Khe Sanh Site

Not much is left of the old site, except lots of propaganda. Most people on the tours take it with a grain of salt. No sense getting upset about it. There's some plane and helicopter wreckage outside of the main building but beside that not much else. I'm still glad I visited the site. On my last trip the road was washed out and we couldn't get here. There's still lots of unexploded ordinance in this area too and with over 30,000 people killed since 1975 by leftover munitions it's a real concern. Second only to the Agent Orange problem. You can still witness the deforestation out along Hwy #9.

Kilometer Markers

When I came to VietNam in 1971 one of the first things that struck me was the kilometer markers everywhere. Every 10 meters there's a small cement marker and then every 100K there's one of these markers like the one at the end of the guardrail. Sometimes painted red at the top and with the city your approaching in abbreviation, with the distance. Something out of a by-gone era, turn of the century. Along with the Beau Gueste forts at some of the small bridges the last vestiges of the French Occupation.

Bridge near Khe Sanh

This bridge is not far from the Khe Sanh battle site. I can't remember who helped build it but was pretty impressive by VietNam standards. Lots of Hill Tribe People live out this way

The Rock Pile

Here deep in the heart of Indian country or as some used to call it Arizona Territory with the infamous Rock Pile as a backdrop we braved the elements on this bus tour out on Hwy #9 that runs from Dong Ha out to the immortal Khe Sanh battle site. All during the tour we had to listen to this tour guide butcher Khe Sanh by calling it Ka Shawn and after I quietly corrected her she stiffly stated that Ka Shawn was a local pronounciation. We passed the iconic Hamburgher Hill site along the way saw some unbelievable scenery.

Michael "Mi Kal"

Here we find My friend Mike strolling the streets of SaiGon like any tourist amazed at the traffic, which on this street was minimal and getting over come by heat stroke. After hearing about VietNam for 35 years he finally had enough and decided to come with me on a visit. 2 days in HCMC sampling food and getting his bearings it was off to Hue City. I had just finished reading DeMille's "Up Country" and was hoping to show Mike some of the same terrain explored in the book. Only in the reverse order. We only had 2 weeks so it would have to be the Cliff Notes version. Without going to Ha Noi and Dien Bien Phu. I also wanted to give him a total taste of everything from in country train travel to local buses and motos.

Security

Every hotel and business seems to have their own security guards. For a country that has very little crime I wonder why they need so much security. These two "Cowboys" were working at the Xuan Loc hotel in HCMC near the Ben Thanh Market. They were great fun and loads of laughs. They love to play and tease people rough house with each other when the boss isn't watching. Most of these guys sleep in the lobby of their hotels and stand guard over the front desk. They also hail taxi's and give directions when they can.

My friend Hang

This is Hang, my friend who books my hotels for me and takes me around when I am in SaiGon. She is doing quite well with a better job and has an excellent command of English. She is my friend Trang's cousin. They are from Phan Thiet just 2 hours north of SaiGon Near Mui Ne. I hear now that she has a new boyfriend and is in LaLa land so to speak......good luck Hang!

Catholic Church

This beautiful church is located on the corner of Nguyen Trai st. I forget the name of it but believe it was built by the last King of VietNam's daughter. Totally packed for mass with SRO on the steps and courtyard outside. After mass some of the people who venerate certain saints go to their respective statues and not only pray but carress them and express vivid emotion while doing so.

Devotion to Mary

This grotto is dedicated to the veneration of Mary the Mother of God. By the time mass started this place was packed. All the courtyard and the church. Such devotion.

PleiKu Hotel

I stayed at this hotel for a couple of days and had a very hard time getting out of PleiKu by plane. Was sweating out having to go back by bus but as it turned out the guy at the desk here "had a friend who worked at the airport"

who could get me on a plane back to HCMC, and for no extra charge. When I showed up at the airport, incidentally it's the same airport I flew out of back in 1972, they only accept cash. So back into town I go by taxi to the bank and get some cash, then hurry back to the airport only to find the flight delayed for and hour. So goes travel in VietNam.

Xe lam or Lambretta

Ahhhh the ever present xe lam, back in the day these were everywhere. Now they're quite rare. Spare parts from Italy are hard to come by. I've spotted them in VietNam mostly in the small towns. Nostalgic for me and proabaly for most GI's to see these.

