14 Oct 2022
David Nguyen designed a tour for me, a US Army Vietnam Era Veteran, to visit the DMZ from Hue. The trip lasted over 10 hours and we went north along the Laos border to the DMZ, then we followed Route 9 to the South China See and then north to a buried city and tunnel site.
I have been studying the Vietnam War for 8 years and I thought I knew a lot about the Vietnam War but David had a really good understanding and provided me with key information that I was missing.
One of the highlights was when we traveled into northern Vietnam to see a village which was considered a North Vietnamese Army base camp. The US bombed the site for 7 years and the bomb craters are still there. The site has 3 levels with the lower level being 30 m below the soil surface. One level was for ammunition and supplies, another or the military and the lower level for the families of villagers. I climbed down 90 ft to the opening to the South China Sea and then went back through another entrance, there are 13, and climbed the 30 m back to the soil surface. The tunnel system runs 2 kilometers. The site had air vents and ways to spread the smoke from cooking.
. Other sites along the way included museums with helicopters, tanks and air lanes and tanks. A trip along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Vietnam with other pathways in Laos. We traveled across the famous Route 9 and at the intersection with Route 14 we decided not to go to Hamburger Hill and instead went to see the soil tunnels.
I would rate the tour a 10 out of 10. I would recommend this tour to any Vietnam Era Veteran from many different countries and any Vietnam War scholars and historians.