As an American you arrive with ghosts of the past,
you leave with love and hope for the future
"I walk bottom to top out on the pedestrian-friendly Nguyen Hue in District One, the epicenter of Saigon’s twenty-four districts, and it’s almost like walking through history. At one end is Saigon City Hall. Built by the French around 1900, it was modeled after city hall in Paris. Its regal stature, balconies, and a veranda with a bell tower make it seem more at home in Europe than Southeast Asia. In 1975, when the city fell to the communists, it was made into the People’s Committee Building. Here, a statue of Ho Chi Minh holding a small child is placed out front and the street transforms from French opulence to proletariat meeting space. At night it’s beautiful, lit up with shadows of the palm trees reflecting on parts of the building."
--Look For Me There, Chapter 12
CITIES VISITED:
MUST DO:
FAVORITE MEMORY:
Hanoi
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
Ha Long Bay
Breath in the Old Quarter in Hanoi.
See the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison where John McCain was locked up.
Take a boat ride on the Makong Delta.
Visit the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Overnight sail on Ha Long Bay.
Lasting ninety seconds in the claustrophobic Cu Chi Tunnels and learning firsthand how the Vietnam War was un-winnable.
Visas need to be gotten ahead of time and can take awhile. Once in country, Hanoi and Saigon are quite accessible, especially on foot. Many reputable tour operators offer excursions out of town with pickup in the two main cities.
Lot of irony in Vietnam. Dad avoided it, I longed for it. For a place the U.S. bombed and napalmed to smithereens, the locals could not be more welcoming and eager to engage with Americans. Perhaps that's because they're the victors or its genuine Vietnamese hospitality.