Buon Ma Thuot Tank

This tank is placed in full view in the center of town lest anyone forget that the North won the American War. On my visit to Buon Ma Thuot I arrived on the same day as the "Elephant Festival". Just my luck that there was not a hotel room to be had. I ended up parking myself in the lobby of the White Horse Hotel just across the street from this display. I threw myself on the mercy of the receptionist and she did track down a place for me to stay. "Sorry it is only a 1 star" which in translation means a minus 2 star. It was a refurbished Russian military barracks out near the bus station but since it was only one night "how bad could it be?". I had a great time in this dusty little town on my way to Plei Ku by bus. The famous Amman Kahn rode his elephant down Main Street along with the fire company and various military vehicles were also on display. I felt very uncomfortable taking any pictures of the parade do to the military presence. In the other picture folks are starting to line up to get the best seats to view the parade.

Bahn Cuon "I think"

This is the same stall that serves my favorite Pho Bo at the Ben Thanh market. They also make "banh cuon" I think it's called. A thin rice flour concoction wrapped around chopped nuts and a tapioca filling. Not quite as sweet as it sounds but very good non the less. These are the things I love about VietNam.

I'm not buying....can't you tell!

Just a funny observation of how people subtlely tell the vendors "I'M NOT BUYING ANYTHING" by putting their hands behind their backs. I find I do the same thing. Not to be confused with "I HAVE THE BUYS"!

Ho at home

This is another pic of Ho that I have. I took this while dropping him off after work one day. His old house is gone now, torn down for expansion. I tried to find him back in 2005, having my driver Dat take me all over the countryside but no one knows anything about him. Hope he is well and has many grandchildren. We spent alot of time together and he was a good friend. We had many laughs and he was always eager to help me adapt to VietNam.

Ho Moc San

This is a 1971 picture of Ho Moc San. He was a local Viet who worked on our base at Dong Ba Thin. I have been trying to find him to no avail. He was a great guy and a very hard worker. I spent many lunches with Ho learning simple Vietnamese saying and numbers. I used to drive him home quite a bit, he live about 12K from the base. Since the end of the war I've often wondered what happened to Ho, I pray he is doing well and living a happy life with many grandchilden. He deserves that much. I usually spend a couple days near Cam Rahn searching for him, I even went to Dong Nai area outside of Sai Gon since the local police in Nha Trang said that is where he moved to. All the guys called him "Pappasan" but I always called him Ho.

Boom Boom Alley

When I used to come this way back in "71" it was the gateway to the GI bars. Many "Cowboys" used to hang out in this area to prey on unsuspecting GI's. Many a cheap Timex watch was lifted at this corner and a few Seikos too. One of the Sargents from the 3rd Assault Helicopter Company owned a Boom Boom Bar down here and being from his unit we were allowed credit to be paid back later. Sgt. Hunsicker was airborne qualified like me and we ran into each other back at Ft. Bragg while we were taking the Parachute Refresher Course. We had a good laugh about the great times we had at his place. Coming back this way was like De Ja Vu all over again. No one seemed to know what I was doing here or what was commanding my attention as I strolled the back streets of town. I have a friend Tom Han who now lives in LA that was from Plei Ku and after 1975 he and his family fled Viet Nam along with many ethnic Chinese. I wanted to know where in Plei Ku he lived so I could visit his home and see who lived there now. Probably some party fat cat living on the dole. I spent a wonderful 19th birthday in this town thanks to my buddy John Sheafe from New Mexico. We served together back at Dong Ba Thin and were transferred together up to Plei Ku.
We were way layed in Tuy Hoa for a couple of hours and the XO of the transfer station had a field day with us. Demanding we get our hair cut and clean up. "You look like a couple of hippie bums, my brother in law is up in the 3rd and he'll have your ass if you show up lookin' like that".

Plei Ku City

Here looking back down the road that leads in from Camp Holloway the view is quite familiar to me but the trees are all gone now. They were so beautiful. At this point we would turn left and head to what we affectionately called "Boom Boom Alley" back in the day.

Nha Trang Wild Surf

I shot this beach scene on a walk in Nha Trang. "The sea was angry that day my friend" as George would say. No surfers out or anyone else for that matter but the over spray was cool and refreshing.

Trinh

My friend Trinh again, she is growing so much every year. She is now in secondary school and doing very well. her English is still not good but I hope it gets better the next time I visit. Her grade school she used to attend was flooded when I visited. The kids had to climb out the window , walk along the wall that surrounds the school and then down a little bridge of 2 x 4's to get to the road home. I can scarcely believe "our" kids at home having to do this but as usual with little fanfare these Vietnamese kids take everything in stride.

