Khe Sanh and Lao Border

On Saturday we re-boarded our tour bus and headed inland to visit the scene of a famous battle in 1968 at Khe Sanh were People's Army troops laid seige to a US Marine base for six months before giving up. The US subsequently abandoned the place. But before we reached this spot, we stopped in for lunch at a local restaurant not far from the Lao border. Here we saw one of the biggest dragonfruit cactuses ever! It has grown over a tree and stands about 25' high. The staff cut down some fresh fruits to feed us for dessert. We have one much smaller one growing in our backyard, not nearly as large as this.







What trip would not be complete without a cute baby pose? Here she is, wearing her dad's straw hat.
















One of the interesting things about this old airstrip at Khe Sanh is that beginning about two years ago, local farmers persuaded the government to let them grow coffee plants on the very valuable acreage left open by the old base. So now, unless you have a tour guide, there is no real indication that there was ever any airstrip here, except for the few remnants maintained around a small historical museum.





Here Scuppy hides out with the other Marines in one of the bases bunkers.













Here is what the bunker looked like in 1968.












We ended our weekend trip with a stop in a thoroughly boring little village that Vietnamtourism had decided we needed to see as some symbol of "traditional Vietnamese culture" complete with approximately 100 people who live here year-round and make a few crafts related to the tourist industry in Hue. Anyways, Scuppy and I got some energy out walking on the little lanes, flapping our hands like birds, and playing with many bamboo sticks.