Vietnam: Impressions

Impressions from a vacation trip to Vietnam

Itinerary

Ho Chi Min to Ha Long Bay is about the same distance as it is from the southern border of California to its northern border, as far as from London to Venice. 

Leg room on Korean Airlines was very good for Economy class. On Vietnam we flew a Boeing 767 (English Captain), an Airbus A-320 (French Captain) and a number of ATR72's (Vietnamese Captains). All of the planes in good shape and flown well. 

Smiles and Photographs

Welcome

At the War Museum in Hanoi and on some of the memorials around town, we still saw derogatory references to Americans and "their puppets." (Because of a last minute change in schedules we missed the War Museum in Saigon.) On the other side of the coin, it was not unusual to see clothing with references to the U.S. or America or to see American products. Pepsi and Coke are everywhere. There are Baskin & Robbins 31 Flavor ice cream shops in Saigon and Hanoi. 

We were told that 65% of the population are under 25 so they have little or no personal recollection of the war. There are roadside bunkers from the French occupation. There are occasionally small cemeteries for North Vietnamese soldiers along the road in the north. And, ferries are still used to cross many of the northern rivers in areas that were heavily bombed. We did see bridges being built. In fact, one bridge opened in time to save us two hours on our return from Ha Long to Hanoi. 

The Vietnamese have fought wars throughout their history. It has now been more than 20 years since their last one and life moves on. Our experience is that Americans are welcome. 

Vietnam had a brief relationship with the USSR. The only evidence we say was at the tomb of Khai Kinh, on of the most decorated of the Nguyen Dynasty tombs. All of the signs were in Vietnamese and one or more other languages. Signs asking for donations were in French and English. Signs explaining the exhibits were in English. Russian was used only for the signs that said, "Do Not Touch." 

Traffic

We learned to walk across the street slowly and at a constant speed to allow the traffic to weave around us. We rented some bikes and discovered that dodging pedestrians who move at a predictable speed is easier than it looks. We tried to remember how easy it was to dodge around us every time we stepped off the curb. 

Faster vehicles honk at slower vehicles to get them to move out of the way. In town and on the highway, honking horns are part of Vietnam. As traffic increases, it will surely get worse. 

Our Guide

A young man named Nguyen Huu Phuc was assigned as our guide. [That's Phuc pronunced "F" plus "ook" as in "spook"] This was a tough role for a tough group--experienced travelers with mixed expectations, diverse interests, a wide range of physical conditions and strong opinions. It was a compliment to the growing tourist infrastructure that Phuc was available and able to get us from one end of the country to the other as scheduled, healthy and well informed. A tough job well done--thanks Phuc! 

Highlights of the Trip

Unplanned The bus had a flat tire on the way from Hanoi to Ha Long. We went wandering and were invited to a wedding reception. Later we were waiting for a ferry and were invited to a second wedding. 

Random Notes

• The following demonstration of how NOT to run a government was posted at the front gate of the new U.S. Embassy in Hanoi: "Because of the lack of a budget resolution, the Consular section is closed." Then they added a nice diplomatic touch: "We regret the inconvenience." Small boys (of both genders) in Washington D.C. throw temper tantrums and the U.S.A. looks stupid around the world.
• Food was very good and there was plenty of it. It is similar to Chinese food, but taste and texture are a bit different. Lots of shrimp and fish, some pork and chicken and a bit of beef. In the south, fruit was excellent and plentiful. Vegetables were limited; the green beans were great when we could get them.. Rice was served near the end of lunch and dinner. That was how we knew the meal was almost over.
• Best Meal was on the boat in Ha Long Bay. They bought live fish from tanks on small boats just before we left and prepared a variety of truly fresh sea food.
• Coolest T-shirts were at the Apocalypse Now bars in Saigon (2C Thi Sach St. Dist. 1 - HCM City) and in Hanoi (338 BA Treiu ST., Hai Ba Trung Dist.). - Diep. Ton That owns both of them. [One measure of the country's progress: we were told there are more than 2,000 people on the Internet in Saigon.]
• Best Tailor was Le Minh Silk, 79 and 111 Hang Gai Street, Hanoi. If time permits, shop for tailor made clothing in Hanoi. We had some robes and pajamas made in Hue. They were inexpensive and probably worth the price. Others in our tour shopped elsewhere in Hue and one of them was very disappointed.
• Money U.S. dollars work very well. Take a least $100 in new one dollar bills for small purchases. Get some local money for really small items or you will wind up paying a dollar for everything.
• Credit Cards are catching on. We were told that there were only five restaurants in Hanoi that accepted credit cards in December 1994 and now there were more than 20. Many of the shops accept Visa and MasterCard, but you can negotiate better with cash.
• There are ATM's, but at this point they are all connected just to local banks. You can check Visa or MasterCard to see if they have ATM's in operation by the time you are ready to go.
• Some of our group structured their trip around shopping and seemed to be having a great time. Prices are generally very good and always subject to some--or sometimes a lot of--bargaining.
• We saw lots of engraved and well worn Zippo lighters and other war relics for sale in shops and on the street. Some of them may have been real, but a lot of them had errors that a U.S. serviceman would never have accepted, e.g., a U.S. Army 1st Cavalry insignia with "U.S. Marines" engraved under it. On the other hand, we found a fork in the silverware drawer at one of our hotels stamped "U.S." that was obviously from a mess kit--we liberated it.
• Weather: We were there in the "dry" season and it rained off and on for three days. Whenever it started to rain, street peddlers appeared with plastic ponchos for a dollar. A couple of evenings a light sweater and wind breaker felt good. Other than that we had T-shirt weather.

Other Vietnam Web Pages

• Vietnam Postcards When one mentions Vietnam, war is the immediate image that appears in mind. With its long history of wars, we cannot blame people from thinking that way. I was one of those sceptics until I was assigned in the country to work as a stills and television cameraman in 1992 when it started opening up to the outside world. From the moment I stepped out of the Hanoi's Noi Bai airport all my preconceptions had changed. I saw a country, not a war !!! This homepage is a tribute to its people. [added 2/26/02]
• Lonely Planet - Destination Vietnam The very mention of the name Vietnam in the 1960s and '70s came to signify either a brutal jungle war or a spectacular failure of American power - or both. Thankfully, the combined legacies of French occupation, the Vietnam War and withdrawal of Soviet aid in 1990 have given way to the Vietnamese citizens' thriving entrepreneurial spirit, fueled by overseas investment and a relaxing of government control. And yet, the exotic chime of names and places still remains: Hue, Dien Bien Phu, the Perfumed River, the Plain of Reeds. The people are erudite and friendly, the food a delicious mixture of French and local cuisines, and the scenery is sublime.
• The Vietnam Pictures Archive Welcome to the VietNam pictures archive at Sunsite.Unc.Edu. This archive consists of a number of JPEGs distributed into 5 areas Scenery; Monuments; People; Art; and History.
• What is Vietnam? An Introduction The Center for Global Trade Development
• Doing Business in Vietnam-- an insider's perspective. Pangaea Net
• Vietnam Veterans Home Page An interactive on-line forum for Vietnam Veterans and their families and friends to exchange information, stories, poems, songs, art, pictures, and experiences in any publishable form.
• Remembrance A collection of "galleries" containing imagery, stories, poems, songs, maps, and narratives from the Vietnam War era.