Shanghai noodles

This guy is making noodles the "old fashion" way, by hand. I was fascinated with this and they are soooo good. This was taken outside my hotel The Tuong Huy on Nguyen Trai St. Nice place to stay. I happened to hit my usual hotel during a very busy time and was redirected to this place. Back to the noodles. Great place to eat, and I can't remember the name but it's 2 or 3 doors down from the hotel going back to Ben Thanh Market.

Pho stall girls update

As I visit VietNam, yearly now it seems, I frequent my usual haunts to visit people I've met and friends I've made along my way. Here are the same two girls that work the pho stall in the Ben Thanh market. I always give them the business "needling them" and they always give it back.

Lost in Space

Clearly it's been awhile since I last posted to my blog but will endeavor to do better. This lovely lady is the owner of my favorite pho stall in the Ben Thanh Market. She also makes a great bun cuon.

After two days in SaiGon I was on my way to DaNang City to meet with the East Meets West Dental Clinic staff and the Global Humanitarian Dental volunteers. The outreach had been planned for months to be in Hoi An but no one expected this much rain. As you can see the Han river was cresting and coming over it's banks in spots. The countryside hadn't seen this much rain in 10 years people said. TI got the word the staff was stranded in Hoi An and I was unable to reach them by any means because the roads were flooded. The staff did finally make it back to town and a somewhat smaller version of the outreach was performed with much fanfare and robust enthusiasm by the staffs and the children. Except for 2 little waifs who were petrified to have their teeth worked on I believe there were about 100 children serviced that single day. We also had a fantastic lunch at a nearby restaurant. I'm always amazed at how the children respond to
foreigners.

November 2007 visit

Upon arrival at HCMC in the evening there was little change to the usual routine of baggage claim, customs clearence and so on but the necessity for a metered taxi at the transportation desk was nullified because all the taxi's are metered now. The same old scams were being tried such as offering a ride to district #1 for $30 USD but I declined and ended up paying slightly less than $5USD. My new hotel which I had never stayed in was located on the same street but 2 doors down from the Ngoc Ha. The Xuan Loc was moderately priced with the usual amenities that a small mini hotel has to offer. Clean rooms, hot water and a breakfast buffet. The staff was wonderful as they usually are in these small family run establishments. Afterwards my Viet Kieu friend's sister "cousin" Hang agreeded to show me to a local bistro for my first night's dinner. Clams, clams and more clams. Seems I can't get my fill of steamed clams, with lemongrass, chillis and scallions when I'm in VietNam. For the whopping price of $1.50 for 2 dozen I tend to indulge myself. This restaurant is located just off Le Loi St. between the Ben Thanh Market and The Rex Hotel, it's the Bourban Street Bistro. Hang (pronounced Hung) worked there while attending the University. The resident piano man played her favorite tune for her in honor of her return.....the food was really good!

Saint Joseph and Christ

The people in Vung Tau wear their religion on their sleeve. This beautiful relief was spotted next door to one of the many Catholic Churches on Vung Tau and was typical of alot of homes Catholic and Bhuddist that I saw there. I was surprised by the size of this relief and the color of the house it was attached to. Beside the size of it which was impressive, I was amazed at the detail.

Vung Tau Hydrofoil

View from the Hydrofoil on my way to Vung Tau. Left over Russian boats that are abit dated but provide adequate service, better than the bus I'm sure, leaves every hour on the hour till 5:00pm. Met an Ex Pat Aussie veteran visiting his old haunts in Vung Tau and had a nice chat. His first time back and was having a ball he said. His wife had planned the itinery so he didn't have much knowledge about where he was staying or where was his next stop but was loving every minute of his stay.

Vung Tau here I come!

At the dock near the Continental Hotel I bought my ticket to Vung Tau for $9USD and was eagerly waiting take off when the ticket taker showed up, quite more pleasingly dressed than most ticket takers I've seen in the states. The 1 and 1/2 hr trip to Vung Tau is met by a throng of hawkers selling everything from siteseeing tours to "you know what". I headed straight for the nearest watering hole "Ned Kelley's" place across the street from the dock and waited for the activity to die down. The boats arrive on the half hour and everyone knows it so they wait. After 10 minutes calm presided and I was on my way to the closest of the 2 beaches "Front Beach " a short 5-10 minute walk downhill all the way and a pretty lil park filled with parents and children on holiday and taking pictures with the Disney characters in the park. Postcard salesmen and women abound and everything from peanuts to "you know what" are on sale at all hours of the day. A moto driver approached by the name of Vu and we had a chat and agrred on a price for a tour of the beaches and the sites, many wonderful churches and pagodas along with a delightful lunch at an Italian place called "David's" and a 2 hr tour by moto of the more popular "Back" beach and the town itself of Vung Tau, I have it from reliable sources it was an R&R spot for the VC during the American War. The large Jesus Statue erected atop a hill is somewhat reminiscent of the one in Rio Brazil but not quite as large

