Da Nang to Na Trang

We left Hio An and drove to the Da Nang Airport but first stopped at China Beach, which was one of the primary R&R destinations in the Vietnam war. We flew from Da Nang to Can Ranh Bay a name that is familiar to anyone over 55 years old. This was one of the largest air force and navy bases in the Vietnam war. Our bus headed deep into the country side taking us to Dien Phu a small farming village for a home visit so that we could experience the life of a villager in South Vietnam, we got a bonus in that our host was a 65 year old gentleman who had fought for the South in the war. We had a Vietnamese lunch in his home that had been built by the Gold Circle Foundation. Lunch wasn’t very appealing sitting in his frnt room with no moving air in 98 degree heat. After lunch we moved to a spot in the front yard which captured a breeze off the near by lake. We were offered an opportunity to ask questions which started with his interpretation of the War and its effects on the country, next we talked about village income taxes. He pays $1.25 per year in property taxes, no income taxes, and if he gets sick he goes to the hospital finds a corner and waits for care. If he’s going to eat his family will have to bring food, if he’s going to bath his family will have to see to his personal hygiene. His children can go to school if he can afford to get them to the school pay for their books, uniforms, and food. School is not mandatory. The villagers are farmers farming rice, they also make baskets which they sell to the other villages and fisherman at the nearby coast. We asked if his life would be different if the South had won the war? “Do you see Communism anywhere in our country? My life would be the same, we all engage in commerce, we are all capitalists, nothing would be different.” We then went and were taught how to make bamboo baskets. Before we left the general area we went to a local grammer school. It’s inlightning to see the hill these countries have to climb when they have no tax base to educate their children, thus they can’t produce an educated work force to build their country. So instead political officials take for themselves and allow the people to continue to live as they are.

If anyone ever tells me that our government screws up everything that it gets involved I’m going to tell them to move to Vietnam where there are no meaningful taxes and see how they like an uninvolved government.

We checked into our hotel in Nha Trang, and went out to a Vietnamese restaurant; I’m getting tired of Vietnamese food.

Today we caught a boat to cross the bay to a fishing village. As on most islands they have a problem dealing with trash, but unlike the islands that most of us are used to they make little effort to dispose of trash, it tends to end up in the sea. That aside this is a community that is self sufficient, they have a post office, a medical clinic, and an internet café. They eat and sell what they catch and open their island to the tourist, it’s evident though that they don’t see many Americans, more French and Australians.

From the fishing village, back on our boat and around to the other side of the island for a relaxing three hours on a private beach. This was a welcomed slowdown in pace; a dip in the sea, a tequllia sunrize, a pedicure/foot and leg message, and a fish lunch and I was ready for our last week in the far east. To top the day off we went to a local restaurant and had a hamburger and fries; I can now finish out the trip on Vietnamese food.