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.

Papa san and his cart

The Vietnamese are very ingenious when it comes to these things. Necessity is clearly the mother of invention. Here we have a vintage jeep trailer left over from the war being used with a brahma pulling it for multi purpose work I'm sure. I noticed lots of these type inventions in my travels in Vietnam.

Vinh Moc Tunnel Complex

The Vinh Moc tunnels in North Vietnam were a major distibution point along the Ho Chi Minh trail. supplies coming in from China were broken down and transported inland or down the coast from this important supply line. The US decimated the town and surrounding countryside in hopes of shutting this vital link down but it just drove the people underground to do their work. Many people lived in the tunnel complex and it was much more elaborate than the CHu Chi complex in the south 114 miles all together including trenches to and from the different villages in the province, it had many levels and rooms and openings along it's path and one out to the sea at a very beautiful beach area featured below.

Room at the Saigon Morin Hue City

This room was wonderful and capped off my stay in Hue City at the fabulous Saigon Morin Hotel. The rooms are spacious and the service is everything you would expect from a 5 star hotel. The window area is actually French doors that open on to a balcony that overlooks the wide tree lined street next to the Perfume river, where you can get tours to the pagodas and temples. Fresh fruit is replaced daily as is a delicious little nugat candy covered with sesame seeds. Each floor has it's own desk so if you need anything you don't have to go down stairs for it. The pool at the Morin is also nice. I spent a refreshing afternoon swimming there after trekking over "Hell, creation and half of Hue City" searching for a particular Convent.

Waiting for Rau Moung at Table # 3

This fine afternoon of walking around DaNang was topped off with a delicious lunch at this neighborhood eatery. Rau moung was on the menu, which is the simplest of Vietnamese dishes. It features a delicate water lily or water spinach and it's sauteed in garlic and oil....lots and lots of garlic, but it is sooo good. The waitress had a bit of a time with my digital camera but after about the 3rd shot she finally got it. Dr. Ha and nurse Hien along with Hien's cousin who is going to be a dental assistant came along on the walk-about. I was tersly told not to film any military installations, which I didn't and after that I just wanted to hide, the Army regular was pretty touchy about me tryin' to film a likeness of "Uncle Ho" that was painted on a wall outside his base. he was on guard duty and he was probably puttin' on the show if his seargent was watching or if I was a test spy sent in to try and put him off his game. I should have asked his 1st general order and waited for a response. Which is "I will not leave my post until officially relieved" or some such nonsense. We had a great lunch and then it was time for me to get packed for my little trip to Hue City through the Hai Van Pass by car, NOT by the tunnel or train which I had originally wanted.

Dr. Ha dentist extrordinaire

This very pretty girl is Dr. Ha, one of the dentists at the East Meets West Dental Clinic in Da Nang. Her boyfriend is also very nice but doesn't know much english, why should he. We were out on the town this particular afternoon and when we returned he had arrived. Dr. Ha is one of the newest members of the staff and she is very vivacious and quite the talker. Always making jokes and teasing me especially. I hear the Humanitarian tour is in Da Nang this week and on "Outreach" which makes everyone nervous and very busy because there's so much work to be done preparing and upon clean-up. It's all worth it though when you have the kids smiling at you and thanking you for helping them. These NGO"s "non governmental organizations" do wonderful work all over the world and hopefully they 'll be allowed to continue this very important work, not just the dental work but the goodwill it spreads for all of us.

Access road from the back of a xe om

This little access road runs between the old HWY 1 and the new HWY 1. The new being a divided 4 lane with all the amenities and the old hwy being the 2 lane that ran the length of Vietnam in the 60's and 70's. Many parts of the hwy have been redone near the major towns but close to Cam Rahn and my old base Dong Ba Thin it's still the old hwy. One of the funny things I found out on my return trip this year having visited my old stomping grounds near Cam Rahn was that a small town next to our base that we used to call "My Thanh" was actually named Tam Thanh and that the large sign we all took for the name of the town was in fact just an advertisement for one of the popular coffees "My Thanh". Ok so we were'nt the sharpest knives in the drawer, everyone still knew where we were talking about.

