The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the famous and heavily bombed route used by the North Vietnamese to move their weapons and soldiers to the south. Now the road is being turned into a highway and hotels and towns are springing up speedily beside it. The route is incredibly beautiful with new mountain views around every corner, very little traffic, and virtually no tourists. When we stopped along the way people would gather around me and stare with curiousity. Police were also curious and would stop to ask Nam what we were doing in the area and tell us to move along. They are sensitive about the area because there are many mountain tribes in the area who worked with the Americans during the war. They worry about them telling people about their poor living conditions and the current government situation. One local guy I joked with wanted to know whether I worked for the CIA and he even knew the name of the head of the CIA - which is more than I know!