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Pho Bo at stall #1004

Ben Thanh market stall #1004 was hosted by these two lovely ladies hawking there only item Pho Bo or the Vietnamese national dish Pho "bo" or beef version. The girl on the right with the more than stern look was always telling me to "go outside now". I was always having loads of fun with them and ordering other items from other vendors and eating it on their counter which is a no no but I just pleaded ignorance. I went to this stall every morning for a week and had a delicious bowl of soup at 6:30am and a serving of sliced mango and some iced coffee to round it all out with. Both these girls are married and are about 30 years old, they looked 12 to me but they were great fun to be with.

Duc Tri Private College

I was asked by a friend to come to this Private College to talk to the students that are taking English so that they may hear from a native speaker. I guess it's difficult to arrange native speakers for English with there being mostly Australians visiting Vietnam now and the locals don't consider Ozzie's to be speaking English, go figure. I had a very nice time there and the students all in their 20's were so shy and some did come around and speak directly to me. The school is looking for a partner college to cooperate with and maybe have a student exchange so if there's anyone that knows someone that knows someone..........have at it.

Aren't They Cute?

These children are some of the kids who were helped in this years tuition assistance program at Hoa Lien Primary School. Along with the SPELL program through EMWD these children will not have to struggle to raise the money necessary to go to school for the year. Most here are handicapped or orphans living with grandparents and really have a tough time making ends meet. I asked the principal to choose the children based on need and after hearing their stories I was moved to tears knowing that this year they will have it alittle easier and maybe not have to make some difficult choices between staying in school and dropping out to help earn money to live. This little waif was so cute I couldn't help but take a picture of her as she wondered why she was called to the office, she was the first to arrive and to have me waiting there for her I think she was alittle more than frightened.

Trinh

My 2006 trip included a visit to Hoa Lien Primary School to see my special little friend Trinh. She has grown so much during this year and is still so beautiful and full of life. I think the attention she gets when I visit puts her off alittle and embarasses her somewhat in front of her friends. The principal of the school still greets me with alot of warmth and gratefulness for helping some of his children. The other children were soooooo adorable and most were orphans living with grandparents or were themselves handicapped in someway. The children were overwhelmed when they were presented with their tuition certifactes and could not express their appreciation enough. I hope to continue to visit Hoa Lien School and maybe do more for the school next year as well as keeping the tuition assistance program growing. Last year was 2 children and this year I was able to raise enough money to help 13 children in 3 different schools. One being Trinh's brother and 2 others at Hoa Xuan School where I assisted in another Outreach along with East Meets West Dental. The staff there has helped me tremendously and I'm very grateful for all they do for these children. Each time I visit I'm so impressed with the spirit of these children and how hard they try to learn under very difficult circumstances .

Mr. Security

Mr. Security at the Ngoc Ha Hotel. What a guy, he took me for a drink after work one day and produced a dried squid for the proprietor to grill for us. It was quite good and tastey with a salty chicken wing texture to it. We munched on it for about a half hour while he drank his SaiGon beer over ice as most Vietnamese drink their beer. I stayed with "Coca" for the duration of my stay because I didn't want to give my gastro intestinal tract a ride.

Driver Thang

Thang, is a taxi driver I met outside my hotel who agreed to drive me to Dong Nai which is the next province east of HCMC. He further endear himself to me by translating all my requests to help find my friend Ho who was supposed to have moved there from Nha Trang but, we had no luck. What a great guy though and I found out his wife is from Ban Me Thout in the central highlands and her family lives in LA but she has no desire to move there. They have a daughter who is 7 years old and attends International School in SaiGon. Not only did he drive me but we had many cafe sua da's (iced Coffee with milk) and lots of interesting conversation to boot. He owns his own cab which he laments is 5 years old but it has AC and no visible dents... so all in all he's doing well.

