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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.
In 1975, the southern city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City by the North Vietnamese victors. Today, in spite of this change, the city is still largely known as Saigon, except by some northerners and for official purposes. I refer to it by its pre-1975 name, Saigon.
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. 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. 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. For example, the main north-south road through Laos was called 911 by the US and 128 by the North Vietnamese. Since I have been working from old North Vietnamese maps, I use their numbering system, as opposed to the US one.
There is some disagreement as to whether the Honda Cub is a motorcycle or a moped. 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. 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.
