11 Sep – Sa Huynh to Tam Ky via the site of the My Lai Massacre And

Today we visited the site of the My Lai Massacre, one of the turning points of the Vietnam war, particularly in the way it influenced public opinion in the US about the rights or wrongs of the US being in Vietnam.  We got to watch a video about the massacre, that had a meeting between one of the survivors and one of the GI’s who had been involved.  It was an interesting video, but left more questions unanswered than answered, and unfortunately the sound system, which must have pre-dated the massacre itself, made it hard to understand the whole documentary, even though it was in English.

I asked Mike, our guide, what the South Vietnamese Government’s role in the conflict was, and he described it in a way that you’d expect from a tyrannical leader, rather than a nation expounding the virtues of the free world.  Apparently, the North Vietnamese would go into a village expound the virtues of communism, how they are all in this together, everyone will be better off etc, and Ho Chi Minh would be the one leader.  The South Vietnamese government sent in different representatives all the time, locked people up, tortured them, and then left them to “consider their options”.  And people apparently preferred the communist option.

Today’s ride started off nicely, with the usual villages, but then we got onto a big motorway, which appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, beside what appeared to be an oil refinery or a gas b-plant.  We then headed off onto some quieter roads that they flattened and straightened out, and even put in a bit of headwind for us, until we get to the lunch at the end of a very long straight.

It was probably the least interesting ride we’d done, but the real bonus for the day was when we got to our hotel for the night, which is possibly the cutest hotel we’ve ever stayed in.  The rooms are beautiful, the staff are friendly, everything seems to work the way you would expect it to, and the outside of it is like something out of a fairy tale.

Is this the cutest little hotel in the world?

Rapunzel in her tower

And from the inside

When I say everything works that way you expect it to, this is to say that everything in Vietnam works, but sometimes not the way you’d expect or want it to.  The internet is great, and very fast, but somedays I can’t get to Flickr, others the blog won’t load.  One of our showers was over the bath, and had a hose only long enough for a very short person to wash under, so we had to wash Japanese style by kneeling in the bath.  The baths also often have a gap around the side, so the water runs down the walls and under the bath, we presume to dry there.  All these things are minor, but just something to give you a giggle, a shrug and just get on with it.  I’ll now go and check if Flickr is working yet.

One thing we have noticed in parts of Vietnam is the amount of rubbish lying around in some parts of the country.  It’s be no means everywhere, and some places are noticeable by their tidiness, whereas other as more of a tip.  

This is a sad but familiar site in some parts of Vietnam

And look at the mess under that table