DMZ - No not the rapper !!

---

We took a short day trip to see the De Militarized Zone or what was left of it after the Americans had finished! It was interesting to see the Vietnamese version of how the events of the war of the North against the South unfolded.

The DMZ stretches for around 5 km either side of the Ben Hai River. This river is the official border between the North and the South of Vietnam. It is quite interesting how petty it used to get between the two regions. The North would paint the bridge one colour, then the South would re-paint it another. This continued back and forth until they agreed to actually divide the bridge and paint each respective half their preferred colour. Other ways in which they would compete were: building and rebuilding flag towers in order for them to be higher than their adversary’s, or have speaker wars across the river, blasting out derogatory messages, music or propaganda!

We made our way to the Vinh Moc Tunnels. The complex network of tunnels all of which were dug by hand and at their deepest point reached 30m underground. They were not just used to hide in, this place was actually used as an underground settlement. There were bedrooms, a meeting room, even a maternity ward where 17 babies were born! All of these rooms were literally caves dug out of the side of the tunnel. They must have been a seriously resilient bunch to live down there all that time! We covered about 1km underground and were sweating like troopers by the end of it. Much to the relief of my back we exited the tunnels onto a beautiful beach with the fresh air and the blinding sun hitting our faces. I can imagine this almost being like torture for the inhabitants. Having to stay in a dark, damp, dingy tunnel when this beautiful landscape was just outside.

---