I stopped in Dong Ha to access the DMZ. The main "attractions" would be the old Khe Sanh base and the Vinh Moc tunnels. I'd heard about the DMZ Cafe arranging good tours to these places so I was on a lookout for them. When I got off the train I got the usual touts harassing me. I shook'em off and headed into town on foot. I guy with a motorbike stopped and claimed he was from the DMZ Cafe and could take me to a good guesthouse. Sure... I still let him pick me up and we went to the guesthouse. Unfortunately I was overcome by the usual lazieness, not wanting to haul my baggage around anymore, and accepted the room and the tours that were obviously not the DMZ Cafe. As usual the sights were in opposite directions so you couldn't do them all in one day. I bet you can with the REAL DMZ Cafe though, but I don't know... 

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So the next morning we headed off on motorbike to the Con Tien firebase, bridge over Ben Hai River, Truong Son National Cemetery and the Vinh Moc tunnels. Con Tien was a quite interesting place even though there was only one artillery bunker left there. In atrocious English my guide told me about the place but he actually spoke more about the fight in Hue when I mentioned I was going there. There were a lot of UXO in the area and no one to clear the shit so farmers have apparently been taking their chances working the soil there. There was also some not so dangerous leftovers lying around. I found a piece of an old ration pack there. 

We made some pointless stops along the way, I guess to make it seem like a packed day, like for instance a stop at "the sister of a VC-lady"... My guide had a cigarette and a chat with the people, in Vietnamese, and then we were on our way again. Uhu..? Yeah, so??? By the bridge over Ben Hai River there was a small museum displaying more of the same you see in every other museum. The cemetery was actually a quite nice place. It felt like a real dignified place to put your poor KIA:s. There were endless rows of tombstones of these unfortunate soldiers, I saw some as young as 15, but not in the same way as the Western military cemeteries. This looked much nicer and you had some beautiful butterflies flying around and cute squirrels running up and down trees. Lots of statues and monuments aswell. This time I didn't upset any ghosts... 

Final stop was the Vinh Moc tunnels which were supposed to be better than the Cu Chi tunnels. My guess is that the tunnels you visit first are the best ones and in my case it was the Cu Chi ones... Not that Vinh Moc was a bad stop, not at all. I just felt we rushed a bit through the tunnels. There was a small museum attached to them aswell where you could get some of the usual information before entering the tunnels. These tunnels were not for fighting the enemy but for sheltering people and it's quite unimaginable that people could actually live in these rat holes. Water was dripping from the ceiling and some parts had really muddy floors. Thank you US and A... 

When we got back to the guesthouse I realized we never went to the Doc Mieu base which apparently had been taken off the program. "Oh, nothing to see!" I  was told. Really? OK, let's see what tomorrow holds. 

The next day we went to a hospital first, to take care of my life for the little incident in Ninh Binh and then we headed off for The Rockpile, Dakrong Bridge and the Khe Sanh base. However, on our way out of town the motorbike broke down so I found myself sitting and waiting at a motorbike shop for two hours before they finally gave up and called in another bike. Professional? Astonishingly enough I wasn't angry or upset by this, even though waiting usually triggers me like hell. 

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We weren't supposed to go to Camp Carroll but I nagged and we stopped there. Nothing more than a monument there but there was this weird picture of a Westerner lying on it. I figured it was some American veteran but why was it there? I picked it up and didn't notice my brush with Death for the second time that week. Maybe 30 seconds later I noticed a bracelet on the monument which had been under the picture. I took a closer look and realized it wasn't a bracelet but a baby viper of some sort. I know  shit about snakes but I'm pretty sure this little bugger was a poisonous one. The heartshaped head and its attacking mode when my sadistic guide started poking it with a stick indicated it was a bit dangerous (see movie clip). In Sweden we only have one poisonous viper and the baby snakes are supposed to be more dangerous because of more concentrated venom. I suppose this goes for most snakes (???) This cute little snake made the stop worthwhile. 

The Rockpile, an old base on top of a hill, was another one of those stop-and-take-a-look-from-a-distance-deals. Reeeeally exciting... The Dakrong bridge wasn't much more exciting either. After this there was a planned stop in some ethnic village, but I told the guide to skip this as I hate that kind of bullshit, watching people like in a fucking zoo. 

Finally we went to the Khe Sahn base. My guide handed me over to some youngster who led me into the museum and gave me a historical runthrough of the events involving the base. I was quite impressed as this young man spoke quite good English and had a lot of interesting information. Afterwards I walked through the small museum  and expected the "tour" of the place to continue. Well guess again. That was it, so I stepped outside and walked around the place where they had the usual planes and tanks. To my big surprise and disappointment this was all there was. I had thought I was on the museum grounds but this was the actual base. I had to climb up on a rusty old fence to get a look at the famous air strip that was closed off. So if you're not REALLY into being in the places where events took place I suggest you skip this place. Maybe it could've been more interesting if some old vet had guided me through the place but there was none so... 

The next day I just wanted to leave Dong Ha as it was a total shithole (like many others in Vietnam). I left on a very sour note. My "friendly" guide, remember the same guy who was connected to the guesthouse, had gotten paid the evening before for the tours and the two nights at the dumpy guesthouse. Unfortunately he didn't have all the change but he would give me what was left the following morning when  he would give me a ride to the train. Of course I got suspicious and nagged on him to give me all the change he had on him and he reluctantly did. But as you guessed he was a no-show the next morning. It wasn't much money and I was more worried about the others at the guesthouse wanting to have money as no one saw me giving the asshole the payment. They however bought my true story but weren't willing to give me my change. Some other guy was going to give me the ride to the train but first he had to have a cigarette and then we were supposed to have tea, all while the clock was ticking alarmingly fast. By that time there was no way I could make it in time on my own so I depended on this moron - just the way I like it! Finally I managed to get this idiot's ass on the bike to drive me to the train. I really felt like taking a huge dump in the face of my "friend" the guide. I don't get this behaviour. He was quite generous and friendly at some points, like  when he drove me to the hospital and paid some minor parking fee without wanting my money for it, and then he just soils everything by betraying me for shit change. What's up with that??? I really despise people who betray me. It's the worst fucking thing I know! Of course, when I made it to the station in the last second it turned out the train was an hour and a half late...

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