Mi Mi's Salon

Afew of the girls that work at MiMi's near my hotel in SaiGon. This salon was quite nice with a full service body massage for $5USD and the usual shampoo, manicure and shave all for under $10USD. The girls treated me so well and after I found out how long they work 9:00am- 9:00pm six days a week it makes you appreciate how good we have it. I enjoyed buying them frozen yogurt in the evening from the pushcart vendor and letting them listen to my MP3 player. They think all Americans are millionairs and I guess to them we are. They all live very simply and work very hard

Kellie's Friends

My friend Kellie from Tarentum and Quy Nhon introduced me to two of her friends who are now living in SaiGon and working there also. They were kind enough to come to dinner with me my first night in SaiGon. Yen (Yeen) or Kitty as she is known and Houng on the far right. Kitty knows alittle more english than her friend Houng but we still had our troubles and both were quite shy too not having had much contact with Americans but since I was a friend of their friend that made everything OK. Later when I returned to HCMC we had dinner st the Ben Thanh outside market and ICECREAM at the Famous Bach Dang Icecream Parlour on Le Loi St. Where they both went crazy over icecream and the beautiful view over the busy intersection.

Every Tree is numbered

Beautiful tree lined avenues in most Vietnam cities and towns and everyone is numbered and catalogued as to type and size and location. Not much goes unnoticed in the cities by the authorities and for the most part that's a good thing. Just in case some needy city dweller decides he'd like some extra firewood to keep the old homestead warm.
Steel plates with the no.'s stamped in them are nailed conspicuously to every tree.

Pham Ngu Lao Statue

Very interesting statue along the busy city street in District #1 near the Pham Ngu Lao area. A short walk from my hotel the Ngoc Ha on Le Anh Xuan St. "Cyclo Sir?" "1hr. 1 dollar" yell the cyclo hawkers trying to sell the services to feed the family...or so they say.

Early Morning Traffic

Traffic is picking up this morning around the Pham Ngo Lau area of SaiGon. I was out walking about 7:00am and caught the first bits of moto traffic around the famous statue at the turn about. Lots of people on moto's and bicycles. No one makes a big deal if you get cut off... not like here in the states where you take your life in your hands for not giving an inch at the merge points. Everyone just flows into a smooth meld of bee swarm like coaggulation. An occasional scraped knee or torn pants is in the offing for the unwary xe om rider. Just a fact of life in the busy world of SaiGon traffic.

Vintage Vespa circa 1960's

Spotted this vintage vespa along Le Anh Xuan St. in District #1 while I was having my hair shampooed at Mi Mi's Salon I believe it belonged to the owners son. What a beauty. Also spotted a 1965 Ford Mustang just like the first car I bought back in 1972 at Ft. Bragg NC. for $200 USD. The one I saw was an 8 cyl. auto but it was clean and also was the owner's or his son's.

Bon Jour Vietnam

Saw this website somewhere and it was so beautiful I feel I have to include it to share with everyone.

http://www.visualgui.com/motion/BonjourVietnam.html

First stab at flickr

www.flickr.com

Vy my friend from the Hong Kong airport

This lovely girl is Vy Nguyen from New England and we met while traveling to Vietnam in September of 2005. We were both on the flight from Chicago to Hong Kong and were both moving to the international gate for our flight to SaiGon. Having noticed each other on the walk to the gate we struck up a conversation as travelers doomed to the monotony of layovers do and had a good chat about Vietnam and where we were headed, she to south of HCMC and me to Nha Trang and northward. We had a bit of a time at the baggage claim and customs because Vy was bringing steamer trunks full of gifts and things to relatives piled to the ceiling and I only had my ever ready backpack to slow me down, so I gave her a hand. We had exchanged email address's and off we went on our separate ways. I lost her email for almost 6 months and having gone through my document carrier before my next trip low and behold I found it. I dashed off a few quick notes and to my amazement she responded and also through the wonders of technology she appears to you in living color. Her picture here taken from a recent trip to Times Square .....hey guys she's cute and even cuter in person and as nice as can be to share her time and frienship with me on a long flight to Vietnam.

Longing for the soft breezes of Vietnam

Vietnam is truely a seductive place. The sights and sounds come drifting back to me in dreams. Once in awhile I catch a smell or hear a sound that reminds me of my times there. The beautiful women in their Ao Dai's floating down tree lined avenues in Hue or young boys playing soccer in an open field. The playfulness of the young firefighters practicing their craft in the streets. teasing each other and posturing for those who might be watching. The steading parade of xe oms zooming in and out of every roadway, oblivious to other traffic passenger or vehicle. The smells of bread baking in the morning and of street vendors hawking their wares up and down the busy streets. The sun coming up over the ocean and the lazy palm trees swaying in the morning breeze in Nha Trang. I really can't wait to go back and rekindle those memories. I will post more photos on my return. September seems so far away.