DMZ

Had a fascinating day touring the DMZ. Hiring the private guide was definitely the key. This guy was awesome. Like a walking encyclopedia of war knowledge. We just kept throwing questions at him for hours and he knew everything down to the exact dates of every event. Our driver was a vet that fought with the US for the South. He got a speeding ticket though that cost him $100 USD, about a month's salary. Ouch. The sites themselves weren't all that impressive besides the Vinh Moc tunnels. These tunnels were crazy. The villagers started digging them during the heaviest aerial assault and ended up living underground for almost 5 years. They would transport supplies and weapons through them too, but they were really an underground village for about 400 people. It's just insane to think that these people existed down there for so long knowing they could be killed immediately if they came up and were spotted. We met a guy that had grown up down there and he was all messed up. Couldn't have been more than 4 feet tall and was visibly screwed in the head. The entire area surrounding the tunnels is just filled with huge craters from all the bombs dropped there. The tunnels open up to a beautiful beach where many US ships were stationed off shore. The other highlight was visiting the old Khe Sanh military base where the US completely bungled their strategy opening the door for the Tet Offensive. There are old bunkers all around what's left of the base. We also walked across the bridge that marked the demarcation point that divided north from south. It was a great day and definitely one of the highlights so far.