VIETNAM, 40 years after

On 30 April 1975 Ho Chi Minh City - which was then called Saigon and was the capital of South Vietnam - was captured by communist troops from the North, and the war ended. Three million Vietnamese, and 58,000 US soldiers died in this war. It was the first to be lost by a modern global superpower. I visited the country this April starting from Sapa, the northern part close to the Chinese border, and then continued to Halong Bay and Hanoi, the capital. The central area followed, with the ancient towns of Hue and Hoi An, and in the end of the trip I visited Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the Mekong Delta. Special thanks to my friend Rebecca Mazzaro, from Asia Transpacific Journeys, who arranged every detail for this unforgettable trip.