Dong Ba Thin, Vietnam

For those of you who may think this is a picture about nothing you may be right. Although there was a time back in 1967-1971 that this little strip of land was known as Dong Ba Thin, home of the 92nd Assault Helicopter Company and the cows in the background are grazing on what's left of the flight line. This is the one side of the base, the larger one on the Cam Rahn Bay side of HWY 1 and below is the side I was stationed on the smaller side. I spent close to 6 months in this location before being restationed to Camp Holloway in Pleiku with the 3rd AHC. Hopefully I will visit Pleiku on my next trip to Vietnam and maybe my friend Tom Han from Los Angeles and formerly of Pleiku will come with me and show me the sites. I heard that most of Pleiku city was destroyed in 1975 upon the take over by the North and with fierce fighting near the center of town most of it was demolished. Notice the mountains in the rear, when I traveled by train through this area last September 2005 the train goes behind those mountains and reappears further up the coast near Nha Trang. Beautiful train travel in Vietnam

Me, My, Mom, Grandma

This is my little friend My. Her grandma owns a small stall behind the Saigon Morin Hotel in Hue City. I stopped there everyday for a cold drink or an afternoon tra "ja" which is tea. My would come right up to me and jump on my lap, not afraid of me at all. She was facinated with my digital camera and when she saw her own piture she said"MY!" Her family treated me so nice and I had my laundry done there also. Boys from down the block would stop in to buy 1 or 2 cigarettes at a time, as they played cards or dominoes. Most of the workers at the hotel parked their xe oms (scooters) behind the hotel and alot of them would stop for tea or "bat xeu" which is expresso coffee mixed with condensed milk....very good but alittle on the sweet side for me, served hot or on ice it's very good and very popular.

Tree lined avenue...Hue City

I was strolling down this avenue along the Perfume River not far from my hotel. Shortly after I took this picture I heard a school bell ring, just behind the wall on the right. Then there was bedlam as a mass of teenage kids got released from their hot midday school rooms for lunch. Then it's outside for a quick trip home for lunch or icecream and a snack from many of the food vendors along this busy street. These wide tree lined avenues are very common in Hue City, that's what makes it one of the most beautiful in Vietnam. Sadly over 80% of the city was destroyed during the Tet offensive of 1968 and the fierce fighting that took place house to house .

French Catholic Church

This church is located near the Saigon Morin Hotel in Hue City. It is tucked away behind large trees and not very easy to find. The court yard is beautiful and shady all day so it gets alot of locals hanging around and having their lunch there. Spectacular building and I would have loved to go inside but it was closed, maybe on my next trip I'll go there on Sunday. They still have mass there.

Hue City Mother Superior

This tiny lady offered me such hospitality when I visited her convent in Hue. I was looking for a friend I had met last year and when I introduced myself she brought me into her office and made me tea and gave me a very delicious lime flavored yogurt that she had made, it was quite good. The convent was in the middle of a renovation and was adding dorm rooms for the new nuns. They were being trained as teachers and nurses. There was quite an impressive computer library on the premises also.

Lang Co Beach Church

This little church is located just outside of the Lang Co Beach area on the Hue City side of the Hai Van mountains. Nestled into the mountain side it's protected from the storms coming off the ocean. Hue City has many Catholic churches and convents as I came to find out. I met a French speaking American outside the Saigon Morin Hotel in Hue on the final morning of our visit in 2004. Renee was his name and he had served there in the 70's like me and we swapped small talk about the country and he's now a semi retired tennis pro. He comes to Vietnam and lives in a convent in Hue teaching French and English to students. He is a very interesting guy and upon my return I tried to locate him but couldn't find him. I visited 3 of the 10 convents in Hue and had no luck. I also tried at the tennis courts but the workers didn't remember him either. I couldn't believe there were 10 convents in Hue and each had 40-50 Novices.

Bunker Fortifications on Hai Van Mountain

French bunker atop the pass at Hai Van (Sea Clouds). The view from here is one of the most beautiful in all of Vietnam. The trip up the mountain through the winding 2 lane is worth the extra time it takes to get to Hue city. Beware of the vendors atop this pass. They'll steal you blind if you don't watch. The most treacherous part of the trip lies before you get to the summit on the DaNang side of the mountain. The scenic beaches below, which are some of the most pristine in Asia are home to a leper colony, I didn't worry my Uncle Sam was feeding me anti leperosy medication back in the day! The ever twisting "S" curves are very dangerous because of the ever present fog on the mountain. I saw 2 accidents along the way. On the other side of the mountain lies Hue City and Lang Co Beach and it's resorts....awesome.

