Việt Nam

Hà Nội, Việt Nam. 17-18 January 2015

DSC06313Holy Crap on a Cracker! Hà NộI is nothing what I expected. This city has it all for those looking for a vibrant (actually manic) environment. The streets have a deranged energy that only the young or courageous should travel. To even look at traffic, hurry, or dodge is a sign of trepidation. Dozens of motor scooters, a couple cars, a taxi, two cyclos, four bikes and varied vendors assault your every street crossing. But if you have the fortitude, then Hà Nội is the place to be. The streets are full of entrepreneurs, shops, bright colors, activity and food vendors. Just put on blinders and ignore the motor scooters zipping by within inches of your little bits. Drivers really do go around you!
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By Pat, ago

Đà Nẵng and Huế, Việt Nam. 14-15 January 2015

China Beach

China Beach

Between Hôi An and Đà Nẵng are the finest beaches in Vietnam. Waves crash onshore as we walk barefoot upon a stretch of fine sand – we stroll China Beach, where US soldiers went for R & R during the war. The water of the China Sea is warm. Vietnamese call it the East Sea to avoid using the ‘China’ word. I see many unreadable signs, unmistakably propaganda, interspersed with the gentle, smiling face of Ho Chi Minh, particularly around schools.

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By Pat, ago

Hôi An, Việt Nam. 13 January 2015

DSC05693What’s not to love about Hôi An? This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a small, walkable city of shops and restaurants, friendly people, and old-world charm with its mustard yellow buildings interspersed with colorful temples, art galleries and meandering canals. The sales pitch is low-keyed so this is the place to shop. Cooler temperatures make sitting in a cafe over a LaRue Beer, watching the passing boats along the river, the street wagons, and the women with their baskets of bananas, a most pleasurable experience.
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By Pat, ago

Ho Chi Minh City. 12 January 2015

Sài Gòn - Communist on paper but at heart a Capitalist

Sài Gòn – Communist on paper but at heart a Capitalist

I arrive in what is known by even the Vietnamese as Sài Gòn. I admit I am shocked. The parks, busy shopping streets, tall skyscrapers, familiar brand names, and business complexes are not what I expected. This great city of South Vietnam, “liberated” by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong” in 1975, is much the same as any large American city. America may have fled Vietnam in 1973, but we are back in spirit by way of Pepsi, Barbie, Carl’s Jr., Budweiser, McDonalds and IPhones.
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By Pat, ago

Cruising Down the Mekong to Can Tho, Việt Nam. 11 January 2015

Cruising the mighty Mekong

Cruising the mighty Mekong

A chartered boat slowly takes us down the Mekong from Phnom Penh into Việt Nam. Việt Nam or “the Việt people of the south” means the people south of China, thus distancing themselves from the Chinese.

The Mekong is much as I expected: wide, brown, vegetation along the sides with large clumps of water hiyanths scattered in the waterway. There is some industry within sight and a new Japanese bridge being built linking villages on opposite banks. Crops of corn, livestock, temples, shanties with their water hose dipping into the river, some new concrete homes of the prosperous, old fishing boats, a few sand barges, and fish farms. I see little traffic to detract from the tranquility of the river.
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By Pat, ago