Three Times A Mom

Hot and sweaty in the jungles of Vietnam… here are a few shots of our day-trips to the Me Kong Delta and the tunnels near Cu Chi. Both trips were very worthwhile, but if you plan on going, prepare to be sticky! Overall, I haven’t been quite as miserable as I expected to be in the humidity, but we’ve pretty much given up the fresh and clean feeling. The area Reagan is from – South Central Vietnam – is more arid (though certainly not cool!), so these two excursions took us to areas that more closely resemble the Vietnam in my mind: remote, jungle-y, and very green. I now have a much greater appreciation both for what our American GI’s went through here in the 70’s, and the tenacity of the Vietnamese people. I cannot imagine the misery or terror of trekking through this terrain loaded down with weaponry and gear, with no promise of an air-conditioned van or shower waiting for you at the end of the day, only the fear of the unknown and unseen enemy. However, I also cannot fathom the desperation of people who have concluded that their best option was to literally live underground, digging hundreds of kilometers of tunnels and rooms by hand through hard clay. Danny took a few shots with the VC weaponry of the time and crawled through the tunnels (made larger for us big American tourists, but still much too small for me!), and we all enjoyed riding the boats (ranging from rickety, small and old, to very rickety, tiny and ancient) down and around the islands of the Me Kong Delta. So enjoy the pictures and don't laugh at our hats! There's a reason so many people here wear them - they are lightweight, have a large brim, and actually fit my big head.