I intend to visit the site of the 1968 My Lai massacre during next month’s Vietnam visit. I don’t care if the Vidotour guys want to drive me there or not. In fact I wish they wouldn’t. It’s located about 80 kilometers south of Hoi An so I’ll just rent a scooter and drive down myself. “Please help me with a scooter rental agency in Hoi An or Danang,” I’ve just said to the Vidotour guys. “If you don’t want to help me I’ll find one myself — no worries. But you should know I am committed to not spending my time in Vietnam like a typical American tourist. I am not going to allow myself to be insulated from the culture of Vietnam and I’m not going to led around by a tour guide and watched over like I’m seven years old. Thank you but I don’t want to be protected from life in Vietnam. I don’t want to look at it through a thick glass window. I want to step out in it and smell it, taste it, walk through it, be part of it.”