Heavenly Temples

These pagodas and temples greet you on your climb to the heavens on Marble Mountain and I can only imagine the work it took to build them in this remote place. The insides are just as beautiful with shrines to Buddha and incense burning all the time. I didn't see many monks or nuns so these may not be working temples but the were magnificent. The architecture screams Chinese.

Marble Mountain and the steps to Hell!

Marble Mountain if the heat doesn't kill you the climb will. It's not Everest it only feels like it when you get to the top. The steps are not nice clean even steps....they're the steps to hell. Broken, uneven, sharp edges jutting out some high some low and they never stop...like the publishers clearing house envelopes they just keep coming. We had plenty of places to take breaks along the trail and I huffed and puffed my way to the top in record time...not! It is very beautiful and the scenery is lush and the view from the top is spectacular. Bich shouldn't have worn white but she should have known better, never where white on safari or mountain climbing expeditions. We had a nice break at the bottom when I bought some marble trinkets from the locals. They guaranteed me they were of the best quality and that their own brother had carved them. $20us I got it for $18 on sale...special today.

Covered Bridge on Tran Phu Street

This is a good view of the Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoi An. Quite the tourist attraction in town and it is very nice...15th century or something. Glad it survived all the wars in this country's history. Everyone wants a picture of it or from it or in it.

Hoi An Newspaper Club

This used to be a newspaper's club for it's reporters and staff. It's a very quaint building in Hoi An. Wonderful old buildings here. It's along the river that spills into the bay. I had a great lunch at one of the local places and went on quite a bathroom adventure. There are many bathroom adventures in Nam. Food adventures as well. Somehow you never really know what you're eating even when you're eating it. Most of the time it is good I must say, just different than you're used to. Things slow down in Hoi An at lunch and the dinner hour. Most of the locals are taking a break from the heat and the tourists are having their's too.

Bich from Cafe Linh Da Nang

Here is Bich (pronounced Bick) at the famous covered bridge in Hoi An. We had a great time there and the weather was also nice which made the drive and touring much more pleasant. I had met Bich at the Cafe Linh just across the street from the Hotel Saigon Tourane on my 1st return trip with the Global Humanitarian dental tour. She is a hostess and tour guide and translater and just about everything. She was so much fun to be with. Had funny stories and knows just about every ex pat in Da Nang. She challenged my friend Tom who is Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) but he is Chinese Vietnamese, anyway, she challenged him to a game of pool and Tom being a very good pool player as are most of the Vietnamese I know...(Alex) sandbagged her for the first few balls. She was getting cocky and spouted off that "losers have to strip". That's when Tom turned on the skill and ran the table. She was dumbfounded and started to reneg on the stripping part and he said...."well how much would it cost me anyway" and she said...."You don't have THAT much money". We all had a good laugh and she then proceeded to make me look like crap, not having played much pool myself. She was even more mad when Tom started speaking in Vietnamese to her because I told her he was Chinese and I wasn't lying....but I did kind of not tell all the truth, since she had been bragging to her girl friends that" these guys couldn't play and she was gonna win all their money and quick!"

Thu Vi Ohm "Interesting Oldman"

This very interesting older gentleman did not want his picture taken but I didn't know that till after I took it. He waved me off with very little fanfare. My guide Bich on this trip was very informative about Hoi An and about most of the shops and reataurants in town. I bought some very beautiful lanterns there and had a wonderful grilled shrimp and pho lunch. I wouldn't recommend going to Hoi An unless you're ready to shop and fight the crowds. It's colorful enough but not for my taste, too commercial with everyone trying to sell something. The food was excellent I must say and the buildings were turn of the century French. All I wnted to do was get out of there and go to Marble Mountain, till I got there and saw the steps. My goodness the steps. You have to be an Olympic class athlete to scale those babies!!!! I also saw a very interesting Buddist nun on this trip and Bich told me they take no money but you can buy them a meal.

