Vietnam

As you may have heard, on Thursday, mom and I are going to Vietnam!

Vietnam is a country that runs along the coast of the South China Sea. Vietnam has long been a country of many wars. In 1858, one began "with a joint military force from France and a Spanish colony in the Philippines storming Danang. By 1883 the French imposed a Treaty of Protectorate on Vietnam."

"In WWII, there was only one group that significantly resisted Japanese occupation- the Viet Minh. When WWII ended, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent. "Soon after there was yet another war with the French. "When Ngo Dinh Diem , the leader of the Southern zone, refused to hold the 1956 elections the Ben Hai line became the border between North and South Vietnam. When Hanoi ordered the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) to infiltrate the South in 1964, the situation became desperate. The USA committed it's first combat troops a year later."

"Saigon surrendered to the NVA on April 30th 1975. Vietnam's reunification meant relief from more than a century of repression, but it was soon followed by another large-scale internal repression. Hundreds of thousands of southerners fled Vietnam ."

"The lingering effects of the 1997 Asian economic crisis, as well as outbreaks of the Asian influenza (bird flu) in 2004 and 2005 have meant sluggish growth in the tourism department. Although the government still appears unreconciled over the direction of economic and political reform, Vietnam is slowly opening to globalism. "

In Vietnam, we are planning to travel in the north, in the capital and other like places. I will try to blog while I am there, but I can't promise. We will return at around the 14th of February(i think). See you then!

P.S.- Giants Rock! (that was my dad, he made me put this on here.)