ROADS INTO THE RICE BOWL - When I returned to this area in June 2000, I was especially interested in revisiting the areas south of Highway QL-1 and the old French Railroad Tracks. I have arbitrarily numbered roads we attempted on this map segment. We went in #4 and walked to the base of Nui Dau (site of FSB Debbie). We then tried to walk north from the highway on #3. Excavation was going on at the base, and there didn't seem to be a way (approvable by our guide) to go up - I was also unsure about whether there might still be BTs. Next we attempted to drive south on #3 (yellow) but couldn't drive beyond the railroad tracks. After consulting with locals, we drove back to #1 (green) , which goes in to Xuan Thanh, but that was not open. Finally we drove in #2 (red), which was my first thought to begin with. We barely got past the tracks but then were able to drive to near the north end of Hill 56, from which we walked south to about where the red ends. Our guide said I couldn't go further because children were following us. Both Hill 56 and Nui Dau were completely grown over. Otherwise, the whole area looked very familiar from 1970.

ROADS INTO THE RICE BOWL - When I returned to this area in June 2000, I was especially interested in revisiting the areas south of Highway QL-1 and the old French Railroad Tracks. I have arbitrarily numbered roads we attempted on this map segment. We went in #4 and walked to the base of Nui Dau (site of FSB Debbie). We then tried to walk north from the highway on #3. Excavation was going on at the base, and there didn't seem to be a way (approvable by our guide) to go up - I was also unsure about whether there might still be BTs. Next we attempted to drive south on #3 (yellow) but couldn't drive beyond the railroad tracks. After consulting with locals, we drove back to #1 (green) , which goes in to Xuan Thanh, but that was not open. Finally we drove in #2 (red), which was my first thought to begin with. We barely got past the tracks but then were able to drive to near the north end of Hill 56, from which we walked south to about where the red ends. Our guide said I couldn't go further because children were following us. Both Hill 56 and Nui Dau were completely grown over. Otherwise, the whole area looked very familiar from 1970.