Blog Break

Our trip to Vietnam was an incredible experience, which I am still trying to digest, and will blog more at some point. In the meantime we went to Australia where Jim attended an ultrasound class in Brisbane and learned to do the actual scanning, which is what the radiologists do in New Zealand. He'll be doing ultrasound exams of muscles, tendons and joints. He's never too old to learn more!

I met my sister-in-law, Pam, in beautiful Sydney for three days, then on to Ayers Rock where we met Jim after he had completed his class.

We returned to NZ and after three days in Palmy to sleep, do the laundry and a bit of Palmy sightseeing (Jim was working), Jim, Pam and I are heading to the South Island for a week.

Who would have thought that this sheltered girl from an iron mining town in the Upper Peninsula would see so much of the world?

I will be back in April.

Cambodia and Vietnam - Part 6

An Khe

We were up at 2:00 to catch an early flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Qui Nhon. We had planned a side trip to An Khe in the Central Highlands where Jim was stationed in 1966-67 as a Medivac helicopter pilot with the First Air Cavalry Division. We were glad to be on our own for a couple of days, but also a bit nervous leaving the safety of the tour group.

Our flight was delayed in HCMC for three hours due to bad weather in Qui Nhon according to the announcement at the airport. We subsequently heard from three different people that the weather was fine and the plane or airport was probably needed for something else. The airport in Qui Nhon is also used by the Vietnamese Air Force, and the airport is frequently closed-no warning, no explanation. An omen perhaps?

We had been told we would be met by a guide and a driver to take us to An Khe, but only the non-English speaking driver was there, and we left in a beat-up old van for our trip to An Khe to meet up with Nathan our Engish speaking guide. After a couple of hours of driving,  meeting “sketchy” Nathan from California, lunch, making the decision not to attempt a visit to the now Communist Base that Jim used to call home, and a return trip in a “breaking down” car, we were ready to  collapse at our Qui Nhon hotel run by a Minnesotan (trustworthy for sure!). Oh, the relief to hear that Midwest accent.   

Jim recognized a particular hill near An Khe and many of the other hills and terrain that he had flown over and around. He enjoyed seeing that part of the world which he had experienced in an important year of his life, and had never expected to see again. His life there was not without danger, but he had an easier time than most and doesn’t have the emotional scars than many vets have. Despite the crazy and uncertain trip, we were glad we had come. 

The hill that Jim remembered in the background. An Khe in the foreground

It wasn't just the Minnesota accent. This is truly a beautiful place.You can see Jim swimming in the South China Sea.

The next day we set off with our English speaking guide who was an employee of the hotel, a good driver, and a new and reliable car for our all day trip to Da Nang where we would rejoin the tour group. We made several stops along the way and saw a part of Vietnam that many tourists don’t see. That will be another blog.  

Cambodia and Vietnam - Part 5

We were up early for our trip to to the Mekong Delta. How many times did we hear about the Mekong Delta back in the sixties and seventies? More strange feelings as we headed south. But we saw nothing indicating that the war had been fought in this area, only farmers in the rice paddies and villagers going about their daily lives. 

The town of Cai Be with the floating markets was much more pleasant than the floating villages in Cambodia. The markets in the villages and on the water were pleasant and productive. The traders in the boats come from farms to sell their goods on the river and stay until they have sold enough, about one week. We spent several hours cruising the Mekong River, enjoying the markets, food and village life.

Cai Be with markets that weren't floating

Our sampan

Some snacks for our trip on the Mekong River

Some of the activity along the river 

 

 

Making rice paper

Making poprice which was then made into rice cakes.

 We stopped at a small village on Dong Hoa Hiep Island, visited the markets, and had an excellent lunch, the usual "many courses" Vietnamese meal. 

A sink right there in the middle of the restaurant!

Cambodia and Vietnam - Part 4

Because we were delayed at the Ho Chi Minh airport and had a very short stay in HCM City, population of nine million, we weren’t able to see as much of the city as we had hoped. There was no particular reason for the delay other than inefficiency.

After a too long and too noisy, but good tasting local Vietnamese lunch, we took a tour of the former Presidential Palace, now Reunification Hall. This was our first of several visits to places we had first heard about and seen pictures of more than forty years ago.

And this eerie feeling we had then would revisit us many, many times during the week. 

Reunification Hall

We saw a lot of this guy!

  We then chose to go to The War Remnants Museum and got our first dose of propaganda. Not that the Americans didn’t do the terrible things displayed at the museum-we did. As the Lonely Planet says, “There are few museums in the world that drive home so well the point that war is horribly brutal and that many of its victims are civilians.” When the museum was about to close, an announcement was made, and within seconds the lights in the rooms were turned off, doors locked and out we went. Efficiency is possible!

Jim and I opted out of the group dinner and had a quiet evening at the hotel. We enjoyed it so much that we continued that pattern for most of the week.     

 

 

 

A remnant from Jim’s division, The First Air Cavalry unit patch, right there in the museum