Yesterday we took the bus from the beach resort town of Mui Ne to the mountain resort city of Dalat. The bus was a little more civilized than the one from Vung Tau, but by no means luxury transportation.  Dalat was built by the French as a place to vacation and cool off.  At a little over 5,000 feet in elevation, temperatures are just about perfect during the day and cool enough to require a jacket at night.  It is quite the international destination, full of unique shops, art galleries, cafes, etc.  This is in the heart of coffee growing country - Vietnam is #2 behind Brazil as a coffee exporter. Our goal today is to bring back the best coffee that we can find.
   We are spoiled after our luxury $40 hotel on the beach in Mui Ne.  Our planned place to stay here was full and our $10 room up the road was adequate but very noisy.  Enjoyed a French meal at the Peace Cafe.  Hope we can find Saigon Lager when we return. TR

To Chris Arai,
    Yes, it is very emotional.
    Rick and I had very different war experiences, before, during and after that year. Both of us were driven to tears and could not make it through the War Remnants Museum without, separately, going outside to gather our thoughts.
    I appreciate your thoughtful comment and will leave it on the blog. Political and moral judgments, and just plain ignorant comments, will be removed as quickly as possible.
    It is very difficult for me to avoid discussing the politics and morality of the event that controlled the path my life has taken. (For example, I never intended to be a pilot of any kind.)
    I was politically aware well before, during and after my war years. After the Peace Corps, I spent 5 1/2 years in the military with 3 in the combat zones of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. I have very strong opinions on these subjects. I can respect the positions of my contemporaries from extreme pro to extreme anti on the war(s). I have a lot less than no respect for are those who were ignorant and/or avoided awareness of what was going on in their name. The military does the bidding of our democratically elected civilian government. We truly do have a government of, by and for the people.
TR

This large poster of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, with a translation in Vietnamese, is posted in the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, near the photos and story of My Lai.  It might be worthwhile to take a glance at the 1945 Vietnamese Proclamation of Independence at
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/van_kien/declar.html

We have not seen another American since we left Saigon.  The Vietnamese we interact with throughout the day generally think that we are Europeans or Russians, of which there are many.  If they discover we are Americans, they are very warm and welcoming. TR

 Lunch at the Chow Hall Mui Ne

 Rick and TR at lunch

Rick on the beach at Mui Ne

    We went to see the "Military Leader of Vung Tau" this morning. We were well received as they went up the chain of command before he greeted us. An attitude somewhere between cordial and stern. Unfortunately we could not locate an English speaker so I was unable to find out the information that I was there for. Oh yes, saw our first AK47, this trip, at the military headquarters
    The bus from Vung Tau to where we are staying now, Mui Nem, was packed to overflowing with cargo and people. Everyone is exceptionally friendly. As Americans, we are something of a novelty. Lots of Russians, Europeans and some Australians. Once the word gets out, I am sure that many more will visit from the US.
    We had a great seafood dinner of red snapper and fancy embellishments  Ridiculously cheap.  TR

Bummer! Unable to surf at all. My shoulder hurts too bad.. Not acceptable. I will be getting it fixed when I get home. Fortunately it did not impede beer drinking so we did that instead.

This afternoon I found the squadron villa where I lived here for a year. I thought it had been torn down, but it was just hidden behind a new building. It looked a little better than it had looked forty years ago.

Since we have been in Vietnam, we have yet to see a single gun, police car or a sign of the military. There are thousands of motorcycles. Those that are parked are never locked. The people seem much more prosperous than before and quite happy.

Following a Buddhist custom, I bought a little caged bird from a street vendor near a big temple and released it.

A goal today was to try and find a former Viet Cong from here and find out if it was true that, like the Americans, they used Vung Tau as an R&R center. Supposedly that was why we did not get shot at here. It did not work out this evening, but we are set up to go visit the "Military Leader of Vung Tau" tomorrow.   TR

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2012

Vung Tau is completely unrecognizable after 40 years of tremendous development. Went by the place where I lived and it had been replace with new, modern structures. 

We are in a nice hotel with an ocean view ($48).

Wow! the surf is even better than I remember! 5 foot waves, nicely shaped, even with a fairly strong afternoon on-shore wind, innumerable beach breaks left and right, sand bottom, no one surfing! Should be incredible tomorrow morning with an offshore breeze.

Riding the hydrofoil here from Saigon, enjoyed a very pleasant conversation with a politically astute young women from Hanoi. In the three days we have been here, we have yet to sense even the sightest animosity.

Heading out to drink beer and find a surfboard.  TR