Since I have limited time, I had to choose between seeing Hue's ancient tombs, or the former DMZ. I had a suspicion there wouldn't be much to see in what was once the area dividing North and South Vietnam near the 17th parallel. Neverhtless, I chose the latter, and my suspicions proved correct.

The distances were great, and the roads were not great. Out of the 12 hours of the tour, about 8 were spent sitting on the bus. Sitting on a bus makes me sleepy and lethargic, diminishing the enjoyability of the day.

After three hours, we finally got to the first and best site, the Vinh Moc Tunnels. During the American War, as it's called here, the US Army's heavy shelling of the village of Vinh Moc forced the villagers underground. According to Lonely Planet, the tunnels are less touristy than Saigon's Cu Chi Tunnels, and are taller and less claustrophobic. I still had to stay bent over the whole time, though, and it certainly felf claustrophobic. I can't immagine how people actually lived in the small, dark, damp tunnels. Seventeen babies were even born here. I was glad to get out after 20 minutes. Interestingly, some of the exits opened onto the beach.

Then we got back on the bus, and sat for hours. Our guide pointed out former US bases as we drove by, but the only things there now are houses. We traveled on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but now it's the Ho Chi Minh Highway. We stopped at the Rockpile, a former Marine lookout to take pictures, but the name proved accurate, and it was just a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere.

Ruined tank

I was looking forward to the last site, the Khe San Combat Base, because it is so famous. President Johnson thought it could become another Dien Bien Phu, the battle in 1954 that convinced the French to leave, so he comitted large number of troops, guns, and planes there. The Vietnamese layed siege to it for 75 days, but that was actually a diversion to draw US soldiers away from places where they could have been useful: the cities that were attacked during the Tet Offensive.

This made sense upon arriving. Khe San Combat Base truly is in the middle of nowhere. The lines on President Johnson's maps may have made it look important, but there is absolutely nothing there worth fighting for.

Today, there is nothing there worth seeing. A small museum with pictures of American soldiers fleeing in terror, a few US helicopters, and a rusty US tank. It's located on a hill in a lush green valley, and it's impossible to imagine what it was like here 35 years ago.

The statistics of the seige are shocking: 10,000 North Vietnamese died, and 500 Americans. At least the Vietnamese died for something they believed was important. But what did the Americans die for?