Chapter 24 and 25, pp. 241-267 Summary and Analysis

Chap. 24- The author goes to Vietnam to ride parts of the old French-built Trans-Vietnam Railroad. It is December 1973, and the Saigon government is keeping parts of the railroad running. The author stays with an American host and his wife, code-named Cobra I and II, who live in a villa set among trees and gardens. While the ceasefire is not holding and the war goes on, a commission is trying to attract tourism to South Vietnam. Posters are displayed with pretty girls by beaches. Mr. Chau, the Director tries to get the author to not take the train, since it is a wreck, but the author goes and finds the Saigon Station. There are lovers and drug addicts that occupy the abandoned train cars. The author is directed by the station master to an old...