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Several
years ago we took an escorted tour
of Vietnam followed by a visit to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat and
Angkor Tom in Cambodia. Because of the history of the 1960’s and 70’s
it took many years before we were emotionally ready to make the trip to
Vietnam. We were unprepared for the welcoming reception w
e received from the majority of the Vietnamese people we met, most of whom
were not born at the time of the war. On the one hand, being on an
“escorted” tour, we were able to cover a large part of a beautiful
country with a wide range of interesting stops. On the other hand, while
our escort was very open about the political atmosphere, we were still
reminded that this is a communist governed country. The two weeks we spent
traveling from Ha Long Bay near Hanoi in the north, to Ho Chi Minh City in
the south, made this one of the most memorable trips we have made.
In
contrast to Vietnam, which is an aggressively emerging nation, Cambodia is
just beginning to recover from its tragic past of the Killing Fields and
their war with Vietnam. The temple ruins of Angkor Wat at Siem
Reap are a world class tourist attraction that should be on every
traveler’s bucket list, but the memories of the Khmer Rouge genocide are
still being felt as the society slowly rebuilds.
This
presentation differs significantly from the "old family style
slide show" of the past. Using modern digital technology, it
includes multiple soundtracks for narration and local background music,
pan and zoom effects ala "Ken Burns" (Jazz, Baseball, The Civil
War...on PBS), movie clips and animation. It is a truly multi-media
show.
We
will introduce the program with a discussion of background information and
follow it with a question and answer period. The
program includes a brief review of the history of the area. Significant
currents events may be included in the discussion.
Our large size photographic
prints of scenes from the show will be displayed and discussed. The
formal show runs 35-45 minutes and the total presentation from 60-90
minutes.
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