The Young Turks

I came to Vietnam to get a better understanding of the situation that surrounded the death of my Uncle here in early 1970. He was on a Swift Boat and was killed by a fellow American. I didn't find out much more regarding his death than I already knew. But what I learned of Vietnam was much more suprising than anything I could have expected.

I arrived via the Lao-Bao border corssing early one morning, made the border and customs and then headed to Da Nang. It was here that my Uncle Paul was killed. I looked out on the Han river where he died. It was grey and overcast, slightly rainy that day but I found a measure of peace in seeing his last sights. I met a man whose father had died fighting the VC in 1975 and learned that to this day, many in the South dislike the Northerners very much. They make fun of their accents, the stolidity and the humorlessness. (This is what he told me.) After Da Nang I took a short one hour bus to an old port town called Hoi An.

The town had clearly seen better days, but retained the strange aura of a cosmopolitan past, with Cantonese Temples, bridges built by Japanese seamen, and the French architecture all around. There were moments when I felt like I was in a different Vietnam as well, during the war. Scenes all too familiar from the movies we've all seen were everywhere. But these were always quickly eclipsed by the new Vietnam. People always working. Shuffling to and fro getting things done. An entire country on the move, even in a sleepy old port like Hoi An.

After Hoi An I hurried down to Saig, er, Ho Chi Minh City as it is official called now. But I'm going to call it Saigon, just like the locals do. Saigon is an impressive place. Big superhighways are in the process of being built all over the city. New buildings and developments are sprouting up everywhere. Hawkers and touts are everywhere. The streets are a bit dirty and chaotic, but I love it. It sure beats the sedate pace of Laos.

As I mentioned on the show the day before Saigon got slammed by a storm and was underwater for about 24 hours. But the Vietnamese took it all in stride and before I knew it everything had returned to normal.

And what of the Vietnamese? Well, the country is experiencing a population bulge. The majority of Vietnamese are under age 30. This creates serious employment problems. But crime isn't a huge issue--except for prostitution. Prostitution is rampant. I've been propositioned on the street several times. Rather odd, in my experience, but understandable considering everyone is trying to get ahead. Heroin was a big problem until just a few years ago when there was a massive, country-wide crackdown that seems to have slowed the epidemic down. (And yes, it is all coming from Afghanistan, the famed Golden Triangle of the war years is a thing of the past.)

I've sensed no animosity directed at me at any time for being an American. Mostly curiousity. Although the over 40 crowd will raise their eyebrows slightly when I tell them I am from America. The Vietnamese, as far as I can tell, only wanted their independence and unification. Understandable. And from what I've seen so far, it's also understandable that they paid such a high communal price for that independence. They are a proud, unique people. (I'd thought the Thai's were the most unique in South-East Asia, but no more.)  They want to get ahead and they will, by hook or crook, as it were, but still, they have a resilience to them that I applaud. 

If you are thinking of traveling here, do it now. Don't wait five years. The place will have changed by then. As it is now, the old Vietnam and the new Vietnam are finely balanced. But if my experiences of globalization are anything to go by (I've seen China change dramatically since my first trip there in the late 90s) this balance will shift soon. And you'll miss something worth seeing, something worth remembering.