The Road to Freedom

Tired, thirsty and hungry that is what Laos became for me. I spent months in remote areas of the country, a good majority of which was along the Ho Chi Minh Trail with Clive my partner and photographer. In doing this we became the first Westerners to walk the 700km along it since the end of the Vietnam War.

Clive Hills (the photographer) walking through the Phu La Nhich Pass – ATP hotspot

This infamous route was the North Vietnamese supply line used during the conflict. At the peak of its sixteen years of operation, the Trail ran through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, with a total road length of 20,000km.

What is left of the Trail now resides in one of the world’s most heavily bombed mountain ranges on earth. Along with the unexploded bombs, black magic and wild animals the journey was sometimes dangerous so preparing for our walk was vital.

We had to carry our own supplies. Consequently my rucksack comprised mainly of medicine, dried food and water! Despite all our efforts to keep ourselves fit both our Lao guide and I went down with malaria.

Once the risks had been addressed it was worth the journey as the Trail is a life changing experience. We went from Route 8 in the middle of Laos, to the Mu Gia Pass, Route 9 which saw one of the largest ground battles of the Trail, on to Sekong and the tri-border with Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The most remarkable place we visited was the Desert of Fire in Khammouane Province with the most beautiful being Nong Fa, the only Crater Lake in Laos which is found in Attopeu Province.

A village within the Desert of Fire

Walking through the region of the Desert of Fire was a humbling experience. Although the village’s told us that the bulk of the war debris had been taken away, the majority of houses were still constructed from war metal. It is a strange sight in the remote forest, but on understanding the history of area the reasons for the vast amount of scrap metal around becomes clear.

It was here in 1966 that Route 20 was built from North Vietnam into Laos. From that point on America started bombing this area. It is one of the most heavily targeted areas of the Trail as for sometime it became the main entry point for trucks during the war.

Route 20 is part of what the Vietnamese called the ATP. A combination of three hot spots where the ‘A’ stood for the road which doubled back like the letter, ‘T’ for the Ta Le River, and ‘P’ for the Phu La Nhich Pass. The Desert of fire is a sweeping open area at the base of the pass.

In the stunning landscape there is one village in the centre of the opening. The chief told us that they had just moved to the area and are having problems with planting. Just outside the clearing where the village sits the entire landscape is pitted with bomb craters.

The Desert of Fire got its name from the many ferocious battles fought there. It was here in 1968 that the Americans dropped 50,000 bombs in just a few days almost stopping the trucks moving south. From that point on the commander of the Trail planned bypass roads so that trucks would never stop again.

On leaving we thanked the chief for the fresh rice wine and wild deer meat he had served us and left. Today the majority of Route 20 has gone but as we climbed out of the valley you could feel the peaceful landscape had many stories to tell about its destructive past.

The Author, Virginia Morris crossing the Ta Le River

Almost a three month walk south is Nong Fa. It took us a good 7 days round trip to walk from Chavane to the lake, over the highest mountains we had encountered. It could be said that its altitude puts it on the roof of Laos. The little water available and food made it the most gruelling part of the journey but the variety of ethnic groups and scenery made it worth the pain.

Locally Nong Fa is called the ‘Lake in the Sky’. The American pilots used it as a navigation point calling it ‘Dollar Lake’ as it is perfectly round while the north Vietnamese used it as a place of rest. We were going there because it is said that if you swim in it you will have eternal youth!

During the 1960 & 1970s the roads around the lake was peppered with army camps. These were served by an oil pipeline which stretch from China to just outside Saigon along with a vast communications system.

We finally arrived at the village of Nong Fa where the village chief told of the great lake before we could go back and swim. He said that the French have tried to find the bottom with measuring equipment but never did. Also in the late 1980s the water went cloudy and bubbled for 7 days, occurring at the same time was an earthquake in Russia. How he knew this I do not know.

When we finally arrived, the shoreline of Nong Fa was surrounded by thick forest, each tree draped with exotic plants, with the water now deep aqua blue. On entering the lake the silted bottom oozed through my toes. It was slightly unnerving to discover that however far down I stretched my legs they never touched solid ground, just sediment so fine that it rose to the surface in clouds.

My lasting memory of the Trail is sitting on a rock over looking the lake watching the sun go down. This was the most beautiful part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. So great is its remoteness and splendour that we came back to get married on that very rock.

Nong Fa – the lake of internal youth - and wedding vista!

For more information on the history of the Ho Chi Minh Trail or to walk it read
A History of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Road to Freedom
by Virginia Morris with Clive Hills
Orchid Press - ISBN 974-524-076-1