A hapless paddy on tour

I was so hung over when I woke up that I saught refuge in an internet cafe till it was time to take the bus at 6. I necked a sleeping tablet and was off to sleep as soosn as the bus took off.

Our bus to Hoi an arrived at 8.30 am and we jumped on board for the 4 hour trip. When we arrive Kate as ever took the lead on the accommodation front. I got a single room this time as I though I should give them some space. The town itself had a cool feel to it with the old style architecture and quirky roads. Hoi an is renowned for clothes manufacturing with no less than 700 cloths shops all vying for your dollar. The girls were really excited about getting some custom clothes made where I on the other hand was just keen for food. We met up with a couple lads that Katie and Lexia knew from SAPA so they joined us for lunch. After the girls left the lads got stuck into the sause. We were all fairly smashed by the time we got around to meeting the girls . The night got progressively worse as we just got more and more smashed. the night ended in some seedy nightclub at around 4.30am.

The girls, refreshed from their long nights sleep were up at 5.30. I felt tired but not hungover which was a god sent. The bus picked us up and I was quickly out like a light. The trip to the DMZ took about three hours so I got a little sleep. Our guide was fairly difficult to understand but i got the jist of most of what he said. The DMZ was essentially an area either side of the Nuoc Ta River where the Americans tried to strangle the Viet congs supply routes. The Americans bombed the shit out of the Vietcong's side and sprayed the whole area with agent orange to remove the natural vegetation and cover for the villagers. In total, 11m gallons were poured over South Vietnam between 1961 and 71, over 10% of the country - 14% of the area targeted was farmland. The supply route to the NVA Resistance down south was so important that the villagers lived in tunnel's on the other side of the DMZ. This way they avoided the aerial bombings and could still smuggle supplies thought to the coast
southward bound. The tunnels were a testament to these people as life cannot have been easy in the narrow and claustrophobic tunnels. Many people on the tour couldn't even handle a few minutes don there.

Afterwards we visited a old us army base which has some US helicopter and various weapons form both sides. What was more intriguing were the photos of the US retreating. This was clearly a messy war and something I felt I should learn more about. After 4 hours we arrived back in Hue. The girls and I headed out for something to eat.

I got up at 10 the next morning felling a little worse for weirs but better than I deserved to be. Kate and Alexia invited me to join them to find some accommodation which I greatfully accepted. We booked in to a triple and set of for a river cruise to see one of the many emperor tombs dotted around the imperial city of Hue. The boat trip was a little crap as we didn't have a guide but the tomb was fascinating. Afterwards we grabbed something to eat in our restaurant.

The girls were shattered and headed of to bed at 8.30. I went to have a look around and see if I could spot the lads. It wasn't to hard to find them as there was soccer on in a bar close by. Despite needing a early night we got stuck in to the grog again. I spent most of the night chatting to Nick who, as it turns out, has a real liking for "brass" as he would call it. On his first night in Vietnam he hired three girls which resulted in him loosing his camera. On Xmas eve he got just the two! The guys were keen for me to stay on for some more beers but 5.30am start beckoned. I left the bar at 1am in the knowledge that I would be lucky to get 4 and a half hours sleep before heading off to see the DMZ. I necked a re-hydration satchel and hit the hay.

Conor...

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I got woken up fairly early due to the ubiquitous bag rustlers, the scourge of every hostel throughout the world. I booked the train as I figured the bus would be a bit of a nightmare journey. I chatted with the Ozzie couple on the roof for ages before heading out for some food with the lads from Manchester. I bumped into some Canadian girls from SAPA who invited us to join them for a few beers down the road. By the time we found the place we were too late as they had all ready left. The guys new a street vendor around the corner that sold beers for 6p o off we went .

After copious beers and street foor we headed back to the hostel to play some cards. They guy on reception told me that there were two girls from Oz on my Carr age if I wanted to share a cab. We played some more cards and drank some more beer as I awaited my taxi. By the time it came I was really pissed but the Girls didn't seem fazed in the slightest. Both were medical students and fairly chatty. We shared a beer before hitting the sack for some well deserved sleep!

I

Conor...

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