Back From Vietnam 03-26-2017
Final Post, 03-18-2017
Today marked the end of my journey to Vietnam. A final day of touring was culminated by a visit to the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace. The war officially ended on April 30, 1975 when North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the Palace and President Thieu surrendered the South to the North. Thus the longest war ended. Our history books record this war as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam history calls this war the American War. It is considered a victory for Vietnam and a defeat for the United States. Videos shown at the Cu Chi Tunnels museum call the American troops...the American Dirty Dog Bastards. The Presidents' residence is now called the Unification Palace. The gate has been restored and A VNAF(Vietnamese Air Force) Huey is parked in the rear and is on display along with a Russian tank and a Chinese tank. Many of the original artifacts are on display.
I leave here with mixed emotions about my visit. I am glad that I was able to share this visit with Linda and Jerry and Mary Ann Hankins. I know it was not their destination of choice. I thought it was a journey I should take.
We then started our journey home. Our day started at 12:00 noon in Vietnam on Friday the 17th. It was 12:00 midnight on the 16th in Alabama. Our flight left Saigon at 12:10 am on the 18th (12:10 pm on the 17th at home). We had a 4 hour flight to Seoul, Korea with a 4 hour lay over. We then departed Korea for Detroit. We arrived in Detroit 13 hours later. After a 2 hour later we boarded our airplane for a 2 hour flight to Atlanta. We arrived in Atlanta about 2:00 pm CST and drove back to Alabama. We got home at 5:00 pm on the 18th. In bed by 6:30 pm. From the time we got up in Saigon to be able to lay down again was almost 50 hours... from Thursday afternoon until Saturday afternoon.
The end of a very interesting trip. Two separate cultures. The people were very friendly in both countries, the food was good, and all of our accommodations were first rate.
Did I enjoy the trip? Yes. Would I go there again? No. Europe is on our horizon. I miss the Alps.
Today marked the end of my journey to Vietnam. A final day of touring was culminated by a visit to the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace. The war officially ended on April 30, 1975 when North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the Palace and President Thieu surrendered the South to the North. Thus the longest war ended. Our history books record this war as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam history calls this war the American War. It is considered a victory for Vietnam and a defeat for the United States. Videos shown at the Cu Chi Tunnels museum call the American troops...the American Dirty Dog Bastards. The Presidents' residence is now called the Unification Palace. The gate has been restored and A VNAF(Vietnamese Air Force) Huey is parked in the rear and is on display along with a Russian tank and a Chinese tank. Many of the original artifacts are on display.
I leave here with mixed emotions about my visit. I am glad that I was able to share this visit with Linda and Jerry and Mary Ann Hankins. I know it was not their destination of choice. I thought it was a journey I should take.
We then started our journey home. Our day started at 12:00 noon in Vietnam on Friday the 17th. It was 12:00 midnight on the 16th in Alabama. Our flight left Saigon at 12:10 am on the 18th (12:10 pm on the 17th at home). We had a 4 hour flight to Seoul, Korea with a 4 hour lay over. We then departed Korea for Detroit. We arrived in Detroit 13 hours later. After a 2 hour later we boarded our airplane for a 2 hour flight to Atlanta. We arrived in Atlanta about 2:00 pm CST and drove back to Alabama. We got home at 5:00 pm on the 18th. In bed by 6:30 pm. From the time we got up in Saigon to be able to lay down again was almost 50 hours... from Thursday afternoon until Saturday afternoon.
The end of a very interesting trip. Two separate cultures. The people were very friendly in both countries, the food was good, and all of our accommodations were first rate.
Did I enjoy the trip? Yes. Would I go there again? No. Europe is on our horizon. I miss the Alps.
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| Who is afraid of snakes? |
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| Our group of 14 travelers |
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| VNAF UH-1 |
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| today |
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| you remember this picture, 04-30-1975 |
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| replica, on display |
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| How many donuts |
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| more motor scooters than you can count |
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| Jerry and Mary Ann (Ho Chi Minh in background) |
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| meals were excellent |
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| not your everyday fare at home |
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| fast food on the streets |
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| they still harvest rice like this today |
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| their national flag |
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