Woman with" don gahn"

The standard mode of carrying anything in Vietnam is the shoulder yoke or "don gahn". Notice the mask, long sleeves and gloves. Many of the women prefer not to be exposed to the sun and it's darkening rays. The paler the skin the better, if your dark it denotes an outdoor job of menial labor and thus a "lower" class. There's many street vendors who carry their wares along the avenues of Vietnam this way. www.noodlepie.com is a very entertaining site that details the many and varied street food vendors of HCMC. The Noodle Dude as I refer to him is so knowlegable about every back alley noodle hawker in the city.

Evening on the beach at Quy Nhon

As the sun starts to set the Viet people gravitate to the beach and the water. The fishing fleet in the background is about to go out for the evening and alittle night fishing with lights...it's a beautiful sight with their laterns lit out on the bay. Then they haul it home in time for the morning rush at the fish market ..xe oms loaded down with the catch of the day headed to restaurants and peoples homes. Many children play soccer on the beach or volley ball or just play tag. This night it had just rained and it was abit cooler than usual but it was still a very beautiful evening.

Phuong"Kellie" Tran from Tarentum and Quy Nhon

My good friend Kellie who taught me so much about the Vietnamese people and how to speak just enough to get me in trouble. I diverted my tour from Nha Trang to Quy Nhon so I could visit her and her family. Her brother was in an accident so she and her mother went back to see that he was Ok, it just worked out that I was going to be in their area and with a little change of plans and a train ticket to Dieu Tri which is just outside of town I was able to visit and meet her extended family and friends and have a wonderful visit with Phuong (which is Kellie's Vietnamese name). She took me to a wonderful seafood restaurant where you throw your seafood shells on the floor...interesting custom and we ate way too much. Later we went for tea at an outdoor cafe where they serve pumpkin seeds and some other roasted seeds as an appetizer. In the evening she had to take me for what she called Vietnamese Pizza. It's more of a crepe called "ban xeo" and was delicious, filled with boiled eggs vegetables and meats or seafood of choice. There was thich cay (dog) on most of the menus and found many places expounding the virtues of the 7 different ways of cooking. I didn't sample that particular delicacy but I tried alot of different things I never tasted before. My new found favorite was grilled squid...soooo good. Along the way I met many of Kellie's childhood friends and some of her family and they were so nice to me. They wouldn't let me pay for anything (a Viet custom) I was told and was treated like royalty. The beaches in Quy Nhon were magnificent and the surrounding mountains added to the overview of this exotic country. Notice Kellie sticks out like a sore thumb in her native country, she's now Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) and looked at in a different manner, all Viet Kieu are millionaires and have all forgotten their humble beginnings. That's what I'm told is the collective opinion of the most native Viets. I was in Quy Nhon once before on my way to Pleiku and had a layover and the hospitality of the 101st Airmobile. I accually stayed and slept in the bed of my friend from home Lee "Rusty" Leuice who was out on a mission at the time "hence the available bunk" and drank afew beers with his hootch mates before departing for Tuy Hoa the next morning and abit of a dressing down from the CO there for not being in the proper uniform and not having the regulation haircut......what were they gonna do to me....send me to Vietnam for cryin' out loud?

Cyclo......You want ride?

Cyclos are a dying breed in Vietnam much like the Lambrettas of the 60's and 70's. I asked our guides what happened to all the "xe lams" that were in Vietnam, there were hundreds of thousands at one time. He told me they were Italian and that they couldn't get parts for them anymore. I saw a few on my recent travels when I visited Quy Nhon. They all seemed to be painted this awful deep royal blue. We used to ride them into town when I was stationed in Pleiku and when we had too much to drink we would goad our drivers into racing and we'd jump from lambretta to lambretta like we were chariot racers in the coloseum....we were young and quite stupid and had little regard for ours or anyones else's saftey. Older and wiser now I probably wouldn't venture a ride in one of those contraptions, part scooter part van or apple cart and away you go.......smelling the terrible exhaust and swallowing road dust all the way to your destination....which most times was a bar or house of ill repute for an afternoons leisure.

