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Published: October 2nd 2007
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Sweet Little Kids
Upon arrival on an island in the Mekong Delta, we were greeted by these three little kids who were very cute and friendly. For the longest time, I have been trying to coax Lao-puo into keeping her own blog, because her perspective and style are both quite different from my own. She has been too busy, between the two waifs and her Chinese class, to do much writing. She finally relented and asked to do a chapter in mine.
So. Here she is.
"Doug and I had the most incredible weekend in Vietnam. We did all that we went to do. The only thing I'd ever go back for is a train trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi - a 30 hour trip. HCMC is insane. It's a city that never sleeps and during the day there is a sea of motor scooters on the road. Apparently, there are 5 deaths a day and many more injuries.
Having been a young adult in the late '60's/early 70's, the Vietnam War was really "in my face". It had a huge impact on me, especially after I had met a couple of "vets" in Canada and walked the streets of San Francisco and seen the human results of a terrible war. I have wanted, for years, to go there but never
A Candy Factory
Employees were making coconut candy as we watched. Of course, we were invited to have a taste test! thought it would really happen. I wanted to see where this horrific war took place. It's hard to define why but I guess I'd equate it to needing to see a recently passed loved one before burial. I've had a bit of a fascination with the place.
We went to the War Memorial first. What an impact that had on us. We had seen many pictures, of course, but to see them all collected in one place and many, many more we hadn't seen was.....what can I say.....other than very emotional and disturbing. There were a few American tanks on the grounds that had been captured by the Vietnamese. After that, we were shown the Notre Dame Cathedral, built in the 1800's.
The next day, Doug and I and another couple on our tour went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. I had heard of them but had no idea of the extent of these tunnels. They twisted and turned for miles and miles. It was necessary to crouch down and crawl along them. No wonder the Americans didn't know where their enemy was. They'd pop up through a tiny hole in the ground that was covered by leaves,
shoot and pop down again. They were living underground, many for years and years. Our tour guide was very anti-American. Doug wondered if he had been deliberately chosen for his political leanings. It disturbed me to have such a tour guide with such a biased point of view. Doug talked to him about it later and the guy gave no response to defend himself.
On the third day, we found another tour which took us to the Mekong Delta where we took a boat ride around the islands and actually visited a couple of them. They're so beautiful. We went to a coconut candy-making place. All their shelters and the restaurant on the Islands are open air surrounded and covered by palm trees. It's so primitive but so lovely. While on the water we saw a huge bridge that had been under construction since 2004 going across the Mekong River.
On our tour, there was an elderly man who was such a loner. He always sat alone and never joined in with the others. There were about 20 people on our tour that day. I sat next to him at one point and got him talking. He seemed
An Island Restaurant
...and NO mosquitoes. so sad and worn out so I started to politely dig because I was curious as to why he was like he was. It turns out that, even though he's Vietnamese, he has lived in Dallas for the past 16 years. His wife died 5 months ago. Then he told me he was actually Viet Cong. Now what do I say? Well, he went on to say that he was an officer in the People's Army. After the war, the Americans took all the People's Army officers to a prisoner of war camp for three years. What I found strange is that he said at the end of his time there, the Americans took them all to the U.S. I don't understand that. Why would they bother? Well. I find it hard to hate the man. He killed American soldiers. I'm sure I could hate him if it was in my face but it isn't. He just seems tired and worn out and very, very sad. His English was so poor, perhaps I misunderstood some things he said. I don't know.
How I despise war! Why can't people just let others live?????????? If I had grown up with that
Doug Carrying a Heavy Load
This is a common way for people to carry their load. man, he'd probably be my friend but he's not. He was/is a communist and I know all that."
October 5, 2007
I just received a comment regarding my misunderstanding of what the Vietnamese man (above) was trying to tell me. I believe the commenter is correct and I thank him/her for the clarification:
"I think you misunderstood the Vietnamese man that you met in the Mekong delta. He must be on the south Vietnam army (not Viet Cong). When the communist took over the south in April 1975, all the military officers and management level of government workers of the old regime (south Vietnam who sided with the American) must go to "re-education" camps. They were concentration camps in the jungles where they had to do hard labor and got brain washed with communist theory. The duration for most of them were anywhere from 2-10 years. Even after the re-education camp, most of them were not allow to work because of their past history of being on the losing side. Even their children were treated as second class citizen when they applied to college or for jobs. That was why so many people risked their life to
French Ice Coffee
This is the best to die for coffee in the world...seriously...and I don't even like coffee!!! escape by boat in the early 80's to get away from the communist (several thousands died in the sea). In 1990, the US started a humanitarian program to allow people who went to
> re-education camp for at least 3 years to re-settle in the US. These were the people who were on the US side. Not the one who shot at the US. Many would say that the US abandoned them in 1975...but that's history...we all see it differently through our own lenses."
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Bob
non-member comment
A nice surprise!!
Good job Suzanne!! You should write more often. Tomomi and I enjoyed reading about your experience in Viet Nam very much. We miss you guys!