This day consisted of a considerable amount of driving for visits to more fire bases and battle sites of of our participants. Due to sensitivity of the areas we had to have special permissions to travel there and also have a local guide aboard at all times (in addition to our regular guide/interpreter, Anh).
We visited the "Rockpile", saw Hamburger Hill, crossed over the Dakrong Bridge and up the Ho Chi Ming Trail. Several times we saw signs warning us that we were in "Frontier Area" along an illusive not well defined area bordering on Laos. We were cautioned again to be especially careful not to take pictures around any military installations or of any police officials.
In this travel we all got a better appreciation for the size and complexity of the general A Shau Valley area. Previous areas we had visited did not have the same thick jungle undergrowth we witnessed here. Also the lay of the land is often very treacherous and difficult to negotiate. Now I can understand how difficult it was for them to move around from point A to point B. It is like nothing else I have ever seen.
We also witnessed dramatic illustrations of the impact of Agent Orange on the vegetation even 35 years later. You can definitely see where it was sprayed and the few scattered areas that were missed. The missed areas still have huge trees and demonstrate to you what the rest might have looked like if it had not been sprayed.
One of the stops we made for Gary was to Fire Base Bastiogne which he helped to build/set-up. This fire base ended up not being as accessible as Camp Eagle had been and he had to let the more athletic of the group go on ahead and be his eyes and legs. We will get photos from them later but they said they got good shots of the area and what still remains.
Dispite our protests, Gary tried to walk a portion of the trail with the assistance of me and a couple other participants. He ended his walk the equivalent of 2 blocks off the highway in a lovely but heavily vegetated area along a stream and drainage ponds in between some shacks. There we waited about 15 minutes for the others to return. When they came back they were bearing a few battle field momentos they brought for him, plastic from a claymore mine, etc.
It was getting late so we headed back to the bus. All of a sudden Gary asked me to check his back and when I pulled up his shirt I found a leech on his lower back. He had described these to me before and how a number of them would attach themselves to you when you were crossing a stream or something. WOW, now I understand so much better. It was just a little one, not yet filled full of blood but it was so well attached to him it was a real chore to get it off. I cannot imagine having to live with those for a full year!
Again to balance out our experiences, we had a lovely dinner that night aboard a traditional Vietnamese river boat with a Royal music performers. The lights of the city shone on the water. There was a virtual light show going on a nearby bridge. The traditional costumes were beautiful. The music was unique and very entertaining (I've never seen tea cups used in pairs as castanets). In Vietnamese tradition, we made a wish, lit candles which were set in a lotus bag and placed them floating on the surface of the water.
All of Life is An Adventure,
You just have to beat your way through the jungle to experience it
Linda
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