Hoi An

It was good to escape from the crazy traffic of Saigon. The visit to the Chu Chi tunnels was educational to say the least. The ingenuity of the Vietnamese certainly won out against the might of the American's. I was glad I was there as tourist and not an American soldier - what a terrifying and alien experience it must have been for them wandering in a humid jungle into traps and guns, not to mention bugs and other poisonous creatures. This was followed by an equally disturbing visit to the War Remenants museum with grapic pictures taken by courageous journallists. It is hard for me to understand why the Americans were here in the first place. I wondered if the Iraquis and Afhganis came to take lessons on how to win a grurilla war and how long it will take us to learn that nobody wins wars. Horrific.


On a lighter note we took a trip to the fertile Mekong river delta and ate delicous pinapple, mango, grapefruit and lycees then floated on a sampan through the lush garens. They produce three crops of rice a year here.

Today we came norh to Hoi An a smaller town, a world hertitage site. We visited an original house with chinese and french influence. Every house seems to have an altar and although this is a communist country religion plays an important role in people's lives. We have visted a Bhuddist Temple, Chinese Pagoga's and strange religous sect called Cao Dai whose motto is God and Humanity, Love and Justice and claims most religous figures for inspiration, bhuddha, quanyin, jesus. This seems enlighted.
Well it's off to bed to look forward to another exciting day of touring with a group!