Our group has finally left barren Cambodia for richer lands of fertile soil in the form of Viet Nam. Upon crossing the border it becomes abundantly clear how drastically simple political delineations can affect the landscape. Literally 3 minutes into the country it became apparent that the people here were better off– they had enough food to survive and an infrastructure to support a robust and thriving economy. Their roads were better, their buildings were sturdier and their food had more variety and in higher quantities.
This is by no means to suggest that Viet Nam is rich, because it isn’t. But it is definitely on everyone’s list as one of Asia’s emerging (and emerging quickly, despite the recession) economies, and it shows. The scenery is lush, the streetscape is energetic and there is an vibe around that the country is going places ever since they opened their borders to the rest of the world for trade, commerce and tourism. People are hawking their goods to you, not desperately hoping you’ll spare a dollar for whatever useless items they’re pitching (like they all too often did in Cambodia). Viet Nam, hands down, is a better off country than Cambodia.
So far I’ve spent a day in Chou Doc, a town just 45 minutes in from the Cambodian border, and two days in Saigon (renamed Ho Chi Minh city after the communists took control of the country post-Vietnam war.) Most people still refer to it as Saigon, and I think I will as well because Ho Chi Minh City is a name that congratulates general Ho Chi Minh for a job well done keeping the country communist and undemocratic (not that I endorse the US’s operations in Vietnam, but the city WAS named Saigon for ages before. It would be like naming Atlanta Abe Lincoln City because the north won the civil war…come to think of it I’m sure something like that happened and I just don’t know about it…but I disapprove)
Saigon was fascinating. We visited a decent number of Viet Nam war points of interest, including the war museum and the underground tunnels that the Viet Cong hid in just north of Saigon. I learned SO much about the war that I didn’t know…simple things like people would often switch between the Viet Cong (communist, based in the north, supported by the Russians and Chinese) and the South Vietnamese Army (capitalists, pro-democracy, fighting side-by-side with Americans). It sometimes would just come down to who needed food from the local village and for which side their sons, brothers and husbands were fighting for. Politics is SO local, and during the war it was remarkably so given the country was in a civil war.
Our guide to the underground tunnels was a man in his late 60′s who was a hired translator for the US and fought next to many Americans during the war. He had so many interesting stories to tell and made it very clear that he viewed all soldiers as casualties of the war (Americans because no one wanted to be there and the Vietnamese people for being forced to choose a side in order to survive). Sometimes he would even have to lower his voice as a security guard or other guide walked by because his point of view was so different from what most Vietnamese learn in school in the “official” history of the war.
Anyway, it was all greatly informative and I wish I could have spent more time in Saigon. Highlights of the city include checking out the central market, eating some delicious local fare, and playing a game of Vietnamese hacky-sack in the middle of the park and having random people (tourists and vietnamese alike) come up and join in the game. At one point the circle of players was about 15!! It was so awesome to just play the game with them because there weren’t language similarities, but it was definitely easy to just laugh and clap when things took place in the game. I’ll have some pictures of this as soon as I steal them from my roommate Simon. Lastly, we got to shoot massively powerful rifles at the shooting range, which was LOUD and AWESOME. There’s a video of that below. Enjoy the photos as well!
On a separate note, I unfortunately will have to come back about 10 days earlier from my time in Asia than I had originally planned. I need to get back to check out law schools and in order to do so I need to return April 8th. Oh well…that just gets to mean I’ll start planning my next big trip a tad soon!
Cheers!
