Hue - Vietnam

Overnight bus from Hanoi to Hue, which is on the coast. It took 14 hrs. The ride was not that bad, and much better than anticipated. I have acu-pressure wrist bands that I wear whenever I think I may get motion sick, but the roads were really good, and I also had lollies to suck if needs be. Although I have worn them on a couple of occasions, I have been really good (expect for the mountain mini bus ride from Sapa for an hour down to the train station back to Hanoi). Even with the wrist bands I felt as sick as a dog! Hue served as Vietnam's political capital from 1802 - 1945 under the 13 Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. Only here for 2 nights, we decided to see the sights further affield and arranged a long day tour (10 hrs for US$13) on the back of motorbikes, with guides to take us 110kms back in the direction we have just come, to see the DMZ - Demiliterized Zone (one of the main battle grounds and the line between the fighting of the north and south - the Americans were helping the South). We saw a famous church frame where many civilians were killed (so much for the church being able to protect you in times of need), the bridge at the 17th degree (the border if you like, between the north and the south), the Vinh Moc Tunnels (which we actually got to walk though some of it, where the Viet Cong hid amongst civilian villages from the Americans. These tunnels were surprisingly tall and you didn't have to bend over much to walk through them. It was dark of course and this was the time that my torch decided not to work - handy.) We saw a National cemetery Monument, an old war bunker, and walked through a mined area. As soon as our guide started walking through some vegetation Ian and I both stopped, looked at each other and looked at him, not going one step further. All he said to us, that somehow gave us some little confidence to walk forward was that he has two young children (as if he was stating that he didn't plan on dying). There are volunteers that search out and detonate the unused mines. Apparently sometimes animals will step on them. Unfortunate. It was a good day, and something I wouldn't have done if Ian wasn't interested in it all. Probably the only way I was going to find out anything about the Vietnam war too. On the second day I wasn't feeling all that well so took the opportunity to stay in bed and Ian went out around town to try and see the sights. He managed the Pogoda and the Citadel - a distintegrating treasure heavily bombed by the Americans. We both missed numerous Royal Tombs of the Nguyen Emperors. Some things that I have learnt about the Vietnam War include:

• The US Government mobilized in 1965 6.5 million young people who took turns in fighting.
• 7,850,000 tons of bombs of all kinds were dropped over Vietnam, plus 75,000,000 litres of defoliants were sprayed over crops, farms, forests and villages in Southern parts. This spraying continues to contaminate the soil, cause health problems and birth defects among the human population. This is true even of some of the American soldiers.
• 352 billion dollars were spent in this war.
• In North Vietnam bombs and bullets destroyed or heavily damaged: 2,923 school buildings, 1,850 hospitals, 484 churches and 465 pagodas and temples.
• Nearly 3 million Vietnamese were killed and 4 million injured (these figures are thought to be incomplete).
• Over 58,000 American armymen died.
• On March 16th 1968 a mass massacre took place and 504 people were killed.
• There was the Paris Agreement in 1973.