Vietnam

On April 30, 1975  Marine Master Sergeant John Valdez was the last American to leave on the final helicopter from the grounds of the US Embassy in Saigon.

This event marked the end of the Vietnam War.
Thirty years later I was standing on the exact spot, goose bumps had developed on my arms. This was the place where history had been made!

When I visited Cu Chi, the war was brought back in a very realistic way.
Being claustrophobic, I could not go down into the Viet Kong tunnels, but I believe it is quite an eye opener.
This is the entrance to one of the tunnels.   

Today  Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it is known now, is a thriving metropolis.
The French influence from years gone by can clearly been seen in some of the magnificent buildings. The main post office comes to mind, which is beautiful.

Some of the sights in Saigon produced a lot of laughter.
How would you like to be a telephone technician here? We called it the tele-communications nightmare.

A place not to be missed is Hoi An. This lovely old town sits right in the middle of the country between Saigon and Hanoi.
Hoi An is famous for its Silk factory and we were shown the steps from worm to the final spun thread.
I witnessed how their famous tapestries are being made. From a small photo the artists transfer the picture stitch by stitch onto the empty canvas. They become masterpieces.
This one now adorns my living room.

There are so many things to see in this part of Vietnam. The Citadel, the mausoleums for Emperors Tu Duc and Khai Dinh are well worth a visit.
Hanoi was a surprise. Don’t know what I expected, but I enjoyed every minute of my stay here. This is a bustling city situated on the banks of the Red River.

The much awaited trip to Ha Long Bay literally fell into the water. It was raining when we arrived and did not stop.

The Bay is still spectacular, but I would have loved to see it in sunshine.
Last but not least there is the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre.
This was an absolute delight  to watch and I sat enthralled for 60 minutes.

I did enjoy my visit very much, the Vietnamese people are enchanting.