Hue to Khe Sahn - 135kms

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Had a good night sleep in the Jade Hotel. Quite a nice little property with excellent staff who make up for the lack of elevator and a few other fancy features. Simple breakfast - fresh fruit, toast, omelette, tea, coffee. Our first stop this morning was at the Elephant and Tiger arena (Ho Quyen) just a short distance from the centre. During the mid 19th and early 20th century there were annual "till death" battles between Elephants (noble) and Tigers (evil) for the entertainment of the Emperor and Lords. As the tigers (and sometimes leopards) were often tethered and de-clawed and their teeth filed down - it was inevitable that the elephant would win - often by trampling the tiger to death. Nearby is a shrine where the elephants are buried.

From here we continued north-west heading toward the township of Dong Ha. Once a few kms out of Hue we hit the "freeway" - Highway 1 - with the main obstacles being trucks and semi-trailers taking goods to all points north. The countryside was mainly rice fields and large tracts of farmland. A few kms short of Dong Ha we turned west and in the direction of Laos. At this point we are just 25kms short of the infamous "DMZ" - the 17th Parallel - which divided North and South Vietnam from 1954until 1975. Just after our turn west there is a large cemetery and war memorial. And I mean LARGE. It was started in 2011 and dedicated in 2014 - to the thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers from the area that were killed in the war. Looking at many of the headstones - many were all in their late teens and early 20's. After a stop here we continued toward out destination - Khe Sahn. At this point - the road started to climb into the highlands. Traffic seemed to thin out to almost nothing. Every now and then we would see a small 9-seater or 20-seater coach - either doing a day tour from Hue of doing a "visa run" to Lao Bao. If you live in Hoi An or Danang - and have to renew your visa after 90-days - then the visa-run to the border is an inexpensive option. It's about US$50 for the van service to/from the border, then US$35 for the visa to enter Laos, then another US$25 or so (depending on the visa you want) to get back in to Vietnam. From Hoi AN it's about a 12-hour day. As this route is not your typical tourist route - there re not so many vehicles and motorbikes on the road. The main feature of this ride is the imposing "Rock Pile". A 260m high karste mountain peak - that during the war gave a good view of the South China Sea 30kms to the east and the border of Laos about 15 kms away. A couple of photo stops along the way before arriving in Khe Sahn. During the last 5 kms - I was wondering how there could have been an airstrip in this region because of the terrain and surrounding mountains. On arriving in the township - I could see it was built on a plateau.There's only 3 hotels in this town and we checked in to the one that seemed to have the best location an facilities. At least it had a lift!! Friends Garry and Vickie decided to do their border run to get their visa in the afternoon - so this gave me time to head 3kms out of town to visit the former Combat Base . There is quite a bit of military history attached to this piece of Vietnam and it's the reason I wanted to see it. After payind the US$2,00 entry fee at the main gate - you can them walk across what once was part of the base admin buidlings and HQ. There is a small museum giving an idea of what happened during attackes on the base - with photos showing soldiers from both sides in various acts of defence or agression. There are several pieces of aircraft scattered around (a UH1B chopper, a Chinook and a Hercules C130). There's also a couple of tanks, an APC and lots of artillery shell casings.There's also some reconstructed bunkers and HQ rooms. Following you around are a couple of souvenir sellers - offering what appears to be badges, dog-tags, ammunition and other stuff supposed dug-up in the area. I spent about an hour here before heading back to the hotel. This is where I encountered my first flat tire - and I was basically held at ransom at the only tire shop in town - where I have to pay US$7 for a new tube and the fitting of it!!!! Normally it would only cost US$4-5 for locals

Returning to the hotel - I met up with Garry and Vickie who had just returned from their "visa run" to the Lao border. Very smooth they said - about 40 minutes from parking in VN then walking through the control points, getting the required visas then back to their bike. In the evening we went to the local pizza shop - one of he few eateries for "westerners". After that we went to a street BBQ for some nice roast pork belly. A relatively early night as this town seems to lack enterntainment - although I am sure there is a karaoke room somewhere!!

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Photos

Elephant & Tiger Arena
Luckily the guard saw us arrive and unlocked the gate so we could go inside.

The Rock Pile
American artillery base during the "American" war

local scenery
The style of houses changes to mainly wooden structures

Flat Tyre
After the tube was removed - I saw 3 patches as well as some tape - from previous flat tyre!!