities in the DMZ still intact... Bill offered to show us a former US bunker that still stands... that was tempting, considering that it was a 5 mile walk through the jungle, with landmines and unexploded ordnance still in the area, and the temperature was hovering around 102... but we decided to pass.  It was interesting to see the Ben Hai river that divided the north and south, mostly since I'd seen it depicted in so many movies, along with the bridge across which millions of Vietnamese migrated from North to South (and vice versa) just prior to the start of the war.  We also visited a bombed out church where Bill sort of kicked at something with his foot, then dusted it off, and as we leaned in closer he said "unexploded shell- don't touch."   So we climbed back in the car and the driver cranked up the tunes again- alternating between Bryan Adams and Christmas carols.  The driver was in his late twenties- his father was also a South Vietnamese soldier (and friend of Bill) who died shortly after being released from one of the "re-education" camps that South Vietnamese soldiers were forced into after their defeat.  The former soldiers, and all of their offspring, are barred not only from any official jobs in the government, but also from any meaningful jobs in industry as well.  So for (unknown) generations to come, all of these people have somewhat limited employment prosects and so they tend to focus more on jobs in the tourist trade and elsewhere.

Cargo bike take one...
see all photos »

Also interesting were the underground Vinh Moc tunnels, which housed about 600 villagers for 20 months during the war, and also served to support the North Vietnamese supply line.  Each family of four got a small cubby hole about the size of a twin bed, and there was space for meeting rooms and also a maternity ward where 17 babies were born.  Amazing place.