Laos - Chavane (Operation Tailwind)

Who will be the first to get new pictures of Nong Fa?

See http://rectravel.com/chavane

The September of 1970 American operation in southern Laos called
"Operation Tailwind" is described by US Special Forces Veteran John
Plaster in his book

SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
By John L. Plaster
New York, 1998

This new book is now available in paperback on

Amazon Online Reader : SOG: The Secret Wars of...
Amazon Online Reader : SOG: The Secret Wars of...

Mr. Plaster has a web site of his own these days. See

http://www.ultimatesniper.com

What is interesting about this old story is that foreign tourists can
now visit Chavane in southern Laos. No worry at all. Chavane is in
Sekong Province, just to the northeast of Muang Sekong (new name Muang
Laman) and Ban Pakbong. Both of these small towns are on the Sekong
River (aka Xe Kong River) on the Bolovens Plateau to the north east of
the Mekong River from Pakxe. See a detailed and slow to load old map
of the area on

http://www.nexus.net/~911gfx/vietnam.../nd48_04f.html

Chavane is in the top right hand corner of this old map, between Ban
Pakbong and the Vietnamese border. Note the Xe Kong River, also known
as the Sekong River. The road from Pakxe to Salavan is described in
every current Joe Cummings Lonely Planet guide to Laos, as is the road
from Salavan to Sekong and the now popular boat trip on the Sekong
River from Sekong to Attapeu. Foreign tourists are doing this route
now. See for example

http://www.angkoradventure.com/laos/tours/pakse-3.htm

Who will be the first to get some current photographs from the area
around Chavane? Is there anything else for tourists to see in the
Chavane area today?

A fairly current travel report from the Attapeu area is on

http://rectravel.com/rbe/kdba.htm

An update about the road construction project between Attapeu and
Kontum would be most interesting to read. Also in the area is a lake
called Nong Fa. Apparently, it is even more beautiful than Yak Lom
Lake in Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province. Who will be the first to get
some new pictures of this lake? The Lao tourism authority is promoting
visits to this lake today, so much so that they have put up a web page
about Nong Fa on

http://mekongcenter.com/html/natural/nong_fa.htm

The lake is in the bottom right hand corner of the old map on

http://www.nexus.net/~911gfx/vietnam.../nd48_04g.html

Will a freelance journalist get up to Nong Fa before the American
National Geographic Magazine rediscovers this place? Updates about
Nong Fa are highly encouraged.

Interested readers may have also noted that Attapeu is on the Sekong
River just north of Siempang in Cambodia. The Sekong River flows south
out of Attapeu past Siempang to Stung Treng, where it meets the Mekong
River. It is not yet possible to cross between Laos and Cambodia on
the Sekong River, but perhaps some future visitor to the area will
have some news about this crossing soon. An American name Ray Zepp
recently walked between Siempang and Virochey in Cambodia's Ratanakiri
Province. See his report on

http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.brouwer/miscz.htm

Speaking of those friendly US SPECIAL FORCES Veterans, new students
might be interested to note that a couple of them are now trying to
help the Montagnards (hill tribes) in Cambodia. They run a small
non-governmental organization in Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province called
Cambodia Corps. In Phnom Penh, these US SPECIAL FORCES Veterans like
to stay at Hotel Scandic. They have put up a web page about the place.
See

http://www.cambodiacorps.org/Scandic_Hotel.html

The main page for their Cambodia Corps operation is obviously on

http://www.cambodiacorps.org

Note that Phnom Penh's Hotel Scandic has a swimming pool. Poor
students stay at Dara Reang Sey, where the cooks are the best in town.
See their page in Phnom Penh on

http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.brouwer/dara.htm

or on

http://www.talesofasia.com/cambodia-drs.htm

The capital of Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province is called Banlung. There
are now daily flights between Phnom Penh and Banlung on President
Airlines. See their site on

http://www.presidentairlines.com

Note that colonial French Hwy 19 still exists. There are many things
to see in the area. To get there from Phnom Penh, poor students take
one of the daily boats on the Mekong River to Kratie, where they get
into a share taxi to Stung Treng. This is a two-day trip, with a night
in Kratie. In Stung Treng, ask for Mr. Peou at Hotel Sekong, right on
the riverbank. He knows about the boat trips to the border crossing
with Laos on the Mekong River at Veun Kham, and he knows about the
boat trips up the Sekong River to Siempang and about the daily trucks
from Stung Treng to Banlung. Links to the crossing on the Mekong are
on

http://rectravel.com/tnx

The truck taxis on old Hwy 19 from Stung Treng to Banlung take about
six hours on a fairly rough road. Conditions have probably improved
recently. There are many places to stay in Banlung. Advance
reservations are not needed. Virochey is to the north west of Banlung.
Any of the drivers in Banlung can quickly organize a day trip to
anywhere in the area, including an overland trip from Banlung to Sen
Monorom to the south. An update about this trip is on

http://home.t-online.de/home/b.heiser/expedition.htm

The crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam on old Hwy 19 is about 65
kilometers to the east of Banlung. What is most interesting is that
the foreigners can now apparently cross the border between Cambodia
and Vietnam on old Hwy 19. See an update about it on

http://talesofasia.com/cambodia-rata...-practical.htm

For the story about what happened on the Vietnamese side of old Hwy 19
between the border crossing and Pleiku in November of 1965, see the
recently reprinted book

We Were Soldiers Once… And Young
By Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.)
New York, 1993

A movie with this same name staring Mel Gibson was recently released.
It was based on this book. The book was reprinted at the same time and
is available in paperback now on

Amazon Online Reader : We Were Soldiers Once......
Amazon Online Reader : We Were Soldiers Once......

Nearly 40 years after the November of 1965 battles in the Ia Drang
Valley, it is entirely possible for foreign tourists to visit this
area alone and unescorted. Who will be the first to upload a trip
report about it? How many Vietnamese taxi drivers are waiting now on
the Vietnamese side of the border on old Hwy 19?

For a tour of the Ia Drang Valley on the Vietnamese side of old Hwy
19, just rent a motorcycle in Pleiku. Tour guides and "Honda Om" (moto
drivers) in Pleiku are most certainly making a living these days off
tours to the Ia Drang Valley. Which tour guide in Pleiku is the best
today? One big beer Lao will be awarded to the first independent
foreign tourist who uploads pictures onto the Internet from the Ia
Drang Valley and the Vietnamese side of the old Hwy 19.

Some links about the area around Dak Pek are on

http://rectravel.com/dakpek

A new site put up by some local tour guides in Sen Monorom in
Cambodia's Mondulkiri Province is on

http://www.camnet.com.kh/mondulkiri

Some other current travel links from the area are on

http://rectravel.com/rbe

rectravel@yahoo.com (George Moore) wrote in message news:...
> Who will be the first to get new pictures of Nong Fa?
>
> See http://rectravel.com/chavane