Where sadness smiles and joy weeps

---

Swapping the seemingly tranquil lifestyle of the mountaineers in Sapa for the hustle and bustle of Hue, Michelle and I started our first day on a tour of the city paying particular attention to the historical ruins of Hue during the old dynasty from the early 1800’s. The city is so history rich and is prominently known as the city dividing the north from the south of Vietnam during the Vietnam War where the country was split into two, the city itself being apart of South Vietnam. During the battle of Hue in 1968 the city suffered considerable damage not only to its physical features but its reputation as well, most of it from American firepower and bombings on its historical buildings as well as the massacre at Hue committed by the communist forces. After the wars conclusion, many of the historic features of Hue were neglected because they were seen as the victorious regime and some other Vietnamese as relics from the feudal regime. This opinion has since changed, but only recently, the historical landmarks which have survived the times are in the process of being restored, and areas that were completely lost are being rebuilt at the cost of millions of dollars from various international donations. In another 20 or so years, Hue will be reborn in all of its former glory. Right now however, the city still carries an exhausted expression, the streets a mess, other than the historical landmarks that remain not much else draws in the tourist’s eye.

We have definitely experienced more of Vietnam this time round, and to that end have also clocked up far more kilometres on the open roads too. Never before have I felt us pushing to the extents of a country quite the same way; for instance in Sapa our tour took us mere kilometres from the Chinese border. Yesterdays Demilitarized Zone tour took from the very coast right across to the Laos boarder, where had we had our passports on us our tour guide would of indulged us with a quick toes dip.

The Demilitarized Zone tour was a full on day tour, travelling some 2hours by car til we reached our first destination. Just as with the Hue city tour we did the morning before, the DMZ tour wasn’t quite what we were expecting. The remnants we had hoped to of seen of the Vietnamese war were immortalized in the few infantry helicopters and tanks that we saw at an old American airfield. The DMZ itself the 10km deep stretch of barrier between the south and north of Vietnam was now rice fields, with only a few craters from B52s (now just dips in the rice fields) as evidence that anything took place there at all. The hill sides all green with life in the form of Banana trees and gum trees, a few slopes here and there still scared from the Agent Orange dumps as lifeless voids of soil. The DMZ tour lacked the military presence we had hoped to see, as we saw in St Petersburg.

Aside from the two tours we have done in Hue; the old city tour and the Demilitarized Zone tour and having walked around all the major streets, a fair amount of our time has been in the form of playing catch-up on R&R and relaxing by the pool, cocktails in hand.

Despite desiring for more action filled days, the pause in our schedule has been good, not only to bask in the sun relaxing but for personal reflection too. One of the things I have observed on this trip is how different western culture is to the Vietnamese. In western society we all keep very much to our own bubble, barely cracking a smile at a stranger as we walk the streets, and usually more often or not, on the occasions you are approached it is because that person needs something and you automatically raise your defences and expect everyone to be the same. This is something I wanted to change; I wanted to be more out right and friendly on this trip. So many of the locals in Vietnam have a beaming smile on their face, and so many are inquisitive and interested to learn more about you. I few times I have caught myself out with my ‘shields up’ as the locals have approached, a habit I have consciously had to ease up on. Sure there are a fair few, who want to sell you something, but you just say no, and eventually they get the point. The flip side to this is a great deal are just being their usual friendly selves recognising that we are visitors and curious about where we came from. Some simply want the recognition of a hello and asked how they are going.

Speaking of positive influences, a bottle of Johnny Walker only costs $10.00 on the street!

---