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Even coastal breezes in cities we visited like Pattaya and Hua Hin on Thailand’s coastline did not feel cool with the humidity. But Dalat — Dalat was like a dream come true for a woman having perimenopausal symptoms and dreadful, frequent hot flashes on post-breast cancer medication sweltering for months in the tropics, not too far from Earth’s equator. At 5,000 feet elevation, Dalat can get up to 80-plus degrees in the sun, but the temperatures fall back into the low 60s at night, with no humidity. I’d like to stop back in Dalat again in the future — probably when I need another break from the relentless heat and humidity (and city noise and pollution) in Southeast Asia.

We saw local parents and children washing and playing in the water, the kids eager to yell “hello” to us; we saw local fishermen, farmers, and tradesmen going about their business; we saw tin shacks, and also new and modern homes. The next morning we were up early for the floating market and land market tour, also run by the Shack, for $9.50 a person. Here, I saw things I’ve never seen before, and I’ve been to fresh markets from Mexico to Montenegro to Morocco. The next morning, we stuck our feet in the fish foot pedicure pond (which is really in an old boat), and relaxed after breakfast until it was time to check out and take a taxi back to the bus station on the edge of Can Tho ($3.25 for a 15-20 minute car ride).

Tour operators offer daylong excursions for tourists to see the famous war-time tunnels near the town of Cu Chi, a short drive from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The cost for three people to have a private car and private tour guide on a day-long trip can be around $100 and up. For the budget rate, you have to take two public buses instead of an air-conditioned private car, and you won’t get a “private” tour instead of a public guide with about 20 people. These traps all over the country were a source of misery and death for Americans – but especially around Cu Chi since the American military was always searching for – but never found – the massive tunnel system.

The video showed the American president shaking hands with communist leaders in front of a row of American and Vietnamese flags. The photographers were American, North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and also some other nationalities, such as Japanese and Australian. And then: the exhibit shows what the Vietnamese call the “American Aggression” in “The American War. Regardless of your views on the politics of The Vietnam/American War, it’s clear average people suffered on both sides.