Zipping through villages and going underground

Well, we finally felt we had mastered the crossing the street problem. It involves walking very very slowly and constantly. We generally try to pick a time with no cars, trucks, buses but trying to wait for a time with no motorbikes would mean never actually crossing the road. So when you're ready you step out and start walking and miraculously all the motorbikes predict where you will be and swerve to pass either in front or behind. Always a heart pounding experience, but as I said we felt we had it mastered. So, we decided to hire a motorbike for the day! Luckily Jason is actually capable of driving such things as my attempts (once we were in the countryside) were, to be honest, embarrassing. We negotiated the traffic of Hue, thankfully not as busy as Hanoi, and set off to explore the royal tombs which are dotted around the countryside.

The tombs were interesting certainly, although the architecture was very similar to other historic places we have been, the area was beautifully landscaped and serene. The real fun was riding a motorbike, particularly when we got lost! The guidebook mentioned that there was a dirt track between two of the tombs, what they didn't mention is that there are two dirt tracks one goes somewhere completely different. So, we rode through a couple of little villages, beside rice paddies and chose directions at random. Much more fun than the tour option!

The next day we headed up to the former DMZ (de-militarised zone) primarily to explore the Vinh Moc tunnels. These tunnels were dug by civilians who decided to stay in the area. The tunnel system has three levels 12m, 15m and 23m. There are a number of bomb shelters in the tunnel at 23m (to avoid drilling bombs that reach 15m underground). Although not lived in permanently (people would come and go depending on how much bombing was going on - 5 days and nights was the maximum) these tunnels were occupied for a 6 year period. The family rooms that housed 2 adults and 2 children were about three quarters of the size of a normal single bed, the maternity ward about the size of a single bed.

Another highlight of the DMZ was the museum with a very different slant on the war than we normally receive. The photos of American troops invariably had captions along the lines of "American troops turning tail and running from the might of the liberation army". Whilst the photos of the north Vietnamese army showed smiling happy people carrying supplies.