Because there is one, let me get
straight to the point. Kontum is it! How so? It abounds with the
old-fashioned atmosphere that many of us remember from our wartime tours.
Because the population of the province is only 33 people per square
kilometer, Kontum remains almost stationary, a static display of what had
been, a flash-backwards to the past in the present. But beware, it already
has cell phones and ATMs. Still, streets and sidewalks roll up at dusk,
making the place so quiet after dark that you’d be forgiven for thinking
there’s a curfew.
No need for taxis, tuk-tuks or motorbikes. You can walk everywhere. People
looking retirement age often speak English. Ditto students. Yes, residents
display a natural reserve. But smile, say something in English, and they’ll
immediately open up. I had it happen again and again. Living in Laos as I
do, I handed out business cards. Two weeks later, when I got home, email
messages awaited in Eudora. They liked me for the fact that I’d soon be back.
“People come once and that’s it,” said many. “Not me,” I said. “I used to
live here. I know about the charms of Kontum!” They laughed.
“Have you heard,” somebody asked, “about a rumor in Kontum?” I said yes. “Do
you also know about the lady from Laos who sometimes visits us?” somebody
else asked. “You mean the lady from Pakse?” I asked. “Yes!” they exclaimed.
“The one who can walk on the sky!” Yes, I told them with a smile and a
chuckle, I’d heard about that too. They smiled over the fact that I’d heard
so much. Of course I smiled back. Having said goodbye, they walked away. One
of them, the one whose eyes always twinkled, then recited the first stanza
of the poem that goes with the rumor. “It was the place of all places / the
valley of all valleys / the river of all rivers / and the lake of all
lakes.” To see if I was listening, the walker looked over a shoulder. I
nodded knowingly, and waved. |
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| Out of Pleiku,
heading north on Route 14. The provincial capitals are hardly 50 kilometers
apart. Travel time even by bus is just 60 minutes. |
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| Approaching Chu Pao
Pass. Note the new macadam. It’s not this good everywhere, but I suspect
Route 14 between Pleiku and Kontum will have been 100% resurfaced within a
year. And in case you’re wondering about those much taunted plans to rebuild
the Ho Chi Minh Trail (HCMT) from Hanoi to Saigon, you’re looking at it.
From north to south, it’s Route 14, which has always been there, that’s
being reconstructed. But let’s not kid ourselves, every road in Vietnam is
the HCMT. (Believe you me, we were clueless. The only guys who seemed to be
able to see straight were the grunts in the foxholes. God bless them!) |
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| This and the next
nine photos were shot from the open-air restaurant atop the 3-star Indochine
Hotel, which you can Google. The view is northeast. Views are arranged
clockwise. |
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Eastward view. Notice the lampposts on the sidewalk. The sidewalk and hotel
are on land reclaimed from the Dak Bla, the River Bla. The road that
originally fronted the Dak Bla is behind the hotel. |
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| Southeast view. The
Dak Bla. Just about everything you see in this picture is the same as it was
in the 1960s. In short, it’s exactly the way I remember it from 1966. Pleiku
lies on the far side of the mountains in the distance. |
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| Southward view. |
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Southwest view. The new South Bridge, which replaced the old Bailey bridge.
It has always been called that because there’s another bridge on the west
side of Kontum. |
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| As you can see, the
bank on the north side of the river has been reinforced and stabilized. Every
morning, townies jog and exercise here. |
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| In the foreground,
Dakbla Hotel, 02 Phan Dinh Phung, a street name unchanged, houses Kontum
Tourist, which you can Google. A park-like plaza with a socialist-type
statue faces the hotel. |
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Route 14 to Dak To, etc., proceeds northwest, past the distant radio tower.
The ever-popular-with-foreigners Dak Bla Restaurant, 168 Nguyen Hue, another
street with its original name, is the smallish yellow building sporting a
gable and red roof-tiles. |
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| To the right of the
trees is a stadium. The original market, now with a smattering of Soviet Era
buildings, is to the right of the stadium. The tall radio tower marks the
site of an earlier tower erected by US forces. Yes, things are pretty much
in their original places. I was surprised by that. In traveling all over
what had been called II Corps, it’s Kontum that has changed the least.
Gerald Hickey (see Amazon.com), the American anthropologist who spent more
than a decade in the Central Highlands, once described Kontum as “a very
charming town” before the war. Well, the war being long over, it isn’t
unreasonable to say it’s returning to its (former) charming self. Yet
unspoiled by tourism, Kontum was recently singled out as the “garden spot”
of the highlands. |
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| The abandoned
airfield starts where distant trees appear to disappear in the upper-right
corner of the photo. |
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The abandoned airfield. Some maps say its elevation is 1804 feet, while
others claim 543 meters. |
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| Guide Huynh and his
father, a former ARVN NCO, stand outside the father’s house. |
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| The entrance to
Minh Quy hospital founded by the late Dr. Patricia Smith. Descending between
the trees, delivering medical supplies to Pat, I used to land my helicopter
between the road and the hospital. In part, she was supported by Catholic
and Quaker agencies. I last saw her in Bellevue, WA, 1987. (To read about
Pat, put her name in Google. Also add “Stars and Stripes.” Google will take
you to two or three articles featuring her.) |
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| Huynh, Sister
Gabriel (who Pat often called “my right-hand saint”), myself, and Huu Hau.
Sister Gabriel built a church and dormitories for ethnic children who come
down from the mountains to attend Kontum schools. Huu Hau, a schoolteacher,
assists Sister Gabriel, and had been Huynh’s teacher. |
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Lunch in the dormitory dining room. We were soon joined by school children. |
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| Huu Hau poses with
his pride and joy -- children. |
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Coming Soon
The above captions were written on 2 January 2008. More “town” photographs
will be posted soon, “soon” as in “as soon as I return from Kontum the next
time,” which might be next month. This first group of photos is small
because I had spent the first day in Kontum going up to Dak To 1 and 2, and
onwards to Ben Het. Much of the second day in Kontum was spent with Sister
Gabriel, Huu Hau and Huynh. BTW, she appreciates US$50 and US$100 donations.
Such donations buy bicycles for the children -- it’s a pretty long walk to
school. Her new place is in the foothills that rise above the serpentine
bend of the Dak Bla east of Kontum, and the southwestward panorama from the
lane is stunning. |
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