The next morning we got in our wheels and peeled off. Hhmmm, well we were in a car so not really. But by this point I had realized that the 2 day drive was certainly do-able on a motorbike even though Le said it was impossible. The thing was, Le was starting to expand his business to include car service and we were his guinea pigs. Of course he never told us that, but in conversation with him, we pieced the puzzle. So as excited as I was for this day, I was a bit annoyed with Le that I wasn't peeling away on a bike.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail. Yes, we have all heard about it and anything with Uncle Ho's name in it means we typically don't like it, but what the hell is it? This is what Marj and I have been wondering. Maybe you are really well versed on these things, but for those of you who are like Marj and I, I'll give you a little 411 on the HCMT. Long before the war, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, all had tiny dirt pathways in their respective country that crossed through each others country, running through the midst of the dangerous jungle (that should be read in dangerous story book voice). All paths were literally in the middle of nowhere and back then, the people who were aware of them and used them were those real bad-ass guys running around in loin cloths, fighting off tigers and deadly snakes with bare hands and the like. Maybe not loin cloths, but you know what I'm talking about. P
So during the war, good ol Uncle Ho decided to put these little secret paths to good use for the Viet Cong. Cambodia and Laos were supporting the North and with their approval, the Viet Cong bridged and expanded on these paths to create a full blown secret trail that began in northern Vietnam, ran all through the middle of the country, parts of Laos and Cambodia, and ended in the south. This helped the Viet Cong secretly invade various parts of the south. When the Americans realized what was up, they began to drop secret wires from planes along pathways they either knew or estimated were part of the trail. The wires looked like tree branches and were attached to a pointy thing that would land right in the ground. Then, when someone would rub up against the "tree branch" aka, secret wire, it would send signal to the Americans to help them figure out the direction of the path. Brilliant on both sides. But the HCMT itself certainly takes the cake and was recorded as one of the greatest war strategies in the 20th century.
The government has since paved the trail and made it a legit road, yet it remains a road amongst the jungles that, still, nobody dares to enter ( dangerous story book voice).
After the war, ethnic minority groups moved along the road and now use some of the land between road and jungle for farming as the soil is very rich. Other than a few little villages with few people, there is nobody around, largely because the HCMT is a very winding road through the mountains and takes longer to get from A to B than it would be to take the regular highway. Having gathered this info beforehand, it as something we definitely wanted to see and do. So, you can guess how stoked I wasvto be "peeling away" to spend the morning driving on it. I mean, it's the HCMT! And the ride was absolutely gorgeous. Everywhere you look is one view more breathtaking than the next....pictures don't do it close to justice. Marj kept commenting on how thick the jungle was and we decided it looked like broccoli all throughout the mountain range. I can't say it enough, it's the journey, not the destination.
And yet our destination was pretty cool too. We were heading to Phong Nga Cave, the largest cave in the world. I think Marj and I loved the boat ride to the cave more than anything. Just motorin' away on this lake in the middle of the mountains, kids swimming on the shores, people fishing, cattle grazing....it was picturesque. We entered the cave and it was massive. The best/funniest part of the cave may have been the neon lights. Nothing says gaudy better than neon lights, and that's what lit up the cave....it was pretty hysterical. We got a chance to walk around and while doing so, Marj ran into this old, adorable Vietnamese lady (this is a huge Vietnamese tourist attraction) and helped her along the way. At the end we ran into her again and the lady went up to Marj, grabbed her hand, hugged her and thanked her. They were both laughing, saying thank you in their respective languages, hugging and Marj near tears of course....another beautiful moment in which language is unnecessary to connect.
The boat ride back, a group of young boys were still swimming along the shore. All of a sudden we see all of the boys run out of the water, grab their clothes ( they swim nakey) and begin to run. They were running away from a fisherman who obviously didn't want them in the water as he chased them with a stick. Probably a scary adrenaline rush for the kids, but it was an endearing scene.
Back in our wheels we head to the national park for a lovely little hike. After this, we went to the nearest city, Dong Hoi, to catch an overnight sleeper bus heading to Hanoi. While waiting for our bus, we went to get some dinner. By this point, I'd realized Vietnamese food is all about noodles and soups, yet I hadn't been crazy about them. Well, we stopped at a little street vendor, sat at the mini table in mini chairs and I had the best noodle soup in Vietnam, jam packed with veggies and egg. These little random places always have the best food. Full-bellied, we got on our bus, or should I say we were shoved into the bus - it's like bus employees are the absolute worst. They are always super disorganized and down-right rude, pushing and shoving, grunting and yelling, and make the tourist bus interesting and super frustratin Onwards to the Capitol of Hanoi. Away we go....
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