If you mention Viet Nam to any American, we all probably have visions of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and all the hippie anti-war protests of the 60's. Our "involvement" here was our longest war, (so far,) running from JFK sending in advisors to Nixon's pullout. From the Vietnamese perspective, their recent wars, (ignoring centuries of fights with China and other neighbors,) began with WWII and the Japanese, then continued against the French until it turned into what we think of as the war - The American War. It didn't end there as the Vietnamese have had pretty major regional wars with Cambodia and China since we left in the '70's.
As an American visiting this country, I must admit I have been feeling conflicted about Viet Nam - a touch of guilt for all the dead and some of the things we did (massacres, Agent Orange...) a touch of hurt pride that we lost, and a touch of curioisity how this country would treat a visitor from the USA... I needn't have worried - it seems to be completely off of everyone's radar screen. The people don't care at all and if anything, act like the war is something we all suffered through equally. Oh, the museums have all kinds of information that I'm unsure of since it conflicts with what I learned growing up and how I believe Americans would act. But then again, My Lai happened, B-52's happened and made mistakes, and napalm and Agent Orange were thrown around pretty liberally, so what do I know. One of the most important lessons of the period for Americans is we discovered for the first time that we shouldn't always trust our government. I just remind myself that there are two sides to every story and what is history but a story told by people who wind up in the position to tell it. I can accept that there are just two truths about what happened here.
In the end, the kids are listening to MTV and American pop, American fast food is here, the place is as capitalistic as NY City and the dollar is preferred above the dong (the local currency,) by all the vendors and businesses. I wonder whatever happened to those Communist dominoes I learned about in International Relations...
I visited the War Rememberance Museum (government built and full of American war crimes,) and the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong guerillas hid and fought and lived west of Saigon. The tunnels are an amazing feat of determination - over 250Km in length, three levels, and even under American military bases. Dug mostly by hand beginning with the war against the French, even the most modern military technology barely scratched their surface. We were lucky enough to have Billy Binh as our tour guide. He had fought on the American side (he even was stationed in Philadelphia and San Diego for a while,) and paid for it with four years in re-education camps when the Communists won in 1975. He told the stories of the tunnels with 
enthusiasm, grace, diplomacy, humor and a unique viewpoint as someone who had battled against the VC living there. We capped it off with a journey through these tight, (very tight - Vietnamese are tiny people,) dark passages. I was happy not to be first, but when the guide stopped to wave tourists around a confusing corner and a bunch of people bailed out an early exit, I wound up in the lead in the pitch black! I just kept waving my hands in front of me to keep from bumping into something, trying to encourage and describe what I was maneuvering around to those still behind me, and just kept on going until a dim light showed me the way out. Once out, it was pretty cool!
enthusiasm, grace, diplomacy, humor and a unique viewpoint as someone who had battled against the VC living there. We capped it off with a journey through these tight, (very tight - Vietnamese are tiny people,) dark passages. I was happy not to be first, but when the guide stopped to wave tourists around a confusing corner and a bunch of people bailed out an early exit, I wound up in the lead in the pitch black! I just kept waving my hands in front of me to keep from bumping into something, trying to encourage and describe what I was maneuvering around to those still behind me, and just kept on going until a dim light showed me the way out. Once out, it was pretty cool!
Some of us took the long way home on a speedboat through the Delta and then down the Saigon River back home. As I stood on the deck winding through the rice paddies and tiny towns, all it needed was a blaring 60's soundtrack to make the mental movie complete!All in all, I loved the small part of Viet Nam I got to visit. The people are very friendly, even the taxi drivers bug you for a ride in a joking nice way and are not annoying and relentless like so many other places I've been. As I've written the food is awesome (and only got better since I last wrote,) the city is beautiful and I had a great time.
Next up: a couple of days in Bangkok before jetting off to the Seychelles for my volunteer project. The group of volunteers seems fun and enthusiastic - my inbox is full of meetup, dinner and diving plans for those of us arriving before the project starts on the 10th. (Or maybe they all just love "reply to all" a bit too much...)
Bon Soir,
Clement
