Claire St. Hilaire1 minDay 1: HanoiI landed in Vietnam today. It was more emotional than I expected. I seemed to get this sense that I’d been here before—probably just my...
Claire St. Hilaire4 minDay 2: John McCain's Crash Site, Temple of Literature, Museum of EthnologyI can’t sleep because I keep thinking about my book. So many thoughts and ideas. I feel Deborah and Alex must come here. Vietnam must be...
Claire St. Hilaire7 minDay 3: Vung Vieng Fishing VillageAlex should be quiet even in Vietnam. A man who loves nature and animals more than people—a classic American outdoors childhood. Coming...
Claire St. Hilaire8 minDay 4: Halong Bay, Thien Canh Son CaveWhile I wait for breakfast, I will use this opportunity to get some writing in. This morning we had a fun outing to paradise cave—the...
Claire St. Hilaire5 minDay 5: Sapa ValleyPearls are a resting metaphor to life—taking an impurity and after a year encircling it until an orb of beauty is created. Hanoi—when...
Claire St. Hilaire3 minDay 6: Tram Ton Pass, Silver WaterfallLet’s see… I’ll start with dinner. I stopped writing on the page before to go have dinner with Duc and Ty. We had a traditional meal in a...
Claire St. Hilaire5 minDay 7: Eight Ladies Cave, Paradise Cave, Phuong Nha CaveToday I visited 3 different caves. The first was eight ladies cave where eight NVC were trapped when a rocket fired by the 7th fleet in...
Claire St. Hilaire3 minDay 8: Camp Carol, Rock Pile, Phong Na, Vinh Moc Tunnels Good morning Vietnam! I’m getting ready to leave the lake house this morning. I’ll be sad to say “goodbye” to such a beautiful spot, but...
Claire St. Hilaire1 minDay 9: Imperial CitadelDidn't do much this day. Relaxed, enjoyed the citadel, and caught up on some much needed rest!
Claire St. Hilaire3 minDay 10: Perfume River, Thien Mu Pagoda, Tomb of Minh Mang, Hai Van Pass, Cham Museum I have been learning a lot about Vietnamese culture and Buddhism. Let’s start with some history: The Chang Pa Empire ruled the southern...
Claire St. Hilaire1 minDay 11: My Son SanctuaryI’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of the Vietnam War being a “proxy” war—meaning that Vietnam was the unlucky battleground where...
Claire St. Hilaire1 minDay 13: Reunification Palace and Notre Dame CathedralSTORY IDEAS After Alex dies in Vietnam Deborah briefly considers a Vietnam burial, but then decides it is time to bring him home. At his...
Claire St. Hilaire1 minDay 14: Cu Chi Tunnel Complex and Tay Ninh's Cao Dai TempleMore Story Ideas Uniforms no longer separate the innocent from the guilty. We all have blood on our hands. Deborah gets back late from...
Claire St. Hilaire1 minDay 15: Mekong DeltaQuotes from Noah while talking on the phone: “We don’t just put our lives on the line. We put out souls on the line.” “As selfish as it...