The Journey to Vietnam - 1998

We just got back from Vietnam yesterday evening, and all I can say, is wow, wow, WOW!!!! This trip was, by far, the best I've ever taken (and I've been to China and Thailand). I don't even know where to begin.

I should start with my overall impression: the people of south Vietnam are some of the friendliest and open people I have ever met. Even Bob, a FIERCE patriotic red-blooded former Marine who was DETERMINED not to like Vietnam, agrees with me.

The country is beautiful. The people are great. The food is delicious. The culture is interesting. Saigon is incredible.

I remember trying DESPARATELY to try feel and see everything that Dad might have felt and seen, then giving up after I arrived in Saigon. There are obviously too many differences between his arrival in Vietnam and mine. The trip passed by so quickly that I can't believe I'm back already.

Undoubtedly, the people and landscape of Vietnam have been scarred by war. BUT, while people don't want to forget their experiences, they are eager to move on with their lives. In the south, we never ONCE felt anything relating to anti-American sentiment. In fact, we felt just the opposite: there is a real surge of interest in America.

People (yep, even former VC) are fascinated with Americans. Everyone was so eager to hear about what Dad did during the war. Everyone was eager to share his or her own experiences about the war, but not at all in a confrontational or self-pitying way. It's more like: okay, this experience was awful, we're going to look forward to our future, but whatever you want to know, we'll tell you about it. But not once did we feel as if what people talked about was communist propaganda. As far as I could see, people are free to pretty much speak their minds. (I've traveled, lived and worked in the former Soviet Union since 1991, and it's MUCH more restrictive here, even today).

I asked our guide why he thinks people there don't show their resentment toward Americans, in spite of everything that has happened. Our guide said that the people of Vietnam have experienced war for thousands of years, mainly with the Chinese. He said that a country as old as Vietnam sees the American war as only a small page of its history. People in the south, especially Saigon, were supporters of the Americans, and so many of them practiced their English on us!! So many old men approached us to tell us they spent more than a year in America training to fly/repair aircraft.

There are so many Americans EVERYWHERE in Vietnam (even in the rural areas around the Delta)! We saw business people, young people, tourists and former veterans.

Okay, let me back up. When we got to the Bangkok airport, I started freaking out - I felt like I didn't even want to get on the plane for Saigon - the Vietnam Airlines check-in counter was in the old part of the airport, next to airlines from Iran and dubious African countries. Still, Bob and I managed to get on the plane. And guess what?! It was a brand-new AirBus, being flown by an American pilot!! The service and food were impeccable!!

Once we landed, I started getting nervous again. I guess I was expecting a "Welcome to Vietnam, Imperialist Pigs - Now we begin your re-education" line of greeting. But this too went smoothly. Once we got out of the airport, our guide for most of the trip greeted us. We were taken to the tour agency and given a briefing on what to expect from our trip.

The day we arrived, we were shown to our hotel, which the travel agency had assured us would be of at least 3 Star quality. Before we left, Dad laughed at us: he was certain that, for the price of the tour, the hotels would be deplorable. He said that when he visited Saigon thirty years ago, the city was filthy and the hotels were awful.

Fortunately, we arrived to a beautiful hotel right in the center of a beautiful city. Apparently, Saigon has changed quite a bit since the war. Without exception, every restaurant and hotel we had the pleasure of visiting in Saigon was clean, inexpensive and of very high quality.

Our hotel in Saigon was newly renovated. Our room was quite spacious. The hotel had a Baskin Robins connected to the lobby. Just across the street was THE nicest Vietnamese restaurant in the city. The building was attractive, the service impeccable, the prices reasonable and the food was INCREDIBLE.