Southern Vietnam

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How would you envision a modern communist country?

Neon lights advertising discoteques? Open trading of produce? Young couples in love cruising the streets on motorcycles? It's not what I expected either.

Our first taste of Vietnam was in the former capital of the South, Saigon ('Our International name!'), officially known as Ho Chi Mihn City as of 1975. It's a bustling city full of cyclo taxis, motorcycles, 'mini hotels' in the tourist ghetto, and, of course, loads of street stalls selling food I've never seen before. The city has its own character, though a French influence can still be felt in the architecture, language (sometimes I'm more likely to be understood speaking French rather than English, especially with elders), and baguette sandwiches.

On our first day of sightseeing, we went in search of the former U.S. embassy, site of the famous photographs of emergency rooftop evacuation by helicopters before the fall of Saigon. Appropriately, there was no plaque or memorial at the address, only a brand new office building. Another example of life moving on is the renaming of the 'American War Crimes Museum' to 'War Memorial.' This small picture and artillary museum chronicles the horrors of 'The American War' as it is known here. Although extremely one-sided, it was still a reminder of the terrible effects of war and how uninformed people are about their government's actions.

We spent the next few days on a tour of the Mekong Delta area in the south of the country. Beautiful boat trips, floating markets, jungle walks. If only I was a photographer! The waterways are full of families living, working and trading on all surfaces -- farmers sell produce from boat to boat in the floating markets, houses are built on stilts in the marshland, and small multi-generation familes make crafts on drier land. We visited houses which produced coconut candy, popped rice candy, rice paper, handloomed fabrics, and incense sticks. We also visited the former headquarters of the Viet Cong deep in a matrix of hand-dug canals. On drier land, we saw the Cu Chi Tunnels just outside of Saigon that eluded the American troops for so long. An entire communist military functioned in hand-dug underground tunnels. Jim toughed it out and went on the full tour of the claustophobic 3x4 foot tunnel system, I backed out after about 4 minutes. Mommy!

We have begun our trek up north and are resting for a few days in Nha Trang, the 'Vietnamese Riveria.' It rivals any beach at which I've lounged. It wins out for food selection. Women approach all day with fresh fruits ('I cut you nice pineapple. You need mango too I think.'), beignets, and, my favorite, fresh shellfish cooked right there. She even cracks the crab open for you!

Xin Chao! Tera and Jim