historianherb

Vietnam! A word for an American that summons images of soldiers in the jungle fighting and bleeding for a cause and reason only known to them. The idea of a communist government that spread fear among our parents and grandparents. The very word Vietnam makes a war pop into your head and not a country. Welcome to the new Vietnam. A place trying to develop into a modern country and trying to forget the war that made it a household name. A country that is full of friendly people that are trying to make a living for there family. A place where you can see a family of four on a scooter, an old woman carrying a heavy load on her shoulders, endless rice paddies, or water buffalo walking down a street carrying a farmer. You ... read more

We arrived in Xi'an after a sixteen hour overnight train. Arriving in the train station we were greeted by the massive Stone Wall that surrounds the city. The city has grown past the ancient wall but the wall still plays a big part in the city life. The reason that Xi'an is famous is because a farmer discovered the Terracota Warriors nearby in 1974 and the town has become a mecca for those seeking out the Terracota Warriors. The city is very modern and you can see the evidence of new buildings being built everywhere. After settling in we headed to a 300 year old restaurant that is famous for its dumplings which were delicious. After eating we headed to the Wild Goose Pagoda to explore the Temples for Buddha. The first night in Xi'an we ... read more

Heading out of Beijing my group went to a less touristy section of the Great Wall to explore the ancient Chinese creation. Arriving at this section of the Great Wall to find that it is situated on the ridge of a mountain pass. There was two options to get to the wall was either a hour long hike to the wall up a mountain or take a nice cable car right to the wall for about five U.S. dollars. After much though I easily chose the cable car to save my energy for the Great Wall. Once standing on the Great Wall it was an amazing sight. High on the mountain ridge was this massive wall structure stretching as far as your eyes could see. It is unbelievable that man could build this imposing structure so ... read more

I am writing this Blog from good ol' San Antonio. After Iguacu Falls our group headed by bus for 24 hours to the city of Paraty while passing through Sao Paulo. Paraty was a nice little beach town in Brazil where you can go to Trinidad beach or head to the natural water rock slides. I decided to go to the rock water slides and headed over by local bus to the area. It was free to enter the area and it was mostly locals there. The area consisted of slippery smooth rocks with water following over them so they made a natural water slide. You could go down the slide on your butt which I did but some of the locals where standing up and surfing on the rock slides. After Paraty we headed by ... read more

I left Bonito, Brasil by twelve hour bus to arrive at the city of Foz de Iguaçu. We head out to see the Iguaçu Falls on the Brazillian side. The falls have two side one is on the Brazillian side and the other is on the Argentina side. I decided to take the helicopter ride to get a birds eye view of the falls. The pilot took off and we soared through the air for fifthteen minutes while watching the spectacular Iguaçu Falls from above. From the air the falls look great but actually small. Then we headed by van to the entrance of the Brazillian side of the Falls. After entering you walk along a path while seeing Quati which are in the racoon family run around the place. You walk along the path viewing ... read more