January 4 -22, 2009
We decided to visit Vietnam for several reasons. First, we had been to China and Tibet a couple of years earlier and this tour seemed like a logical extension of our interest in Asia. Second, even though we lived through the events of the 60's and 70's here in the US, aside from the Vietnam War itself, we really did not know anything about the country and its people, and that war ended some 35 years ago so a lot has happened since then. It was time to take a deeper look. Third, our daughter and her family had moved to Vietnam about 18 months earlier so we were naturally more interested in visiting there than before. We were able to sneak away from our tour group and visit them for a day which helped us better understand the life they are now living.
All in all we really enjoyed Vietnam. The people were friendly, the food was great, and we saw so many things of interest that our heads are still spinning. The country is communist, but the communism seems more like a loose veneer lightly spread over a industrious, entrepreneurial spirit, driven by the youth, that is rapidly transforming the country.
Vietnam is a poor country, but very lush. Agriculture is everywhere. We saw few overweight people, but, more importantly, we saw next to no beggars or malnourished people.
Out trip was from north to south. We have broken down our photos into five sections, one for each major area we visited. We have also set up separate sections to cover several general topics ... landscape, traffic!, food, and our group. As is usual for our trip reports, we try to let pictures substitute for thousands of words, keeping comments to just the minimum necessary to prevent the reader from getting too disoriented.
This was our second trip with this tour organization, Overseas Adventure Travel, and we hope to be back for more. If you have thoughts of travel on your mind, you might want to check them out ... HERE
Hanoi Area
Hue/Hoi An Area
Nha Trang Area
Dalat Area
Saigon Area
Landscape
Food
Traffic!
Our Group
Travels Home
Hanoi Area
Hue/Hoi An Area
Nha Trang Area
Dalat Area
Saigon Area
Landscape
Food
Traffic!
Our Group
Travels Home