im vietnamese and my parents are vietnamese and they are from vietnam. i have been to vietnamese two times: once when i was 6 this was like in 1991?? and the other time was more recent in summer 2006 when i was 20 years old, i went for three weeks with my parents to visit some family and friends.

my mom's uncle is like head of an architecture firm or over there. he has a pretty nice house with with wife and two kids. people are over are starting to build UP. every house is very narrow but most of them are growing tall. skyscrapers are starting to be common over there.

theres alot of extreme urban area over there, and alot of area that are not so pleasant when it comes to quality of buildings and cleanliness, but there are also extreme mountanous regions and beautiful beaches where the sand is white and the water is clean.

i must mention the most memorable part of my last visit. there is an ancient palace of the ancient rulers of vietnam and they have tours and exhibits there. they also have elephant rides!!! but interesting story... i was feeding the elephants bananas and one of them ate too quick so i hid the banana bunch behind me as fed with the other arm. i turned toward my dad for a photo, *FLASH*, and suddenly i was on the ground!!! the elephant had punched me in the shoulder with its trunk! i did even fall i was on the ground it happened so fast. i think it got angry becuase i was hiding the bananas or maybe the flash on the camera scared it. i had a bruise on my arm for over a week i think...

it a very differnent place and it strangely felt like home even though i spent my whole life in america.

it might not be the most ideal vacation spot, but its a very interesting place to travel and being in vietnam would be a very fascinating experience for anyone.

occasionally my family asks me if i would ever go back. and i say yes every time. its my honest response, i would definitely love to go back to vietnam.