Later 3 of us go on a bike and boat tour with a 24 year old man. Tuan tells us all about everyday life in rural Vietnam. Government workers get fired if they have more than 2 children. Old people still chew betel nut but its use is decreasing rapidly. Bomb craters are now used as fish farms.
A boat is waiting after our 1 1/2 ride through the countryside, so we putter back, stopping for a BBQ dinner on a small island while we watch the sun set.
There was some concern pre-departure about how the locals would respond to out presence, but it seems that as Buddhists they are able to forgive and forget, and in fact are delighted that we are here to visit their country, and even more so at our pathetic attempts to speak a few words of Vietnamese. There's been no begging and only half-hearted hassling to buy things. Maybe Saigon will be more confronting?
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