From May 16 to June 2, Bob McElvaine will lead his seventh trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Vietnam has what may well be the best food in the world - and certainly the best coffee in the world. Both the Vietnamese and the Cambodian people are extraordinarily friendly to Americans. We will visit Six World Heritage sites:
*Central Hanoi
*Ha Long Bay (recently named one of the Seven Natural Wonders o
f the World)
*The Imperial Capital of Hue
*The ancient trading port of Hoi An
*The Cham temples at My Son
*Angkor Wat (on many Seven Wonders of the World lists) and surrounding temples in Cambodia. In addition, we'll visit:
*In Hanoi, the mausoleum in which Ho Chi Minh's preserved body is on display and the "Hanoi Hilton," the prison where American POWs were held.
*Dien Bien Phu, in the mountains of northwestern Vietnam, along the Lao border, where the French were decisively defeated in 1954. In this area, where few Westerners are seen, we'll go into the mountains and visit tribal people.
*Khe Sanh, where American troops were besieged for weeks during 1968, before and during the Tet Offensive.
*My Lai (Son My), where a massacre of Vietnamese civilians was carried out by American troops in 1968.
*Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), where the fact that Vietnam is today an utterly capitalist country is most obvious.
*Cu Chi, a Viet Cong tunnel complex near Saigon.
* Siem Reap, a booming town in Cambodia with superb restaurants and entertainment.
*One of the killing fields from the Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia
* Phnom Kulen, the holiest mountain in Cambodia.