Blue boats on the South China Sea

These boats were in the river close to the bay in Nha Trang. We were returning from the Temples and heading to the mineral springs and mud baths located near Dat's home. He weaved his way through the traffic with little or no problems and miraculously we ended up at the springs which for 45,000 dong or 3 dolloars you could relax in chest high heated mineral mud. I met a Spanish scuba instructor there along with his American lady friend who was on vacation and we had a very nice chat in the mud. He quizzed me on his nationality and if I could recognize it from his accent and I couldn't. He'd been in country for 3 months living in a month by month hotel on the beach and with maid service, breakfast and laundry it cost him a mere $300.00us a month. What a life.....go for it Raul. As I pondered how long it would take me to learn how to scuba, get an instructor license and.....ahhh.....to hell with it...I'm too old!

Uncle Ho

This beautiful piece was on display at the art exhibition. I thought it was very unique with it's mosaic quilt like style. Not that I like the subject matter or anything but the style was quite odd.

View from a Temple

This beautiful beach scene is from one of the Temples located along the coast North of Nha Trang. There was an Art Exhibition going on at the Temple also and had some lovely art work from national artists on display. Further up the coast there's some building of luxary condos, hotle and more restaurants if you can believe it. The mountains along the coast road were spectacular as was most of the scenery during my travels in Nam. Going south to Dong Ba Thin and Ba Noi it was soooo pretty to drive Hwy 1 and imagine how it would have been for me to be able to visit while I was here in 1971. The highway was less developed then but the water and coastline had to have been the same. Almost every turn inthe road was more colorful than the last and there were many pulloffs and scenic overlooks to view the bays from atop the mountains. I hope to retun again in 2006 and make another visit to this area to see how it has changed in just a year, there's so much building going on in Vietnam .

Instant karma's gonna getcha

Here I am at a Buddhist Temple offering prayers of peace to all who suffered in the Vietnam War. This site was very picturesque.
They have temple guides that are orphans and they hit you up for "donations". The large white Buddha outside is dedicated to the 5 monks and 2 nuns that burned themselves alive to protest the war. It's quite a place and a fair hike to the top of the monument and of course there's someone to sell you some water or pop once you're there. My driver Dat wouldn't invoke bad karma by shying me away from the obvious rip off tour guides but I could see he wasn't pleased with how they were being just a bit over the top implying good luck and good karma for the person that donates the most that day and how lucky they are to have been chosen to guide us.

Keeping it pretty in Nha Trang

How beautiful is this beach?The mountains real close to the coast make the scenery here at Nha Trang breathtaking. The lady in the picture is watering the grass and tidying up the beach area. There's a full cadre of workers to do these jobs, from sweeping the streets to raking the beach. All along this beach area there's plenty of things to see and do. Get a foot massage or have some grilled shrimp. Hopefully you won't get pushed too much for these things. I met many Viet tourists on the beach and on the streets along this beach and they were so friendly, most likely they don't get to see many westerners where they live so it's a novelty and especially when they see an American. they're always interested to try their English language skills on you and interact with you. The teenagers are so funny, when one speaks or initiates conversation....then they all jump in and talk and tease you and want to know where you're from. Knowing alittle Vietnamese I would often tease them back and say I was from Ba Noi or Thamh Tan or some little town and they would all laugh and say "sao" which means "not true" "you lie". That was alot of fun.

School girl walking

This girl was off to school along the Blvd in front of my hotel. She wouldn't venture a smile so I suspect she was told to be wary of foreigners and most definitely American tourists with cameras and all the evil it portends. The tour bus across the street was waiting to pickup Aussie folks on their way to DaNang and Hoi An. I had met them at breakfast and was told to meet them at their hotel in DaNang but I forgot the name 2 minutes later and never did meet them. Their guide was from the north and had lived in England for awhile. I was on my way to try to find my long time friend Ho Moc San.

