Voir Dire

Unraveling the history of Vietnam is a challenge and impossible to fully comprehend as a foreigner.  But even having a decent understanding of Vietnam in the 20th Century makes traveling here more of a treat.   An Bang Beach - Hoi An                                                      Kim Bong Carpenters Village - Fishermen outside Hoi An Poor kids, because of the French not leaving any kind of sports culture they're left riding to the parks with their badminton racquets to knock around the shuttlecock. (background behind Dean)  Cu Chi, Ben Duoc tunnels outside SaiGon.  I would have gotten killed immediately as a tunnel rat.              Before the tour of the tunnels there's an option for the gun range.  I chose the M60 with 100 rounds.

VIETNAM - THE WAR YEARS               In the 20th Century alone, Vietnam fought French Colonialists, the United States, Communist China, Imperial Japan during WWII and the Communist Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot in Cambodia.  They basically fought two Revolutionary Wars and a Civil War simultaneously all the while coming into the 21st Century as SouthEast Asia's new 'tiger' economy.  The people and steel land of Vietnam have proven to be indomitable.                  Sai Gon  'Paris of the East' built by French Colonialists starting around the 1870's.        The French surrender in 1954 after 56 days of fighting at Dien Bien Phu (Central part of the country). They withdraw the next year leaving behind everything they had built in their colony and the country is split at the 17th parallel, establishing North and South.               ...

  The change of pace from the idyllic beaches of Kauai to the heart of Hanoi in the Old Quarter was immediate.  I wasn't quite sure how to describe the scene, so I've branched out into second-rate videography.  This is a typical walk about and street crossing in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, one of the most densely populated districts in the world.  It's basically an advanced level game of live Frogger...with your family. The scene from our balcony.  TIP: If you watch the video, go to SETTINGS and change the speed to .5.  It allows for a greater appreciation of the work. This scene happened within minutes of our first morning out.  I stopped for a moment here to look at a map.  Not fully understanding the rules yet we thought this was kind of for fun.  As it turned out they put a bag of bananas in Dean's hand, a bag of bread balls in Ruby's hand, a bag of pineapple in Martens hand and I was on the hook for 300,000 Dong.  I learned later fro...