A day in the DMZ

Today we cycled through the DMZ, aka "The Demilitarized Zone", which took us from the town of Dong Ha to the town of Dong Hai 100 kms up the road. The DMZ was a 5-km wide buffer zone on either side of the Ben Hai River, which is also pretty much exactly the 17th parallel, which demarked the arbitrary division between north and south Vietnam after the French pulled out of Vietnam. Ironically, when the Americans came, it became one of the most militarized zones in the world, and they prompted destroyed most of it with bombing and artillery.

There's not much evidence of anything today as we rode through it, other than a rather large Vietnamese flag flying next to the river on the north side of the river, and a sign in Vietnamese that no doubt says something about the glory of the empire. Other than that, it was the usual rice fields, old ladies walking their geese along the highway, school kids losing their minds as we rode by, and water buffalos up to their armpits in mud.

So here we are in "the north". Most people don't spend much time slogging through the north since it's a direct shot to Hanoi from here...unless you're on a bike, which means it'll be a while before yer in the big smoke. For now we're just enjoying the new scenery. It somehow seems a little more real here. After all, this is where the communists held strong, and then launched for the reunification of Vietnam, which is where is stands today (i.e., just one big happy communist country).

Funny though, when we got to our non-descript hotel today and decided to go for a walk down the non-descript road it's on, we knew the ocean was nearby. So we headed in that direction. To our amazement we found yet another pristine uninhabited beach that seem to go on for about forever. 5 mins down the beach we ran into a seemingly abandoned 5-star resort, complete with a oceanside bar and wireless internet, no less. So here we are having oceanside beers and sending out this post to the world. Cheers!

China Beach!

No, not the late 80s TV show, but the real thing...China Beach, Vietnam!

This post is dedicated to our buddy Doug who served in the Vietnam war and was stationed near here. Hey Doug...we made it!

China Beach is a 20-km stretch of fine golden sand that starts in the city of Da Nang and ends near the town of Hoi An. From Hoi An it was a quick jaunt of about 25 kms to get to our 7-dollar backpacker special room on the beach. Can't rave about the accom, but the friendly atomsphere was great and with 20 kms of beach to yourself, what can go wrong?

It's really amazing here how all the beaches tend to be empty everywhere we go. The Vietnamese just aren't a beach culture, despite probably having more beach per capita than anyone else in the world. Apparently, they are so against dark skin, that the women avoid exposed skin at all costs to avoid tanning. We have never seen a Vietnamese woman in a bathing suit. They just don't do the beach thing. In fact, any women you see on the beach (usually working, certainly not just enoying the beach) are covered head to foot and wear a face mask. It crazy since it's about 400 degrees in the sun. Anyway, just an interesting cultural note. As a result, the beaches are empty. Here we are on an amazing beach only a stone's throw from a city of 1 million people, and there's us, the 2 German girls, and the couple from England. That's it as far as you can see!

Anywhoooo, we spent a couple days on the beach, finished off a couple more books, got a little roasted, and then yesterday put in a rather big day (130 kms including a 500-m pass) to get to the city of Hue, where we are this morning sipping coffee (very civilized morning) and planning our day.

Hoi An

So far, Hoi An has been our longest stop...for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the town is a Unesco World Heritage Site (it was not bombed during the war). Secondly, it is bursting with tailor shops that are impossible to shy away from and thirdly, our romantic dinner overlooking the perfume river the night we got here unfortunately gave Rob food poisoning (resulting in a night of projectile vomiting) - the man with the iron guts seems to be having some issues here in Vietnam ;)

So, as Rob recovered in bed yesterday, I had a great morning strolling through the old colonial streets being hassled by the Vietnamese trying to woo me into their shops. One woman's persistence had me sitting in the market getting my chin hair removed by threading - a truly amazing thing that Nelson needs.

After sharing a passion fruit with her, she took to me to "the best tailors and cobblers"in Hoi An. Their charming ways were too much for me to pass up and by the time I returned back to the hotel, I had decided on my wedding dress. A silk dress tailored for me for $35!

Rob agreed it was a good gamble even if the dress turns out to be crap... he was so amazed that he suggested we go get him a shirt made. After being measured up for a linen shirt and cotton shorts, we pretty much have our wedding attire ready to go for a grand total of $60. We pick them up today at 5:00 so we'll let you know the outcome.

Today we are off to a cooking class. Rob is feeling better so tomorrow we are back on the bikes and heading for China beach!

My Lai massacre

One of the obvious things one confronts in coming to Vietnam is the U.S war that ravaged through here from 1964 to 1975. You could ignore it if you wanted to, since there really isn't any sign of it in the countryside. But, being informed people "we just know", so it's hard to ignore. Yesterday we visited one the more powerful places dedicated to that war: the memorial site of the My Lai massacre.

At about 7;30 am on 16 March 1968, the U.S. forces attacked Son My (aka My Lai), a rural village along the central coast of Vietnam. The area was regarded as a Viet Cong (i.e., the enemy) stronghold. The orders were shoot to kill and destroy everything in their path. According to records, over 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were killed. Everything was burned.

When the story broke in the U.S., it became one of the turning points in the war. Public attitudes towards the event, and subsequently support for the war, disintegrated along with other press releases.

