DMZ

A North Vietnamese Army cemetery. After the war the North bulldozed and destroyed all of South Vietnams wartime cemeteries

Vihn Moc tunnels. North Vietnamese civilians and soldiers lived in these tunnels from 1968-1972. They were extremely elaborate and very well built. They included family rooms, kitchens, nurseries, surgery rooms, ventilation shafts.

Old bridge over the Ben Hai river, looking towards the north

Nearly 3km of tunnels still exist today in their original form

The Vinh Moc tunnels had three levels. These are the only tunnels of many in the area that managed to withstand bombing.

View over the Ben Hai river, the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam from 1954-1975.

I thought this was a huge jellyfish. It was a trash bag.

Khe Sahn. The most famous battle of the Vietnam war took place here in 1968. Over seven hundred American soldiers and 10,000-15,000 North Vietnamese died.

American artillery at Khe Sanh

Hill-Tribe people at a home on the way to Khe Sanh.

Dakrong Bridge, once a vital segment of the Ho Chi Minh trail

North Vietnamese headstone. Liet Sy means martyr.

We spent the past two days touring the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in central Veitnam. During the Vietnam War - here they call it the American War - the country was divided into North and South at the Ben Hai River, roughly in the middle of the country. The DMZ was an area 5km wide on either side of the river, running from the South China Sea to Laos. As the name suggests, this area was supposed to be free of any military action. Ironically though, as the Vietnam conflict escalated, it became one of the most militarized zones in the world. The area in and around the DMZ was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Some of you old folks may have even heard of some of these names: Quang Tri, The Rockpile, Khe Sanh, Lang Vay, Hamburger Hill. Those are all sites either in or near the DMZ. It was pretty wild to stand at these places and think about the things that happened there. It's hard to imagine. Here's a few pictures:

For the past month we've also been reading about how much of a danger still exists in this area (Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos) with all of the left over mines and unexploded bombs from the war times. This area was basically a constant warzone from around 1950-1980, with various participants. Here's a few facts about that:

> Today there are still 3 million mines and 350,000 - 800,000 tons of unexploded ordinance (UXO) in Vietnam

> Between 1975 and 2000 there were 38,849 deaths and 65,852 injuries in Vietnam from mines and UXO

> Around 1200 - 3000 people are injured every year in Vietnam from mines and UXO


> Between 1964 and 1973 the United States flew 580,344 missions over Laos, dropping over two million tons of bombs, costing $2.2 million per day


> 30% of the bombs dropped over Laos failed to detonate


> There are still 4-6 million live landmines in Cambodia today, mostly from the Khmer Rouge


> Each of these three countries were on the receiving end of more bombs than were dropped by all sides during World War II