Northwest Vietnam I was interested in the scenery and feel of Northwest Vietnam. Initially, I had planned to tackle the Northwest with a rented motorbike. The cost of that seemed too high, so I went with the cheapest option-public bus. Public bus can be kind of fun in Vietnam, squeezed in a vehicle that is always overloaded, sometimes someone sitting on your lap, there develops a comradeship among the passengers. If you have anything to eat, you share. It won’t be very neighborly just sitting there eating and not sharing with these close neighbors. My ride from Sapa to Dien Bien Phu started out all right, I actually had a full seat, but, it soon went down hill. I was in an oversized van, in the front passenger seat which holds three people, with a man, ... read more

Visiting Tay Ninh Province The three big reasons to visit Tay Ninh Province. Probably, the first on the list for most visitors is the Cu Chi tunnels. I visited those in 1992, which was before they were a big tourist draw. With Tom Mangold’s book The Tunnels of Cu Chi was published in 1986, the tunnels were known to the world. When Vietnam opened its doors to tourist people flocked to Tay Ninh to see them. I think I might have been in Tay Ninh Province one time during the war. I remember flying my Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Sydney Hazzard to a base of the 1st Infantry Division. After we landed Col Hazzard told me his meeting would last most of the day and why don’t you just go over to those barracks and get ... read more

Vung Tau and the Con Dao Islands If you are tired of the hot and sweaty HCMC and yearn for the beach, Vung Tau is the least expensive option. If you want to spend a little more money, Con Dao is a possible option. Going to the beach, dealing with the sand, salt water, never gets me too excited. Getting out of HCMC does. So, Trang and family rented a car and off to Vung Tau we went. Vung Tau is described as crowed, oil polluted beach. Not true, in my experience. You can see the off shore oil platforms from the beach and helicopters going overhead ferrying crews back and forth. The water was crystal clear the day I was there, good temperature and a pleasant experience. The highlight for the Tran and Nguyen families ... read more

Following the French Conquest of Cochinchina and Saigon, the Roman Catholic Church established religious services for the French colonialist in an abandoned Vietnamese pagoda. That was too small so they built a wooden church which was damaged by termites. In August 1876, the Governor of Cochinchina M. Duperré held a design contest for a new cathedral. Apart from creating a religious building for the Catholics, the cathedral, by some opinion, was also aimed at displaying Christianity and the greatness of French civilization. The design by architect J. Bourad defeated 17 others and was chosen by the contest organizers. J. Bourad's design was in a revised Roman style mixed with Gothic elements. The chosen design was considered the most beautiful one in the French colony at that time. J. Bourad was also the successful bidder so he ... read more

One year ago Trang and her husband Huan came to the United States to have their wedding blessed in the Holy Nativity Church in Kinsley Kansas. Kinsley and the Kinsley Rotary Club were home to Trang when she was a Rotary Exchange Student. Trang was the first Exchange Student since the new government in Vietnam. I believe a few followed her but Rotary International now says Exchange Students must come from "Rotary Countries," so that has ended a great program to help poor kids of poor countries. Trang was an orphan, she lost her Father when she was eight years old. She has a Mother, but in Vietnam, if you don't have a Dad, you are an orphan. This is a good concept because most women of her Mother's generation are not trained to make a ... read more