"Sir....Pic-Chaw"

This fellow was outside my hotel taking pictures of tourists. Lots of Viets come to Nha Trang to go to the beach and sample the delicious seafood. So I turned the tables on this guy and took his pic-chaw. This avenue along the beach in Nha Trang is very popular...especially in the morning about 4:30 or 5:00. It's filled with people doing their daily exercises and jogging and having alittle chat with their friends before the start of their day. Everyone is friendly and smiling and looking forward to making their daily allowance to sustain themselves. The weather was wonderful and even if I had to travel on the back of a scooter all day it was still nice. I stayed at the Yasaka Hotel in the middle of the strip and it was very nice. Outdoor breakfast buffet every morning (weather permitting) and my only complaint was the "BOOM BOOM BOOM" of the Disco on the ground floor. I couldn't get close enough to investigate because it was just too loud. Fake smoke was pouring out of the door also, the better to disquise oneself from prying eyes.

Dat, an honest driver and all around good guy!

My driver Dat was a God send on my visit to Nha Trang. I ran him ragged looking for my friend Ho but to no avail we didn't find him. We did find 2 other Vietnamese who had worked on our base at Dong Ba Thin but they didn't know Ho either but they were so appreciative that any American would come back looking for an old friend (ban cul). I have to say some of these ex South Vietnamese soldiers faced some harrowing times in the reeducation camps in the north. Glad to see that things are changing for the better and that the past is being forgotten and most Viets are looking to the future. I visited Dat's home and met his lovely wife and 2 children. They were so poor in material things but were very content and happy with their lot in life. I think there's a message in there somewhere. His little boy (1 1/2 year old) was alittle sick with an ear infection or pink eye...or both but all they had was tylenol to give him...very sad. Their modest home consisted of a hot plate, a tv, wardrobe, and a bed....the ever present electric meter was the first thing you saw as you entered the home. The local communist doctrine is also blasted into the neighborhood by speakers out in the street, each little neighborhood is sectioned off and numbered and moderated...like our local wards and precincts for voting.

CoCo Verte restaurant in Nha Trang

My driver in Nha Trang took me to this little bistro on a back street. The food was delicious and I ate there afew times. Coco Verte was the name and the fellow who owned it spoke English, Russian, French and Vietnamese...quite a feat I must say and he would lapse into anyone of them at any time depending on the customer. The seafood was tremendous, I sampled the squid and shrimp and the spring rolls were to die for. The staff of young girls were very pleasant although they spoke little or no english and my driver Dat (pronounced Dax) was my main mode of communication throughout my visit in Nha Trang. I was there to revisit my old Army base just south of town, roughly 30 miles or so. My quest was to try and locate an old friend Ho Moc San...a Vietnamese friend I worked with while at Dong Ba Thin in 1971. He was a mechanic, tire changer and jack of all trades around our motorpool and I had the priviledge of knowing him during my tour of duty in the Nam. We spent lots of lunch hours getting to know each other and about 3 days a week or so I would either pick him up in the morning or drive him home at night depending if he had to work over which was the case most of the time.

Friendly Otto and his Vietnamese GF Phuong

I met this couple in the lobby of the Saigon Railway station. I was checking the schedule to my first stop which was Nha Trang and I heard a voice in labored English ask where I was going? As with most travelers in a foreign country I was happy to hear someone speak my language and an obvious westerner as well. Otto I found out was from Belgium, not Germany as I thought at first but we got along quite well, he had visited VN 3 years prior and had met a girl here and now comes back yearly to visit and stay with her folks just north of Nha Trang. Later on the platform I saw them working the conductor trying to get an upgrade from their hard seats to something alittle better. Being that the tour company booked me a complete sleeping car consisting of 4 beds I invited them to stay with me. Much to the chagrin of the conductor who was in line to make a hefty bonus from the "rich westerner". So Otto and his girl friend climbed aboard and we made small talk all the way to Nha Trang which took about 10 hours and only a few minor delays due to opposing trains coming from the North. The conductor asked me for his help in translating some of the technical words for "water heater" and "thermostat" and made some friends along the way. The Vietnamese trains have both Vietnamese "squat" toilets and "western toilets" on each of the sleeping cars.....but....and it's a big but.....the western toilets never seem to be unlocked. So you're relegated to using the common squat toilet which you can see the tracks passing by beneath your feet as you do your business.....or try to do it as in my case. The stainless steel footprints that you stand on and try to aim for daylight is to the untrained like shooting at moving targets and not being in the airforce and never having had bombadeer training.....well you get the picture....not a pretty sight. The food provided on the trains is edible in the broadest definition of the term but I wouldn't recommend it. The snacks they sell from the cart are much more palatable.....I also wouldn't recommend buying out the whole sleeping room because half of the fun of travel is the people you meet and why stay locked in your room and miss the best part of the trip...the people. Alas the conductor came back and wrangled out another $10 dollars US from my friend Otto because my ticket was only good till Nha Trang and he was going further, also he had his xe om on the train and that would be extra also...leave it to the Vietnamese so industrious.

