Peace Corps Malaysia

During my three years in the Peace Corps, I had the opportunity to visit several of Malaysia's neighbors on a circular loop through Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines.  The most interesting stop was Vietnam: the war was in full flower.  

I arrived in Saigon in shorts and carrying a small backpack - I suspect I was the only tourist in the. country.  I fortuitously met up almost immediately with an American helping Vietnamese villagers raise chickens: he was like a Peace Corps volunteer, but with a different government agency.  He was happy to be my guide and travel companion as we went all over the Delta, hitching rides aboard the CIA owned Air America, and grabbing milkshakes and burgers at the American compounds.  And it didn't hurt that my new buddy spoke Vietnamese.  

He had at interesting shtick: he would take photos of a girl he met, print them, and give the prints to the girl the next time he saw her.  A printed photo was a big deal in the 60's - he had them eating out of his hand.  

On one Air America flight there were some military big shots sitting ahead of us, who kept turning around to look at us.  In our shirts, sandals, and t-shirts, they must have wondered who in hell we were.  Finally one came back to us, looked us over carefully, and whispered "You guys are doing a great job over here".  He must have thought we were some sort of Special Forces...

We visited a street in Saigon famous for its endless row of bars staffed by young scantily clad Vietnamese women, and frequented by American servicemen.  Neither the women nor the servicemen looked very happy.  (There were also several hotels in Kuala Lumpur reserved for servicemen on R&R).

Flying over the rice fields in the Delta, we were never out of sight of enormous craters.  Why were we dropping bombs on rice fields?