Presenting a mock interview with Patricia

Co-instructor, Victoria, an IP attorney from Singapore

The participants engaged in claim-drafting exercises

Before entering the War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City (Siagon). I didn't feel like I understood the Vietnam War before visiting; now I think I do. These exhibits bring the horrors of the war to life, primarily fom the perspective of the other side, and make a powerful impact regardless of your views on the war. The Vietnamese are amazingly resillient, and I was a bit surprised to experience no ill will from any Vietnamese on account of being American. I defintely plan to return with our boys when they are old enough to understand.

One wing portrayed the global protests against the war.

The losses incurred by the Vietnamese are hard to fathom.

Due to the chemical legacy and genetic effects of dioxin (from Agent Orange), Vietnam continues to suffer from extraordinarily high rates of birth defects.

Captured American fighter planes, helicopters and tanks around the museum make a profound impression.

It's not uncommon to see motorcyclists talking on their cell phone, nor is it uncommon to see entire families on a motor bike.

You see lots of infants and toddlers standing, sitting or hanging off of motor bikes--it's bottle time for this one.

An iconic image of a Vietnamese woman wearing the traditional conical Viet hat. I saw more women than men on bicycles in and aroudn Saigon.

The Vietnamese are masters at packing a big load onto their motorbikes.

Here's a family of four on a motor bike. Victoria said she saw as many as five on a motor bike a couple times, but I never did.

A motor bike ride is a good time for a nap for infants.

The box in this guy's lap is even more impressive than the four in the back.

Fully loaded

Such great food in Viet Nam.

I found a side job as a coconut milk street vendor.

The tallest building in Saigon, the Bitexco Financial Tower

Saigon from the top of the Bitexco Financial Tower

The Saigon Opera House, where I saw A O Show--interweaving Vietnamese cultural themes and music with amazing and beautiful artistic and athletic grace, this was one of the best stage productions I have seen anywhere.

The A O Show performers after the show.

Flowering banana plant along the Mekong River.

Cycling along the Mekong River delta

Our lunch along the Mekong.

Rice paddies along the highway.

The handicapped artists making lacqured artwork at Handicapped Handicrafts en route to the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Lastly, I visited the Cu Chi Tunnels outside Saigon, where the Viet Cong lived underground for ~30 years. Here, our guide, Tommy, demonstrates some of their traps.

The spikes at the bottom provide for an unwelcome landing.

Now you see him . . .

Now you don't.

Simulated termite and ant mounts provided critical air passages down to the tunnel network.

This place was filled with touring Malaysians. Seeing them pose on and in front of blown-out American tanks struck these American eyes as a bit odd.

A trap rigged onto a door frame--relased when the door was opened.

I fired this AK-47 at the range there.

The landscape is littered with the massive craters from detonated B-52 bombs dropped by American aircraft trying to reach the tunnels.

Here, we climbed down into some of the tunnels, which have been widened to permit westerners to pass through.

The jungle there was thick. It's not hard to imagine what an advantage the Viet Cong had with their familarity with this kind of terrain.