Day 8 - The Past Couple of Days

On Monday and Tuesday I went with the Cimas, the Cats from Los Gatos, Sarah and four of our students to Mai Chau.  The trip was great.  I loved walking through the green rice fields and having a chance to relax outside without the ever-present noise of traffic that plagues Hanoi.

While I was walking through the town where we stayed, I was surprised by how similar Mai Chau was to Kuna Yala (the island nation I visited during my study abroad trip to Panama last year). Both Mai Chau and Kuna Yala seem to have fallen into the tourist trap. What is being saved of their cultures is being determined by what tourists decide is interesting about it. Going to these places makes me wonder if that is an effective way of preserving history or if it is preventing the culture from evolving naturally.