Vietnam Redux Redux

Dear family and friends,

I sent this letter a few days ago but for various reasons I don't think it went through to your addresses. Mainly, I think I had too many photos attached for your inboxes, so I am sending this without them. I have tried without success to establish a Yahoo Photo link, but again without success. Sorry. Anyway...

Cupping on the Street, Ho Chi Minh City

Tour 2003 - musings on Hanoi

March 21, 2003

Dear Family and Friends,

With the possible exception of Yangon, Hanoi is the least westernized of all the Asian cities I have been in.  I have not seen any McDonalds, Pizza Hut, or Burger Kings.  The closest to Starbucks is Starbeans.  Apparently KFC does have a presence in Vietnam, although I have not encountered them.  I read that when KFC first came to Vietnam, in a leap of marketing brilliance that transcended common sense, they proposed an "Uncle Ho" burger, noting that Ho Chi Minh looked like the Colonel.  Officials coldly pointed out Ho was a General.  KFC sticks to chicken. 

Further introduction of western culture is not apt to happen soon either.  The Vietnamese have borrowed a page from the Parti Quebeqois.  Daily now, squads of police are wandering around the Old Quarter demanding the removal of any sign where English (or French) is more prominent than Vietnamese.  The locals display the usual derision reserved for such silly bureaucracy, and a crowd always gathers, people snigger, the police mostly try to look very serious and important.  Some shop owners are resigned, some angry, and yet others try to schmooze the police.  All the while a rant blasts out of loudspeakers.  It is all quite festive. 

Around the World in a 60s Daze. Chapter VII - The Nam

March 24, 2002.



Dear Family and Friends,

Swarms of motorcycles, straw woven conical hats, very narrow buildings, rice paddies so green they seem to glow, fresh baguettes, Hill Peoples in traditional dress, remnants from decades of war, all will be my enduring memory of Vietnam. These letters may be getting boring to many of you, but I am going to persist anyway, and hope there is something of interest for you.

Lorraine, Carole and I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) nearly three weeks ago and we have had a whirlwind tour of the country, south to north. With a population of 80 million, Vietnam is the 9th most populous country in the world, and, or course, it dominated world news for most of the sixties, seventies, and even eighties. Today these determined, hardworking people have put that struggle behind them and are now looking towards a prosperous future. They seem to be a country of entrepreneurs and there is really little evidence of Communism save large billboards urging workers on. Vietnam is full of tourists, Australians, French, German, Dutch, Scandinavians, and lots of Canadians. In fact, we met two pairs of Newfoundlanders in one hotel. I can't recall ever meeting someone from Newfoundland on any of my previous trips.