12 local Rotarians were joined by Rotarian Brenda Waugh (Scotland) and guests Richard Demaiter (BMO) and Anne and Don Soepboer.
The Adventure in Citizenship has been canceled due to the pandemic.
Speaker: Tom Simmons was our speaker today and showed us a presentation about the trip to Vietnam in January (?) 2020 taken by he and his wife Pat.
The country has been at war for much of the post-World War 2 period. The French left in 1954 and the second Indo-China War began in 1955 with the USA and it's allies. This ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese army. The war had extended into Laos and Cambodia as well. The US had 10 air bases in Vietnam at the height of the war.
Vietnam has 92 million people and the two common religions are Buddhist and Christian. There are many coastal beaches and lots of commercial fishing. Tom saw many street vendors on motorcycles as well as modern apartment buildings and seaside esplanades in the coastal tourist areas.
At Na Trang, the were many new apartment buildings and a large amusement park but it was mountainous inland. New office buildings were prominent and Tom said that wages are about $140 USD per month. Street traffic was 80% motorcycles and scooters. The city has large Buddhist temples and statues.
At Hoi An, south of Da Nang, he saw a small factory manufacturing marble statues of all types for shipment around the globe. The city has a huge and very beautiful beach.
In Halong Bay, in N. Vietnam, the area is famous for the many (1,970) islands. These are karst limestone that has been eroded by centuries of rain. The same process has carved large caves with ceilings 80-100 feet high. This is the Sung Sot (Cave of Surprises) Cave and it takes 1 hour to walk through the cave system. Tom also showed photos of floating villages in the bay itself, protected by the surrounding islands.
As is often the case, many of our members have interesting programs to share and Tom's programs detailing his travels worldwide have been among them.
Next week's speaker is Rotarian Debbie Vance from Ucluelet, British Columbia.