|
Peace and calm prevail on visit to Vietnam --- 40 years later Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — The last time I visited Vietnam, somebody shot at me —- and I was a tourist, for heaven's sake — not a soldier. Thankfully, lots of things are different today. Once known as the "Paris of the Orient," Saigon might again lay claim to that title. Though Saigon is now officially Ho Chi Minh City, almost everyone still calls it by its original name. The conflict that Vietnamese school children know as "the American War" has been over for more than three decades. The city and its wide, tree-shaded avenues, sidewalk cafes, and smart shops have become an attractive destination for Americans. In the former capital of the former South Vietnam, I checked in at the venerable Caravelle Hotel. It was the second time I had signed the register in almost exactly 40 years. In 1966, when my wife and I visited Saigon, the Caravelle was no taller than its 10th-floor rooftop bar. The only accommodation Sara and I could get was a modest room one flight up, overlooking a main intersection. "No one wants that room," said my friend Malcolm W. Browne, who then was a war correspondent headquartered in the city. "It's considered within grenade-lobbing distance from the street below." (pickup here from page 1) My latest room at the Caravelle was a luxuriously appointed chamber on the 16th floor of the new 24-story wing, with a view of ferries crossing the busy Saigon River. In the 1960s, Mal believed in taking visitors out to show them the war. But because I had my bride with me, we toured several sites around the city. This included the intersection where Mal took the famous photo of the burning Buddhist monk, the tragic suicide that was published around the world. Mal said he would like us to see the Mekong Delta, and so the four of us, including Sara and Mal's wife, Le Lieu, set off for a two-hour drive in his little white VW to the village of Mytho, where we had lunch in a small, pink, open-air restaurant suspended over the edge of the Mekong River. At this time, American troops were beginning to support South Vietnamese forces, although some of the fiercest battles in the war were yet to come. That day in the Delta, Mal explained that it was tacitly understood that the opposite bank of the Mekong, which we could see from our table, was considered Viet Cong territory 24/7. However, all the territory on this side of the river was controlled by the U.S.-supported government. Or at least it was during the daytime. At night, it all belonged to the Viet Cong, Mal said. On our afternoon drive back to Saigon, while passing some rice paddies, we suddenly heard a loud whizzing sound in front of the windshield. "You have just been sniped at!" said Mal, gritting his teeth. "Open the glove compartment." There was a .45 caliber pistol for me to hold while Mal pressed down hard on the accelerator and our wives hunkered down in the back seat. But there was no further incident, and we arrived back in Saigon unharmed. Sara and I left the following day as planned. But Mal stayed throughout the war, eventually winning a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage. My recent trip was just as interesting and much more pleasurable. Again, I traveled out of Saigon to the Mekong Delta, this time as part of a group conducted by Exotissimo, a Saigon-headquartered company specializing in tours throughout Indochina. We spent the morning and afternoon cruising the Mekong River on a tourist "junk boat," named the Cai Be Princess. From it we could observe life in the villages and floating markets along the river. Families and workers on boats and along the banks waved at us. During our week-long tour we progressed from the tropical south to the cooler north. From Saigon, we flew to Nha Trang, which features luxury beach resorts to rival any I have seen in my home in Hawaii, and then continued to Da Nang, landing on the runways of the former American air base there. We saw China Beach, which once served as a large rest-and-recuperation facility for American troops. It was also the title of a hit TV show in the 1980s. Here and everywhere, we often saw old military construction. The jewel in this part of the country was the laid-back village of Hoi An, where we stayed at the attractive waterside Life Resort, adjoining an outdoor market. The slow pace in Hoi An was not matched by the ubiquitous hard-working tailors in the village. I got overnight delivery on a tailored silk suit from a shop called Thu Thuy that was full of smiling young women. The cost —- $180 —- was after choosing one of the better-quality fabrics. From Hoi An, we were bused over the mountains to the ancient imperial capital of Hue. Hue has seen its share of fierce battles over the centuries, not the least of which was the famous Tet Offensive between American and Vietnamese forces in 1968. Our headquarters in Hue was La Residence, the expanded premises of the 1930 art deco home of the former French governors of colonial Vietnam. We visited the tombs and palaces of several former emperors and took a Dragon Boat ride on the Perfume River to the famous Thien Mu Pagoda. A tour of the extensive ruins of the 1808 Imperial Citadel capped the visit to Hue. From Hue, we flew to Hanoi, the busy capital of the country. A human-powered "cyclo" (pedicab) tour of the city provided a thrilling introduction to its chaotic traffic. Much more sedate were the city's museums, including the house of Ho Chi Minh and even Hoa Lo Prison, commonly known as the "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War. There is now a genuine Hilton in Hanoi. Named the Hilton Opera, it was built alongside the city's opera house, a scaled- down replica of the famous l'Opera in Paris. The crowning experience in the trip was an overnight excursion on Halong Bay aboard a boat named the Ermeraude, a re-creation of a similar vessel owned by a French family in the early 20th century. Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is peacefully populated by hundreds of steep-sided islands, many of which look like giant green gum drops floating on still waters. Deep within these islands, small groups of fishing families live and work on an informal collection of boats and rafts in a floating village. Here there were no noisy motorcycles, no evidence that anything as annoying as a war had ever disturbed this tranquil existence or ever could. --- Robert W. Bone has been a travel writer for more than 30 years. He is the author of several travel books including "The Maverick Guide to Hawaii." --- IF YOU GO When to visit December and January are the best months because the weather is relatively cool. Entry requirements You must have a valid passport and Vietnamese visa. (Visas are usually arranged with the help of travel agencies.) Money The official currency in Vietnam is the dong, and the rate is about 16,000 dong to the dollar. However many prices are quoted in dollars, including hotel bills, and many travelers manage by using credit cards or spending only American dollars. Where to stay > In Ho Chi Minh City: Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square; www.caravellehotel.com. Doubles from $178. > In Hanoi: Hilton Opera, 1 Le Thanh Tong St.; www.hilton.com. Doubles from $110; or Sofitel Metropole Hanoi, 15 NgoQuyen St.; sofitel.com. Doubles from $169. > In Hoi An: The Life Resort, 1 Pham Hong Thai St.; www.life-resorts.com. Doubles from $102, including breakfast. > In Hue: La Residence Hotel and Spa, 5 Le Loi St.; www.la-residence-hue.com. Doubles from $110. Information > Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, 80 Quan Su, Hanoi, Vietnam; www.vietnamtourism.com. > Vietnamese Embassy, 1233 20th St. N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. 202-861-0737, www.vietnamembassy-usa.org. > Exotissimo Travel, 301 Howard St., San Francisco, Calif. 94105; 415-538-8687, www.exotissimo.com.
|