well, today is my last day in vietnam after a tiring but fascinating month. I am not sure if I am all vietnamed out or want to stay for ever, it's that sort of place. since my last postcard we've flown down from Nha trang (possibly my least favourite place on the trip, very very westernerised, where we did miss the small earthquake due to being out in a boat on the bay at the time), stayed in a family homestead in the mekon delta where we sat up til 10 o'clock (!) drinking home brewed rice wine, then returned to saigon to sip singapore slings in the sheraton siagon in their 23rd floor bar. it's very hard to get a clear overall picture of this place and it's history, everyone's stories and lives are so different. Have just read "the girl in the picture" which is about Kim Phuc, the girl who was photographed running down the street with naplam burns. This is very interesting but was written by an american and gives a very all american anti communist view point of vietnam since the american war. Obviously, this is very different from Sinh's various comments, but then the guy has been both in the army and police force, his father has been both a communist official and a wealthy jeweller (before a local smuggling bankrupted the village) and now has a guest house in the mekon delta so he has seen many sides of the story. Anyway, i have obviously been toughen up by my whole nam experience, I can now rip the heads and legs off of small innocent creatures. Yep, I have learnt to shell my own prawns! However, have eaten so many of the things that I doubt I will ever want one again. I fly to dehli tomorrow taking with me a thousand photo shots of Uncle Ho and his propaganda posters (he would have been 115 this year!), and a small wooden buddha. This is the Happy buddha, whom everyone wants to visit them to make them smile. As they wait for this they are happy in the knowledge that he has big long ears to hear all the troubles of the world, even before you tell him, and a big round belly to carry all the troubles of the world with him, so you don't have to carry them any more. so until india, it's goodnight from me, Uncle Ho and the happy buddha!!