The American War

A reasonable person could get a little nervous traveling by plane in the third world. There are a million airlines here (Thai Air, Thai Airways and Thai Air Asia are actually different companies) and some of the airports only see a couple flights a day go in or out. According to my research, Lao Airlines, for example, has passed no international safety standards at all.

Fortunately, many of the airlines are run very well and the service is outstanding. During a 50 minute flight, the crew manages to offer everyone complimentary international newspapers, serve hot food and full beverage service (very good food is served on every flight) and refill your coffee several times. They couldn't be more polite or accomodating through the whole thing.

The other positive is that the flights are very cheap. When your consumer base makes only a few dollars a day, you just can't charge too much.

After a week in and around Hanoi, I left to head down to Central Vietnam. The goal was to do some touring of the Vietnam War sites ("American War" or "American War of Agression" as it's called here) and hit the beaches.

Vietnam Air is the only company that operates internally in Vietnam. The company is run by the communist government and a one-way flight from Hanoi to Hue (about 500 miles) costs $40. You can book a bus ticket that runs from Hanoi to Saigon for $21. With this ticket, you can get off and get on the bus as many times as you'd like and stay at each stop as long as you'd like. It takes over 45 hours of total bus travel to get from North to South and most busses run at night. The bus drivers are bigger idiots on the road than anyone else and if you crash and are injured in rural Vietnam, we'll let's just say the emergency aid here makes FEMA look good. Apparently, the drivers also blast karaoke all night long. Needless to say, I booked the flight.

What the airlines might lack in competence, they make up for in cautiousness. It was raining in Hue, so they rerouted our plane to Danang then bussed us the 125 km back to Hue. The rain didn't stop the entire time I was in Central Vietnam.

The 17th parallel is the line chosen in 1945 by the US, Brits and Russians to divide Vietnam. Though it saw some of the heaviest fighting in the American War, it is known as the "Demilitarized Zone" or DMZ. Tours of the DMZ are offered all over Hue and they all leave at 6:30 am. I reconsidered the whole thing at that point, but signed up anyway.

The Vinh Moc tunnels were our first stop. During the war, the Vietnamese dug hundreds of miles of tunnels, throughout South and Central Vietnam. The Vinh Moc tunnels were about 3 km in length and up to 25m deep. Seven enterances face the sea to provide ventilation. Over 300 people lived in these tunnels from 1966-1971. Incredibly, the Americans never found them.
Descending into the tunnels is a chlosterphobe's worst nightmare. There is very little lighting and the ceilings are about 5 feet high. With the outside rain, the tunnel was wet and slippery. While the whole concept of the tunnels is really amazing, the advertised "maternity wards" and "meeting rooms" were little more than widened arteries coming off the main branch. The reality that sets in is how desperate these people must have been to spend years in a dark hole.

The Khe San military base is near the tunnels and was one of the strongest American footholds in Central Vietnam. This is where the diversion that allowed the Tet Offensive occured. (Historical note if you're not familiar with the Tet Offensive: In Vietnam, the US wanted to fight a war like it had in Europe. They wanted to line up the troops from both sides on the battlefield and fight it out. Needless to say, the Vietnamese could not win that kind of war, hence the guerrila tactics. In late 1967, the North Vietnamese Army infiltrated the cities near the major US bases. They then created a diversion by attacking the Khe San base with traditional military tactics. The US thought they finally had the fight they wanted and rounded up forces from all over the South Vietnam to fight at Khe San. Once the US bases were undermanned, the Vietnamese infiltrators attacked. The attack took place on the first night of the Tet Holiday (which is the Vietnamese New Year, January 30th, 1968.) While the Americans eventually turned back the NVA, the Tet Offensive caused many American casualties and marked the awakening of the American public to the horrors of the Vietnam War.)

Khe San currently houses a museum with American tanks and aircraft around the outside of the base. The exhibits are sort of amusing. The captions under the exhibits read like the national newspapers. Every description is, almost hilariously, one-sided. Some of the pictures are used to show the bruatality of the American soldiers. Others captions read "See the Americans flee in terror as the superior NVA forces attack" below a picture of 3 American soldiers standing around, smoking cigarettes.

The highlight of the trip was the tour guide. I actually got to sit next to him and talk to hm throughout the day. When he found out I was American, he became very friendly. He had grown up in the DMZ during the war. He told harrowing stories of having guns from American helicopters pointed at him. If he ran, he'd be shot, but remaining calm went against every instinct he had.

