We are now on the coast about three hours from Hanoi in Minh Chau on the China Sea. This is the extension part of the trip, two people have left us. It is very hot and humid. This heat brings memories of summer days in Gettysburg with the humidity and heat shimmering off the pavement and grass. I hate this kind of heat. It takes everything you have to function in it. And getting out of the air conditioned van into the sweltering heat is not for the faint of heart.

After about 3 hours we arrived in a small village whose speciality is making incense. They are known for the black incense which they apply by hand. The black incense is used for greeting in the New Year and other ceremonies. The red incense which smells more like cinnamon is done by machine and is used more widely. It seems villages around Vietnam have their own specialities. Some make cinnamon bark from the trees, others work turning trees into plywood, today’s village made incense which is exported all over the world. Drying in the sun are rows and rows of these incense sticks, while others form a beautiful round shapes. The black incense has a red center.

After walking around the village we piled into the van and took off for a fish market. This was along the coast with brightly painted fishing boats tied up at wharfs that were made from old boats. I brought my small sproket printer and had fun giving out photos. We spent quite a while photographing people, and looking at an assortment of fish. We returned later in the day to photograph the fishing boats that had come in, but there were few people around.

We were there for about 40 minutes and our guide caught up with us to inform us the police had insisted we stop photographing as we were near the South China sea and the border. Photographing was not allowed. We only got a warning, no jail for us.

Tomorrow we are up for the dawn patrol. a silk weed farm, and more photographing. This will be our last day. It has been an amazing trip. We have been where no tourists have gone and had many unique experiences. We have had the opportunity to engage with the local people, get our picture taken with many of them, and to enjoy a truly authentic experience. Vietnam is an amazing beautifu country. I feel better having been here and received an education on how Vietnam has pulled itself up after the war and to feel the warm friendly people acceptance of us has been an eye opener for me. I still think about what we did to these people and this country, how we poisoned them with Agent Orange and killed their families. I do not think I would be so welcoming.