We're on a Road to Nowhere

After our stay in Hoi An, Marcella and I made our way up the coast to a nearby city called Hue. Hue was the imperial capital during the 19th Century and part of the 20th Century. It's also probably the closest city (as opposed to town) to the North-South Vietnamese border.

Monday morning, Marcella and I got up at the crack of dawn to take a half day tour of the DMZ and surrounding areas. The border between N. and S. Vietnam was at the Ben Hai River (technically the 17th parallel). The DMZ was created in the 1950's, and if I understand correctly, is basically a 5 km stretch on either side of the river. I can't say what the DMZ looked like during the Vietnam War, but now it's just an area full of rice paddies. You can't really tell when you are entering or leaving the area, and there's nothing really to see in the DMZ itself.

But, we also visited the Vinh Moc tunnels, just over the border in North Vietnam. The Viet Cong created several kilometers of underground tunnels as a base during the Vietnam War. The tunnels go something like 23 meters underground, and were pretty complex (also pretty narrow). Eventually, village people came to spend time in the tunnels, and more than one baby was even born there. It's interesting though. Our Vietnamese guide kept emphasizing how the tunnels were civilian tunnels, and the museum at the tunnels showed pictures of all the babies that were born and the movies that were shown inside, etc. But, picking up one of my guide books, the first thing you read is that the tunnels were built and used by the VC as a base. That part was conveniently not discussed on the tour.

Interestingly, on the way to the tunnels, we saw a team of British people searching for mines in the land right along side the road. I was pretty surprised that some 30 years later, there is still a need to search for land mines -- particularly, because this was an area some 15 meters away from the side of a road leading to a major tourist attraction. I would have thought that if there were still any mines left, they would only be in remote locations.

Anyway, after going to the tunnels, Marcella and I set about trying to make our way back to Hue (which was about100 km to the south). We had been promised by the tour operator that someone would pick us up from the nearby town of Dong Ha and take us back to Hue. But, that's not quite how things worked out. First, we were taken to a restaurant in Dong Ha and told to eat lunch and wait for someone to pick us up. Then, someone took us on a moto from the restaurant to the bus station.

At the bus station, we were shuffled onto a local bus. "Bus" is a generous word. It was actually a beat up mini-van smelling vaguely of stale urine. We climbed on board and waited for the bus to head back. Strange experience.

While we were waiting, the woman in front of us kept eating things, and then tossing the leftovers and various food trash out the window. Then, she pulled out a glass cup that looked like chocolate milk on ice -- but with vegetables floating in it. She offered up a sip of the milky brown concoction to us, and we declined. When we refused her offer, she frowned, and pinched my arm.

I forgot to mention that the busyard also reaked of urine. I got the brilliant idea -- from watching Silence of the Lambs -- that I would smear some Tiger Balm under my nose to stifle the smell. I had no prior exposure to Tiger Balm, but it's apparently well-known in these parts and among certain Western tourists. I have no idea what it actually is, but it kind of smells like Vick's and supposedly has similar healing qualities (except with green Tiger packaging). Hence, my idea to smear the stuff under my nose to block out the icchy smells. But, my skin started burning like crazy after I put on some of the balm, so I was then furiously rubbing off theTiger Balm. And, then, the crazy woman in front of me -- she of the goofy food and chocolate milk veggie shake -- complained (via pantomime) about the smell of the Tiger Balm.

Soon enough, we were on our way, smooshed into the van. Where I was sitting had no leg space, so, although I was the tallest person on the bus, I was literally squatting on the seat, my knees poking into the seat of the crazy woman in front of me. (She, incidentally, had her feet stretched out and was lounging in the spacious front row.) Instead of daydreaming about ice, I found myself wondering about deep vein thrombosis and how long that tv journalist was cramped into the tank in Iraq before he died.

The bus was kind of a local run, and was constantly on the lookout for new passengers. So, every time we came close to what could be described as a residential area, it slowed down to a crawl and laid on the horn. This went on for the whole trip -- some 75 km. We picked up and dropped off various people along the way. Eventually, Marcella convinced them to rearrange so that I ended up in a seat with leg space (love Marcella).

We stopped on the outskirts of Hue briefly, for some reason I can't figure out. But, as soon as we pulled into the bus station, a horde of men started running after our bus and shouting. When the bus stopped, we realized that many of the men seemed to be shouting at Marcella and I, trying to convince us to take a moto ride from them. Some of the men started sticking their hands through the open windows of the van, and the people on the bus shut the windows, resulting in many dirty looks and stares from the men outside the van.

A few minutes later, we were in Hue. Our arrival was mostly uneventful, except for a small incident with the woman sitting behind me. When we got close to the bus station, she started climbing over our seat, and pushed me out of the way so that she could be in our row of the van. When we arrived at the station, the door opened, and I tried to get out. No sooner had I leaned forward towards the door, then the 90-lb woman from the backseat pushed me out of the way and literally scurried across my lap so that she could leave the van before me, rather than wait ten seconds for me to go first. Meanwhile, the people on the van started yelling at Marcella and I to get out of the bus because apparently we had not left fast enough.

Anyway, we made it back to Hue in one piece (with no apparent Deep Vein Thrombosis) and even squeezed in a short visit to some royal tombs. Yesterday, we left Hue for Hanoi, where we'll be for the next few days. So far, Hanoi seems pretty cool.