In Western cultures the Truong Son Mountains are known as the Annamites, but throughout this book I refer to them by their Vietnamese name, the Truong Son, meaning "Long Mountain." The Vietnamese called the Ho Chi Minh Trail the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route, hence to refer to them as Truong Son is more apt in this context.
About the Author: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent--better known as Ants--is an English writer whose favourite occupation is embarking on very long journeys in unsuitable vehicles; a habit which started in 2006 when she drove a bright pink tuk tuk from Bangkok, T.
Most Cub fans will insist their steed is a motorcycle, and within this book I refer to it variously as a motorcycle, moped, bike, Cub, and C90.
It has an automatic clutch and is rather smaller than your average motorcycle, but, on the other hand, has three gears, no running board, and bigger wheels than most mopeds.
There is some disagreement as to whether the Honda Cub is a Motorcycle or a moped.
Since I have been working from old North Vietnamese maps, I use their numbering system, as opposed to the US one.
For example, the main north-south road through Laos was called 911 by the US and 128 by the North Vietnamese.
Often I just call it "the War." American intelligence and Vietnamese military cartographers used a different numbering system for the Trail on maps of the time.
This book is a journey through these three countries, hence I refer to the conflict as the Second Indochina War, as opposed to the Vietnam War.
Although the war that took place in Southeast Asia in the sixties and seventies is generally called the Vietnam War, the broad term that refers to the war in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia is the Second Indochina War.
I refer to it by its pre-1975 name, Saigon.
Today, in spite of this change, the city is still largely known as Saigon, except by some northerners and for official purposes.
In 1975, the southern city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City by the North Vietnamese victors.
In Western cultures the Truong Son Mountains are known as the Annamites, but throughout this book I refer to them by their Vietnamese name, the Truong Son, meaning "Long Mountain." The Vietnamese called the Ho Chi Minh Trail the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route, hence to refer to them as Truong Son is more apt in this context
