I grew up in Bangladesh during the Vietnam War. The war received extensive newspaper coverage there, and left awe struck indelible impression on me. During the Vietnam War, in 1971 Bangladesh had its own Liberation War to gain independence from Pakistan.
The Liberation War of Bangladesh lasted only about 9 months. Living through the horrors of that brief war always made me wonder what kind of people can have such endurance, resolve, resilience and determination to fight for 30-long-years against two super powers, horrors and destructions of which were many more times intense than what we endured in Bangladesh during our Liberation War. I wondered in awe, what the Vietnamese people were made up of? - I developed an intense desire to someday go and see those awesome people and the country they fought to liberate.
At last I got an opportunity to visit Vietnam between 27th October and 16th November 2006. It was a brief visit, during which I covered, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Cu Chi, Mekong Delta, My Tho, Can Tho, Dalat, Hanoi, Hyphong, Halong Bay, Sapa, Hue, Vinh Moc, Khe Sanh, and Hoi An. I wish I could have stayed much longer in that glorious country with it’s glorious people.
Following feature is based on that visit. All views expressed here are my personal views; with my background, I could not help but get emotional in some places – please accept those as such.
Note: People of Bangladesh are known as Bangladeshi or Bengali -colloquially they are also called Bangal.
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