So enjoy, this is the happy one.
Students and Ajaan Wongsa at the Cu Chi tunnels. This set of tunnels was dug by villagers to ward off American troops. Very impressive, they even had kitchens, medical wards, and other things dug into the ground. The tunnels were tiny though. TINY.
Examples of the traps the Cu Chi villagers dug to injure American troops. The current government is quite proud of these. Also, the tunnels themselves. We crawled through about 100 yds of one. It was horrible--so hot and tight and tiny, I have never been claustrophobic but I was freaking out. Raced out to the surface.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Fascinating economic model--socialism with central planning and market economics. Want to study more about this.
Welcome from the Hue Medical School. And where I forgot the gifts... all was well in the end, but it still makes my heart weak to think about it. Terrible social faux pas. Learned a lot though!
Group shot and the beautiful pagoda in Hue.
More Hue pagoda shots.
The Citadel in Hue.
Outside and inside of the Royal Palace complex. It is HUGE. Aj Dave and I raced through it with several students. One of them could be a great tour guide, she kept us moving. :)
Vietnamese sellers are aggressive-- they will place their wares in the van and try to make you buy everything while telling you how beautiful it is in English. I didn't have any problems with them as long as I firmly said no and sat down to rink tea with the Vietnamese doctors who were our logistics/everything wizards. But they can smell the nice ones.... and never let you go.
The electrification of rural Vietnam. So big you can hear it humming on the mountain top.
Inside the marble mountain. Most serene place on Earth. Also, me with the two Vietnamese doctors, Dr Hua and Dr Hung. They were so wonderful!
This lovely lady overlooks the ocean near Danang and is for good luck and prosperity (I think.) The temple was built recently. I made a wish there for love and strong community in 2011. If it comes true, I might come back and offer something to the temple. :) Very beautiful spot.
Students frolicking on the beach in Danang.
Late night fruit run with the staff.
My Son ancient ruins. Stunning place, although Dr Hung had a good point--because the king had control of everything and people's lives, he ordered many to build this complex for him. Sadly, many died and were buried in the foundations in the process. Beautiful, but also a tragic story of the misuse of power.
This little girl and her friends followed me for a bit before nervously asking for a photo. Not sure why. But she was cute.
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More coming soon, but hopefully this placates my family and friends :) It was a very interesting experience, managing the budget for the trip along with being the main CIEE rep there. Lots of responsibility which taught me a great deal about traveling with groups of students. Glad to have been given the opportunity.
Oh, and I got bored with taking pics by the time we made it to Hoi An. I plan to steal the students' photos, so those will be up once they return from their Hanoi excursion. :)
Ugh, some of the captions at the end are messed up. But I think most of you can figure out which is the fruit run and which is the beach!
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