Being here and visiting the site was extremely powerful. The strength and resolve of the Vietnamese people is remarkable. It was amazing that as we were cycling along a beautiful backroad to the memorial, people along the way were jumping out of their seats to say "hello hello" despite the fact that they probably thought were were Americans (most assume we are Americans until we set them straight) and anyone living in the area likely had a relative killed in the massacre, or the war.

On happier news, we just put in another decent day of 131 kms and are comfortably sitting poolside with beers in the town of Hoi An -- a town known for restaurants, silk tailors, cooking courses and other cool things. We'll keep you posted on how our stay here goes....

Motorcycle madness

Woke up this morning to driving rain and palm trees straining and swaying in the tropical winds. No riding today. To make up some time and distance we're taking advantage of the train station that seemed to be inside our room last night (i.e., very loud), and we're jumping on the train and heading up the coast a bit. No beaches for a few hundred kms, so hey, it would just be a slog in the rain through the middle of nowhere...which doesn't make a lot of sense. Right now we're sitting in a wi-fi cafe in downtown Tuy Hoa waiting for the train to leave.

Thought I would post a few pics and words about the motorbikes here. Basically, a motorbike is to a Vietnamese person what a car is to us. They're actually just glorified scooters (Honda 100), but absolutely everyone has one. It's the family car of Vietnam. Cars are scarce. Hardly any cars around. It's all about the motorbikes. It's actually awesome. Once you see past the chaos of about 20 lanes of traffic, and trying to cross the street, you realize it's very efficient. Lots of room for everyone, no need for parking spots (everyone just parks on the sidewalk like you would a bicycle). In fact, a car would be a liability here. The beauty for us is that on our bikes we fit right in. We're just part of the action and everyone gives us the same room they give themselves and everyone else. On the highway, we actually get the same space as anyone else. It's fantastic cycling. My theory is that it's always been a cycling culture, and the motorbikes are just upgrades from the bicycles they used to have.

It's a bit horrifying the first time you see it, but they just stack the whole family on the bike and head down the highway at full speed. Mom, dad, and the two kids....no problem. But hey, seems to work for them. The helmets are hilarious. Basically just skateboarding lids. If anyone actually collided with something, the whole family would be toast. So far we haven't seen any major carnage...hopefully we won't.

Snorkeling...easier on the knees

Well the last two days have been a duzy....

Rob had said we would bike between 70km and 100km...he lied. Yesterday, we biked a staggering 141km. I could round it down to 140, but the last one km was so exhausting, it really must be included in this blog entry. Luckily, it was a beautiful ride full of rice paddies and ocean views.

Yesterday,we biked from Ca Na to Nha Trang - the beach party capital of Vietnam. Though rather expensive (for here), it is clean and enjoyed by the Vietnamese who can be seen lounging on the beach, kids in tow for a dinner picnic. It has definitely been built up, but the beach is still open to all and no big resorts have moved in to privatize their stretch of the beach - inclusiveness - i love it.

Today, we decided to rest. After we checked in to the hotel, the receptionist asked if we needed laundry done (it was a not so subtle hint and we jumped on it). Needless to say that meant a day of rest.

I convinced Rob that we should book a snorkeling trip and we headed out to a handful of protected Islands just off the coast for the day. The trip was $14 bucks each and included equipment, a huge lunch, fresh fruit and coffee. The boat trip alone would have made this a worthwhile outing, but the the snorkeling was amazing (though I do admit I am not a snorkeling aficionado).

The coral was undisturbed and we saw amazing tropical fish, reefs etc. A whole life lives under the sea and I must say I was enamoured.

Rob played himself well - drove the boat, took advantage of the huge lunch and admits it was good value.

Enjoy the pics.

love me

Another day, another Dong

Dong is the Vietnamese currency, where 20 thousand dong = 1 dollar. Beer at the place we are staying at right now is 8000 dong, which is 40 cents. So far, the cheapest cold beer in my quest for the cheapest cold beer on the planet. And these are 450 ml!

So another few days since the last post, and another few beaches. Since Ke Ga we cycled up the coast to Mui Ne, which is a fairly big resort area. It was weird to see all the big glistening white tourists (lots of Russians...seems to be the target rich people around here) walking around with their tourist getups. On the bikes, we seem to stay away from that scene most of time. Although, it's nice to be in an area with good restaurants and things like that. We found a guy selling pirated (photocopied) books for about 2 bucks a book. Can't beat that. Amy's now happily reading away on the beach. I picked up a few Vietnam war books which are awesome reading while surrounded by the context. What a crazy war! Hard to believe that happened. It's pretty cool though, that there is absolutely no sign of the war. If we weren't reading about it, we wouldn't know it even happened. Vietnam seems to have fully recovered and is full steam ahead. In fact, Vietnam is one of the world's fastest emerging economies at the moment.

The cycling is going smoothly. The kids treat us like rock stars as we ride through towns. Yesterday was our longest ride yet of 126 km. We wanted to get to a beach, as opposed to staying in the middle of nowhere. We're taking the day off today and enjoying our waterfront bungalow, and of course the 40-cent beers. As an added bonus, there's some snorkeling action here, which has been fun. Tomorrow (or the next day) we head for Nha Trang....beach capital of Vietnam.