price: 170$/person
includes: accomodation, English speaking rider, lugguage transfer, motorbike, helmet, petrol, poncho, entry fees, drinks (bottle of water, coffee…)
excludes: meals, personal expense
payment: payable at arrival (cash/credit card)
Day1: Hue – A Luoi – Prao (~160km)
• Hue countryside
• Mau spring
• ALuoi district
• Ho Chi Minh trail
• Prao village
Day2: Prao – Hoi An (~155km)
• Cotu ethnic group
• Ho Chi Minh trail
• My Son sanctuary/Hai Van pass
• Hoi An countryside
BOOKING NOW
Destinations
☆ Ho Chi Minh trail
Known within Vietnam as the “Truong Son Strategic Supply Route,” was an elaborate system of mountain and jungle trails linking North Vietnam to its allies in the South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. During the Vietnam War, it served as the primary artery for moving troops, vehicles, and supplies. Comprising more than twelve thousand miles of roads and paths through some of the world’s harshest geography, it was a vital gateway linking a divided nation.
The road network extended from Mu Gia Pass in the north, southward along the heavily forested western slopes of Laos, before entering South Vietnam at the north-western end of the Plei Trap Valley — the “Valley of Tears” — and points south. It was kept in good condition by 300,000 full-time workers and almost as many part-time farmers, many of whose bodies fill the 72 Vietnamese military cemeteries that testify to the trail’s devastating human toll.
The trail’s history as a line of communication dates back to World War II, when Viet Minh bands trekked the same paths. During the war against the United States, the existing footpaths developed into a highly organized infiltration route for men and supplies. Although the North Vietnamese made limited use of waterways and pipelines, this labyrinth of roads and trails remained throughout the war the heart of their logistic system. As military historian John Prado’s has pointed out, whereas supplies, ammunition, and weapons could be sent South by boat, “only overland was it possible for men and women to head South and join in combat.”
Despite Hanoi’s attempts to keep the details of its overland infiltration network a secret, by 1960, US knowledge of the route was widespread enough that it became a subject of intelligence predictions. An August 23, 1960 CIA report noted increases in support from the North of the Southern insurgency, citing heightened movement of senior cadres and military supplies such as communications equipment heading south through Laos and Cambodia. Before the year’s end, American military planners were advising the Diem government that it had to gain “firmer control of its frontiers,” to prevent further infiltration by the Viet Cong into South Vietnam.
A September 1966 intelligence study estimated that during the October-November 1965 period, the Ho Chi Minh trail had been disgorging 4500 enemy troops per month and 300 tons of supplies per day. Road watch reports and photo reconnaissance verified increased North Vietnamese build up along the lines of communication from the North into Laos and South Vietnam, revealing new unnumbered roads under construction in the Laotian Panhandle, heading southward.
☆ A Luoi
Many areas and mountains in the A Luoi region became historically significant in the mid-late 1960s during the Vietnam War, such the Battle of A Shau, the 5th Special Forces’ A Lưới Camp that was overrun in 1966, as well as the 4,878-foot Dong Re Lao Mountain best known as the “Signal Hill” that was seized by 1st Cavalry Division LRRP / Rangers in 1968 during Operation Delaware. Also, A Bia Mountain, known as the Hamburger Hill that was seized by members of the 101st Airborne Division.
A Lưới is connected to the former French colonial capital and coastal city, Huế, one of the main historical cities in central Vietnam by National Road 49, a road notorious for poor safety because of the mountainous terrain and poor road surface. The A Lưới district has one town and 21 communes. The central town has gas stations, and a few guest-houses for travellers.
☆ Cotu ethnic groups
Like the majority of people living in Truong Son range – Tay Nguyen highland, the Co Tu applies nomadic farming; mainly raises (buffalo, pig, goat, chicken, etc.) freely apart from a few families having farm. Of all, hunting, collecting and traditional craft (knitting, pottery, textile, etc.) still play an important role in their daily life.
Co Tu villages are not only a residential but also a self-managing unit in traditional society. Head of the village is appointed by village patriarch council and called as ta ko vel. In addition to village headman, military commander is in charge of practicing, commanding and organizing “headhunting” practice. Despite rich-poor gap, there is no class division in Co Tu society. Each village has a separated area to live, grow, breed, hunt and collect forestry products.
Villages are located in pretty high and flat terrain near water source. Houses are arranged in oval or circular shape as defensive village. Each village has a yard in which stands a pillar in the middle for buffalo sacrifice ceremony, a common house – Guol (stilt house) which is constructed in respectful position and decorated with various wooden plants, etc. It is in Guol house that headman receives important guests, holds meetings and stores precious treasures. Although some villages no longer follow traditional house model, traditional house-related rules are still widely applied. The Co Tu live in round roof stilt houses which are designed pretty short and small. At the middle of the house stands a main pillar.
Similar to Vietnamese parentage, the Co Tu have capu or to. People in the same capu share the same identification signs and a certain legend or taboo. Ta ko capu (chief of cabu) is in charge of settling conflicts arose in capu or between capu and the village.
Co Tu men usually wear a loin cloth while women wear short dress. Both male and women have hair bun pinned by pig tooth, hedgehog fur or sharp bamboo sticks. In some areas, the Co Tu have their forehead hair cut short and tattoo drawn on their body or face. In some other areas, youth have teeth sawing practice and buffalo sacrifice ceremony organized when they grows up. Co Tu women love jelwery such as bracelet, earrings, and necklace, etc.
Regards to marriage, Co Tu follow one wife-one husband marriage. However, primitive marriage still exists. Patriarchy remains pretty strong among Co Tu people. It is male that enjoys house owner status, has power and inherit prosperity.
“All things have their own souls” belief and taboos still strictly applied in daily life and manufacture. The Co Tu have Totemism-related rituals. Besides, Co Tu still worship destiny, healing magic and festivals. Buffalo sacrifice ceremony derived from ancient crop praying ceremony. This ceremony is organized in family, parentage and community. In addition, the Co Tu have a unique folk art treasure including songs, dances, poems, stories passed down from generation to generation; traditional sculpture and decoration art shown through meticulous paintings and carvings in Guol houses, naked statues hung in village gate or human emotion statues around tombs, etc.
☆ My Son Sanctuary
During the 4th to 13th centuries there was a unique culture on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owing its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of India. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower temples in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champ Kingdom for most of its existence.
My Son Sanctuary dates from the 4th to the 13th centuries CE. The property is located in the mountainous border Duy Xuyen District of Quang Nam Province, in central Viet Nam. It is situated within an elevated geological basin surrounded by a ring of mountains, which provides the watershed for the sacred Thu Bon river. The source of the Thu Bon river is here and it flows past the monuments, out of the basin, and through the historic heartland of the Champa Kingdom, draining into the South China Sea at its mouth near the ancient port city of Hoi An. The location gives the sites its strategic significance as it is also easily defensible.
