Blogs from North Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia - page 91

Monday 11th September 2006 It wasn’t a peaceful night’s sleep. The Vietnamese train almost sounded like it was falling to bits as it swayed to and fro. Eventually we arrived in Hue, as we exited the station there was ‘our’ man waiting for us, holding a big sign with our names written on it, so much more simple booking ahead than having to fight off all the touts saying “You wan room”. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed straight out for breakie. Just a few doors down from the hotel was Café on Thu Wheels, a place that we had read about in the Lonely Planet, this was almost like an Aussie outback pub, with graffiti, messages and trinkets covering every wall, including the ceiling. It was very friendly too. We headed ... read more

So, the other day we were in Hoi An and that is a great place. About 20 minutes from China beach and Marble Mountain is this anchient city. There really wasnt a whole lot to do there but it was relaxing. Anywho, we went down to where Lt. Calley massacred a whole village called My Lai. There was old bullets and bombs and the entire village was gone. All except where the foundations are. That is it! Nothing left at all. Our guide was saying how the US Army came and just slaughter all these innocent people. Pretty crazy! Well we went on the Ho Chi Minh Trail for about 50 miles or so and saw some of the old old villages. Those villages are for the minorities of Viet Nam, the Catholics for example are ... read more

Our first night train in Vietnam was very good - unfortunately Matt was in a different carriage, but Claire and I were very lucky with the company in our compartment: 2 very friendly vietnamese couples and a very well behaved toddler - whinged a lot less than Matt! We arrived in Hue mid morning and saw a lot of celebrations for Vietnam day on the way to our hotel. We took the much-recommended motorbike tour from the Cafe on Thu Wheels in the afternoon and saved lots of money as entry to the Citadel and all the tombs is free on Vietnam Day - cashback! Minh, our tourguide, was very funny and very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed the tour - the best part was riding out to the countryside to see a bit of rural life ... read more

Today i have been in Tam Ky for 3 weeks! and i cant believe how quickly it has gone so far!! i really don't want to leave the children! they are all lovely and even if you start the day feeling miserable you know they will put a smile on your face! as usual its been crazy here! i am always so busy and when im not busy teaching or playing with the kids then im shattered! more tired than usual at the moment because my malaria tablets making me have really horrible nitemares! and sleeping is restless!! today has been a difficult day... abbe and robin are both ill and so didnt get up to go to the baby orphanage today - so it was just myself and leanne! ( maddie left for her travels ... read more

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 ... read more