Forty years ago on this day I landed in Vietnam not certain that I would leave alive. This time around the only uncertainty that I face is the challenge of finding my way around a country where I do not speak the language. There is always the possibility that something adverse might happen--life is filled with uncertainty and risk even outside of combat--but these possibilities are of my own making and in pursuit of my own goals, not the whims of politicians and their egos. I don't expect to have another 40 years to reflect on this trip but in the normal course of events I can expect a to have some years going forward.
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We made it to Cat Thien National Park. The hotel arranged a car and driver who picked us up around 1300. We drove north from Vung Tau through Bia Bao and Long Kanh and then across a number of back roads to Route 20. Got in around 1730. The park entrance is on the Dong Nai River; access is by ferry. We are now reasonably comfortable in a very basic room (with A/C!!) after a dinner of fried catfish.
The ride up was almost overwhelming in the sheer number of sights. People everywhere--all busily going about some sort of activity. Lots and lots of school children in white shirts and red scarves. Monuments to the victory of the revolution. Posters of workers, soldiers and peasants. Many images of Ho Chi Minh. Construction everywhere, of all sizes and always the traffic: motorbikes, bicycles, cars, busses, lorries. Our driver, who spoke no English but was personable and friendly nonetheless, simply wove in and out of it all, even as the road and clearances narrowed in the last kilometers to the park entrance. Saw people drying rice and tobacco along the roadside, sometimes on the road. Saw cornstalks in some places and large piles of yellow-orange corn. New houses,old houses. A surprising number of Catholic churches. Rubber plantations.
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