He explained his transformation from hating Americans to empathizing with them. Through reading many perspectives on the war, he came to realize that the American soldiers and, in many ways, the American people were also victims in the Vietnam war. He said the Vietnamese people didn't care who won, they just wanted the fighting to stop. He said the current government is popular with the people because of the peace and stability. After years and years of fighting, they just don't care about anything else.

We traveled along to see the northern base of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other famous battle sites like Rockpile and Hamburger Hill. The land there is absolutely beautiful. You can tell the forest growth is not too old, but it is thick and colorful.

I left Hue after two days to see the beaches in Nha Trang. Those were rained out as well and Vietnam Air had completely cancelled that flight, so I headed to Saigon. (Interesing note: The Vietnamese language is entirely monosyllabic. Commonly known names are actually written incorrectly abroad. Sai gon, Ha noi and Da nang are the correct names of these places. I just didn't want to throw you off.)

Saigon is officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, but the people in the south and most travelers refer to it as Saigon. The chaos in the streets is much like Hanoi, but on a larger scale. Saigon doesn't have the obvious European influence of Hanoi and lacks much of its charm. Though "Notre Dame," a Catholic Cathedral (pictured) is located in central Saigon (Vietnam is the only place in SE Asia where I've seen any Catholic influence.) While Saigon is a very tourist friendly city, the locals have caught on to the potential for extracting money from tourists.

Anywhere you go in SE Asia, you are approached on the street by people who are trying to get money out of you. You can not ask directions from anyone because they will insist on taking you to the place you want to go at a price. If you refuse, they will follow and argue. In fact, you can't get 5 feet in a major tourist area without hearing "motorbike, sir" or having someone try to get you into a restaurant or massage parlor. Most of the time a polite wave is enough to indicate "no." However, if 95% of the people trying to get your attention on the street are polite, the other 5% are, shall we say, persistent.

If 5% of the people are persistent, that makes for about 20 persistent people per day. This persistence comes in the form of following you and trying to start a conversation ("Where are you from?" "Where are you going?") but can get as bad as people physically grabbing you and pulling you by the arm to get your attention. You absolutely can not begin talking about the price of their services without an intention to buy. Once the hagglng starts, there is almost no getting out. Again, you will be chased down the street and subjected to every cheap sales tactic under the sun. Eventually you master the polite wave and how to ignore people to get them to leave you alone.

While the European influence in Vietnam is not as present in the architecture and feel of Saigon, the art is clearly inspired by the Western masters. The art museum in Saigon has an extensive collection of Vietnamese artists. While the subject matter and other elements are distictly Asian the technique and style could fool a casual art lover into thinking they were looking at Seurat, Cezanne or Van Gogh. I've included several pictures of the art here. (Sorry, but Blogger.com is driving me nuts. I can't figure out the formatting to save my life. The 3 photos pictured here are obviously not from the War Museum.)

The most gripping of all of the museums I've visited in SE Asia is The War Museum in Saigon. Originally, it was called "The Museum of American and Chinese Atrocities," but they changed the name because it scared off the tourists (go figure.) There are many exhibits with factual information about the American War. It was fascinating and I learned quite a lot. Then you get to the extensive collection of photos and videos of people who were maimed and killed in the war. There are very graphic pictures and videos of civilians who have lived through napalm bombings and other atrocities. There is also an entire section about the severely disfigured children of people who ingested Agent Orange.

The goal of the museum is to raise awareness that a cease fire does not end the suffering of the people. They are trying to raise money to support the Vietnamese poplutaion that is still vicitmized by the war. I'm not going to include any pictures of this place. You'll just have to trust me, they are very successful in their goals.

It can't be easy for people from other countries to see these exhibits, but as an American, it is downright chilling. While government criticism is common in the US, I'm just not used to my country being talked about in these terms. One of the most striking pictures is one of several American soldiers proudly holding up the severed heads of dead NVA soldiers. Other photos show Americans torturing and terrorizing Vietnamese civilians.

Throughout the trip I've had interesting conversations with people from all over the world about politics and current events. I've had several people tell me that they don't usually like Americans, but that I'm ok. Universally, people despise our current government. Every single person I've talked to speaks about George Bush in the most disparaging terms possible (Bill Clinton, on the other, is loved by all.) Bush is seen as a rich kid who hasn't earned his own way. He is considered an idiot and a villain. While I agree with these sentiments, it's not nice being from a place that's seen as the world's bully. It's always a little awkward telling people where I'm from. I've gotten quite a wide range of reactions, though most positive.

I had lunch with a nice couple from Denmark who told me something that made me feel a lot more comfortable about the situation. "You know, we don't hate the American people, we just protest the actions of your government. But, um, you re-elected him?"