Greetings from Vietnam.  It’s Sunday morning, March 10.  We finally got a half a day to ourselves.  Some used this opportunity to catch up on some much needed rest, while others continued to quench their shopping thirst.  It was a beautiful walk north to the old French Quarter section along which were many shops and street vendors.  Others chose to attend a church service with Matt Bennett’s cousin, Judy who lives in Hanoi.  We began the afternoon by visiting the “Hanoi Hilton”, the infamous location of US pilots captured during the American War (Vietnam War).  It was a very sobering reminder of America’s past ventures into Vietnam.

  We then took the bus to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development National Institute of Animal Husbandry.  There, we were told of the ministry’s efforts in incorporating American swine genetics into their breeding program.  Last year they imported 140 gilts and boars from several well-known American pork operations. 

  A fun side note was watching the street hawkers from in front of our hotel escorting us on their mopeds all the way through Hanoi to the institute.  As soon as we began to unload, they began their sales pitch.  They even helped us to get around a bridge detour.

Ms. My,  Mr. Huy, Rice Institute director Madame Hien, technical officier Madame Phoung, chairs for the day Rick Dean, David Logsdon, and Dale Crawford

Upon summoning her, she agreed to take a group photo with all of us.  Special guests with us for the day also included Jane Bardon and Joyce Estep from the USDA FAS office in Washington D.C.  They are here for several weeks surveying the local crop situation.  Ms. My, who works in the Hanoi FAS office and help to put together much of  today’s activities accompanied us and acted as interpreter.  Also Henry Schmick, Ag attaché, USDA FAS, along with Ms. My provided more insight into Vietnam’s Ag and to the local sites as we passed them on the bus.

Fruit in the open market next to our hotel