Vietnam is overwhelming, it assaults you with it's beauty, it's smells, it's trash, it's poverty and above all it's kind and friendly people who all want to say hello (xin chao). We spend our first day in Saigon sick, something we caught in-flight or more likely at the Kuala Lumpur airport. Steve and I are bed ridden while Adele manages to feed and get her and her brother to bed--she's growing up so fast. The kids take turns over the next couple of days getting sick themselves.
In between all this, we see the sights. We take an amazing boat tour down the Mekong River out in the Mekong Delta and learn much about Vietnam it's history and it's religion (predominantly ancestor worship, btw). Our driver worked for the US Army and was sent to "re-education" camp for a year and banned from living in his home town of Saigon for 10 years. He  was grateful to the Americans and had the kindest heart bearing grudges towards no one.
Our tour operator had a similar story of tragedy and triumph. He is the son of a Vietnamese mother and the former head of Special Ops for the US Army. After his father was KIA he and his young brother were shipped off to the US where it thought they would be safe from recrimination and his mother had no idea where he was for 15 years. They found each other on the web, he moved back to Vietnam and took over her business. Amazing story!

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