Ho Chi Minh Trail Travel Research

I've been interested in the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos for quite a while. I'm creating this post to summarize resources and findings.

Travel accounts:
Here's an account of 6 days of 250cc motorcycle riding from Vientiane to Salavan and return.

Books:

The Blood Road: The Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Vietnam War, John Prados, 1998 (reprint)
A History of the Ho Chi Minh Trail: The Road to Freedom, Virginia Morris & Clive Hills, 2006

13 May 09
Using Ray Smith's info on maps, I called Library of Congress Maps Division at 202-707-6277 and ordered L7014 Vietnam, L7015 Laos, and L7016 Cambodia map indexes.

Email received from maps@loc.gov:

I have included the indexes to the L7015 and L7016 series. Our records show that the restrictions were lifted for reproducing sheets from both of these sets in February 2005. However, sheets from the L7016 series produced during the year 1994 and later are still restricted.

Sent an on line inquiry to NOAA to see if they sell Operational Navigational Charts and Tactical Pilotage Charts.

Scanned Maps of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
http://www.nexus.net/~911gfx/sea-ao.html

General Information on Tactical Pilotage Charts
http://www.terrainmap.com/rm41.html

(to be continued)

Ho Chi Minh Trail Laos Vietnam Travel Research

This will  be the anchor for trip planning on the Ho Chi Minh Trial in Vietname and Laos.

A good start is this post on a 6 day trip by motor bike starting from Vang Vieng to Thakhek.

Vietnam Revisited - WSJ.com

Vietnam Revisited - WSJ.com: "...The author might want to improve his own grasp of Vietnamese culture: He tells us that the Citadel is 'ancient,' but in fact construction on it started in 1804. Besotted with the setting's beauty and supposed antiquity, he finds himself envying the simple pride shown by Hien, their guide. 'Soon Hien was no longer leading us. Instead he seemed pleased simply to stand amid the astonishments of such a storied place.' Mr. Bissell himself, he confesses, has never felt a similar awe at any of his own country's cultural monuments -- the Lincoln Memorial, say. He asks his father: 'Why is that?'

'Because you're an ungrateful little prick,' replies John (Nice Guy) Bissell."