A hapless paddy on tour

The Essex boys and I headed off to delat with the hope of doing some trekking. We were all feeling fairly fragile after the events of xmas and new years and Delate was be our rehab. We met up with the Dutch Girls and we all arranged to hire a bus to take us to the central highlands and the national park on route to Saigon. Our driver, happy, assured us that the money would be well worth it. I had a good feeling about this guy but was later proved wrong. The first day, much to the Dutch girls annoyance, was exactly the same as the trip they did before. They did however cheer up when we hit the central highlands as the scenery was spectacular. We ended up staying the night in a minority village but the accommodation was clearly geared for tourists rather than being an actual homestay. We established at this stage that our guide was getting backhanders left right and centre. The tour however was fairly good so we let it go.The night ended in a very drunken manner as the lads returned from the local pub trashed and singing at the top of the voices. Ilse and I had returned early and thankfully i was soo tired I heard nothing. The next day we went swimming and walking in the national park for the day which was pretty cool. We managed to pick up some lethal rice wine along the way so the nights activities were a very drunken affair. The following day we set off for the long hall to Saigon . The journey was arduous and after a couple of beers I headed for bed.

The following three days were mired with copious amounts of alcohol and general hedonistic behaviour. All of the lads managed to acquire bruises of some sorts, Nick being the worst, sporting a black eye and a craze to the head. I met up with the Dutch girls which proved more fruitful than before. Over the next few days the agenda was cards, beer and the sailors club. I didn't visit one site in Na Trang, but the weather was shit so I guess it didn't matter. How I longed to get back on the road.

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.