DMZ - The Demilitarized Zone

This was a 10 hour tour where we spent the entire day traveling from one place to the next. Since we were the last on the bus, Derek, Krista and I had to sit with people we did not know. This turned out be a pleasant surprise as we all met some very interesting people that day. Krista sat with a man who has been traveling around the whole world for 3 years straight and can speak 6 languages. He had so many interesting stories to share. Derek met a young woman traveling with a friend for about 4 months from Holland, and I met a young man name Stewart from London. He quit his job and traveled through Russia and China and is now making his way through Vietnam. He is traveling by himself and we have bumped into him on some other random occasions during our travels down Vietnam. (Side picture - Derek holding the Vietnamese Flag)

So the DMZ is an area that was created as a free fighting zone between the North and South Vietnamese. During the late 60’s and early 70’s, this was one of the worse zones in terms of military activity. During the Vietnam War, over 4 million people lost their lives and about 2.7 million of these were innocent civilians. This area had 7 tons of bombs per capita over the duration of the war. Today over 14,000 people are still being killed from mines and bombs around this region. The vegetation in this region has not recovered from the Napalm gases and Agent Orange chemical used during the war. There are a high percentage of cancer as well as birth deformities in this region.

We visited such important locations such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the civilian tunnels in this region. The tunnels was an intricate system, consisting of over 22,000 km. The tunnels were used by the local people to hide from the military activity. Our tour guide was a Vietnamese woman whom commanded the English language well, so she made the tour more interesting and informative. We physically went through a section of the tunnel and were overwhelmed by the smallness of the tunnel and I could not help but wonder how anyone could have lived there. These tunnels were in use for well over 6 years during the war between the North and South. It showed the true ability in perseverance within the human spirit. It was a long day, but one that I will not soon forget.

Derek and Krista at the entrance to the DMZ tunnel

Bridge linking North and South Vietnam