Vietnam Adventures
bonsai trees
Vietnam, see through my eyes as I went on a Wilderness Travel adventure through Vietnam spring 2002. Starting in Hanoi, a thousand year old city that lies on the banks of the Red River and still retains much of its French colonial atmosphere. We visited Ho Chi Minhs tomb and surrounding grounds. We wended our way through the heavy traffic to visit the Turtle Shrine, the Chinese Shrine, the War Museum, and the Centrale Maison, better known as the Hanoi Hilton. American fighter pilots, such as Senator John McCain, were held prisoners. But for the Vietnamese it is a cruel reminder of the harsh treatment they suffered under French rule. We toured the Old Quarters where you will see some of the stores in the video such as the lacquer stores, the metal works and basket shops. We attended the famous Hanoi Water Puppet show, which also featured some wonderful music that you will hear in this video. Under a light rain in Hue, we toured the Citadel. This was Vietnams political capital from 1802 to 1945 under the reign of 13 emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty, and was also the site of some of the bloodiest battles in the 1968 Tet Offensive. We also enjoyed a wonderful walk through the Hue market, which had everything imaginable for sale. We took a boat cruise down the Perfume River past boat villages and workers dredging sand from the river bottom until we arrived at the Thien Mu Pagoda. We met the monk that tends all of the beautiful gardens, which include many bonsai trees and …