The rooftop bar of the Rex

Alovely view from the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel. I recently stayed there on my last trip to Vietnam in September of 2005. No wonder the CIA and all the news people flocked to this place during the war. It's spectacular and when the lights of the Party headquarters are lit up it's even more beautiful. The rooms are dated but the staff is very attentive. Breakfast buffet was a cut above the other hotels I've stayed in but the location is great, near the center of District 1. The Ben Thranh market is 2 blocks away as is Unification Palace and Nortre Dame Cathedral. Some excellent shopping is to be had here and I did pick up afew things for my daughter and my girl friend Cindylou.......purses and shoes it's a womans heaven. Some excellent dining awaits you too and don't forget the food stalls at the Ben Thranh Market after dark......excellent. There's always someone trying to sell you something along the streets of HCMC but they're not too pushy and a cordial "Khong moun" (I don't want) is usually all it takes to shoo them away. I passed a little hotel on my way to the market that I want to stay in on my next trip to VN, it's called the Hai Nam, it looked so quaint and casual.

Thailand Allied Cemetery

Check out how well maintained the cemetery is. The Allied Cemetery is home to British, Australian and Dutch soldiers that built the infamous "Death Railway" through Burma and Thailand. If you saw the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" then you know alittle about the history of this place. One thing that caught my eye was the age of the dead, most were between late 20's and early 40's. Not the 19 year olds that you would think. That was true of most of our Allied troops. No Americans are interred here, they have all been taken home to the US. It's a shame that the relatives of these brave men can only imagine where they're buried and have no place to go to mourn their passing.

"Bridge on the River Kwai Redoux"

This is the famous "Bridge on the River Kwai" of movie fame. We did a day trip out of Bangkok to see a few sites and the bridge and the Allied cemetery were the most interesting to me. British, Aussie and Dutch troops are buried there and it's most impressive. Well kept and maintained, not a blade of grass out of place. There's a cottage industry that's sprung up from the bridge and the cemetery and alot of tourist come to see it. They have a bit of a re enactment each night with a laser show and bombs going off. Alittle cheesey but if it keeps attention on the plight of the POW's from WWII and what they went through I guess it's OK! I was more than disappointed with Thailand on a whole and probably will never go back. I had heard many wonderful things about Thailand but it came up short for me. Too many people 12 million in Bangkok, too much traffic, and way too much squalor.

This is a typical street scene in HCMC. On our way to a tour I spotted these girls having abit of a chat during lunch. The Vietnamese I find are so friendly and very much at ease in social situations. None of the arguing and getting in your face about anything. After I snapped this picture the girls all waved at me and smiled, being extremely gracious to this nosey American intruding on their daily ritual of coffee and chatting. Like I said before most Viets have some kind of store on their ground floor but this one seems a bit more formal, just crammed full of merchandise. The sidewalks become part of the business too so there's no where to walk. Their xe oms (scooters) are all parked on the sidewalk and many of the people cook or repair things or go about their daily business using the public thourofare. It's quite charming but a bit of a nuisance at times when you're trying to navigate the streets. Which requires a whole different Blog to address the calamities that await the uninitiated walker in most of the cities in Nam.

This was my guide around Ha Noi, her name was My and she was so helpful to me and I had to make her take some money from me for guiding me all day. She worked in a Chinese restaurant along Dien Bien Phu street. I befriended her employer and he insisted she show me around the sights. Her English was much better than my Vietnamese and we got along well. She had a bit of trouble using my camera but we got it worked out and all in all had a great time, the weather was beautiful also which made it so much nicer to tour. On our return the employers daughter asked me to help her with her English paper she was writing for college and it was about milk consumption in the rural provinces. They use sweetened and flavored milk to try to get the people to drink more milk.