October 4, Hue to Phong Nha, Vietnam
As we enter the last week of our tour, we will be doing some traveling between places each day. Today we crossed the 17th parallel which used to divide North and South Vietnam. We went through some tunnels and ended the day at a national park.
It was a quick morning with breakfast and packing, and we were soon on the bus and going north. Our first rest stop had a store that seemed to have a little bit of everything. Food, clothes, shoes, cleaners, trinkets, and more were packed in a relatively small area.
A little further along we got to the 17th parallel which was the line between North and South Vietnam before reunification. We were also in the middle of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which extended a few kilometers to either side. We walked to the Hien Luong Bridge that crosses the Ben Hai River at the 17th parallel. At the south was a statue, Desire for a Unified Country, of a young mother and son waiting for her husband to arrive home. At the north was a gateway. Halfway across the bridge was a white line that represents the 17th parallel; to the south the bridge is painted yellow, to the north, blue. We crossed from South to North Vietnam.
On the north side of the bridge we walked through the Desire for Unification Exhibition Hall. Just outside the building are a pair of loudspeaker horns that were used to blast propaganda over the river to South Vietnam, which in turn also had large speakers pointing to the north.
We drove a short way from the 17th parallel to the Vinh Moc Tunnels. The individual tunnels were larger than the Cu Chi Tunnels, but the network was nowhere near as extensive. We came to one section that Bao said was a meeting room; it was a little wider and taller than the other tunnels.
As we exited the tunnel, we were looking out at where the Gulf of Tonkin meets the South China Sea (East Sea to the Vietnamese). We walked along that path for a while, climbed some stairs, and came upon a small village. We ran into some people who wanted to shake our hands, but for some reason one of the men wanted to hug me; Melody’s guess was because I’m Asian.
We walked a little more and came upon a family house where we were to eat lunch. Plates of food kept coming out, but we did eat most of it. Our bus was waiting by the house, and we continued riding along.
We immediately knew we were arriving at Phong Nha since we suddenly saw mountains rising from the flat land, and then there was a big sign on one of the mountains. We checked into our homestay, then Melody and I headed out for a walk. Bao happened to be heading out too, so we all headed to the river. He said that it was very high a couple of weeks ago, but it looked good now. We said bye to Bao and continued up the river for a bit, then went up to the road to continue following the river. Lots of homestays, restaurants, and other tourist-related stores. Lots of kids riding bikes around, too.
We got back to our room and relaxed a bit until the planned group dinner, which was just a few doors down the street. We all had a great time, after which we walked back to our homestay and turned in for the night.
