Part Four
CFN Chris Teudt
I have previously travelled to the USA, UK, Hong Kong, Noumea and Vanuatu with Catriona and Getaway on Thursday nights. I was very worried about travelling due to the travel warnings and the bird flu that was supposed to be ravaging Vietnam. All the TV reports of Vietnamese wearing bandannas on their faces was quite daunting. It wasn’t until I settled in Ho Chi Minh City that we realised most people did it due to the pollution and the Vietnamese women’s obsession with being white and not tanned.
The trip to Nui Dat was the highlight of my trip to Vietnam. The honda ride from Vung Tau slowly degraded from a freeway to narrow roads to narrow paths until a little village is reached. It seemed peculiar to me that this little village had such a wide quality main street compared to the surrounding tracks. It then dawned on me that this was indeed Luscombe Airfield. It was as if the blinkers had been removed from my eyes as I looked around and could orientate myself with the surrounding features. Using my map I procured from studies in the Squadron history room, I was able to identify SAS Hill and the approximate position of the 161 area. We then went to visit the Australian built school, which was an amazing experience and obviously a great asset for the community. The climb of SAS Hill put everything into context and the view from the top over the old position really consolidated my research prior to the trip.
I was excited about going to Long Tan as I had recently read a book on the subject. As we walked through the rubber plantation I was amazed at the lack of cover that the Australians would have had. It was a very quiet and serene walk through the rubber until we came across the memorial in the middle of the plantation, which was very impressive. As I stood and admired the memorial it was as if it was in its own sanctuary amongst the rubber trees.
I came back to Australia with a new respect for the Vietnam Vets and an appreciation of how easy we have it here. All this we take for granted and yet life is a constant struggle for people such as the Vietnamese. I recommend travel to Vietnam for the unforgettable experience, the great food, the kind and gentle people and especially for the history involving Australian soldiers.
CFN Waide Turner
I had no previous overseas travel experience and I perceived Vietnam to be a third world country, which was a little worrying prior to departure, particularly with all the security and health briefs we had to attend before the trip.
The first thing that really struck me as different was the exchange rate. I was amazed at the enormous handful of notes I received in return for my Australian dollars and could not believe the amount of zeros after the numerals on the Vietnamese notes. I was also surprised at what could be purchased for a small amount of Australian dollars in the country after you struggled with the arithmetic of the exchange rate. By that time the local you had just done business with had melted into the crowd and you were left scratching your head wondering if you got robbed or not.
I enjoyed many of the tourist sites that I went to while based in Ho Chi Minh City. These were accessed by cyclo and included a visit to the war museum which really opened my eyes to the Vietnam conflict. I also thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Cu Chi where the Viet Cong set up a tunnel network. To crawl through the tunnels and gain an insight into what the Australian soldiers faced was incredible.
The trip to Vung Tau was also very special. To stand at all the places that I had read about in history books really gave me an appreciation of the hardships faced by soldiers serving overseas. Places such as Nui Dat, Long Tan and Vung Tau now have real meaning to me. To go to SAS hill and look over the old position also put some reality into what I had read about in the history room at the Squadron.
There were many funny incidents on the trip but the most humorous belonged to WO2 Dunn. He broke a cyclo in Ho Chi Minh City and had to buy the driver a new one and also broke a palm tree trunk bridge in the Mekong and fell into a sewerage drain. Vietnam is not a country for large people.
I have come back to Australia with a different attitude towards Vietnamese people. They are extremely friendly and appear to bear no grudge from the Vietnam conflict. I also have a different attitude to eating in Australia as I now appreciate steak a lot more than I did before. Vietnamese are not big meat eaters and decent steak was impossible to track down.
I recommend that anyone thinking about going over for a holiday first learn some basic words so communication is easier. They also should read a little about the culture of the country so it is not so overwhelming, although this was one of the best parts of the trip – the shock of Vietnam when you get off the plane.
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