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Return to Viet Nam
Our Visit
To see "Then & Now" photo's click links below

The Idea Behind the Return

For the passed 3 or 4 years I have had this idea to go back. It's not about killing old ghosts because I don't really think I have any. It's about going back to a place where I spent two years of my young life. Going back to a place that as a 19 year old I lived but did not see anything. It's like going back to your home town for a visit after 20 years. I know there is nothing there now but I would still like to visit, after all it was a place that shaped my thoughts and feelings for the last 30 years.

At 19, coming from the small rural community of Kaikoura it was a way to see the world, or so I thought. I was not prepared for it very well. This return visit is a chance to see the country I thought I was going to see back then. Although we are retuning to the old base areas we are also going to visit places we didn't 30 years ago.
Saigon and the Mekong Delta

Planning
Whilst it is easy enough to get a flight o Saigon, to find a travel agent that can give you what you want is difficult. While they are knowledgeable enough i found that ours has had difficulty grasping that we are not ordinary tourist who want and adventure and Viet Nam is is the "in" country at the moment. The Viet Nam war to them is a tourist attraction, like a theme park, whereas it is something different to us.

In the end I wrote my own itinerary, took it to the travel agent and said, "book this". After several consultations we have come up with what suits Neil and I. I have been in contact with Allan Davis, a vet and his Vietnamese wife, Ahn, who own a bar in Vung Tau, The Etamoghar Pub. Allan and Ahn have offered to help us get to Nui Dat, the Horse Shoe and other places. They have kept me informed of transport and accommodation details. This has helped me with our travel agent.

The planning is done and the 12 May 2000 we were on our way.
Here is a copy of our itinerary at this time. It is a .pdf file so you need Acrobat reader to view it. (You can download Acrobat Reader from the homepage)

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