Also promise to bring back current photos of museum where Mr. Kerry is honored.
Doesn’t sound there is much to see or do there.
http://home.earthlink.net/~2551/id10.html
I have no desire to return to Vietnam nor to Tay Ninh, but have wondered if any of the buildings / bunkers I lived in were still standing.
I remember the lines of rubber trees from the old French plantations on the road between Tay Ninh and Cu Chi. Miles and miles of trees, all in a straight line, evenly placed.
Appreciate the lat/long on google.
If you get to Tay Ninh, take a ton of pix.
.....Bob
I only remember hills Z765 and Z786. Valley K345 and LZ’s Eagle and Spirit. Of course that was all that was marked on our maps.
The last time I left, there was a big smoking hole behind me !!!!
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Somebody should ask how well have the government removed the explosive mines from the countryside in Vietnam. I can just imagine stories every few weeks of some poor unfortunate victim tripping off a mine every now and then.
Here’s an idea. I haven’t been to VN for two years, but I enjoyed hanging out at a VN bar next door to the Omni Hotel in Phu Nhuan district on Nguyen Van Troi street - the name of the bar is the Chot Nho. It’s not a big place. If you go in early afternoon, after the lunch crowd, it will be empty. Talk to the bartenders about what you want; they’re friendly, speak some English and will be happy to help, I’m sure.
Otherwise, try the open air bar on top of the Caravelle Hotel in town center - it’s a big hotel, backs up to the Sheraton and, again, has very friendly bartenders (better English thanChot Nho) who will likely be happy to help you.
VN is very safe, no need to worry about a Vietnamese Vet attacking you.
You might also consider the outside bar on the 5th floor of the Rex Hotel (near the Caravelle) although it’s a Commie hotel so I don’t know how much help you’d get.
As in most Western countries, money talks, Hillary walks. I’d suggest you offer the bartender $10 for his help - you’ll probably get it.
If I were you, I’d ask about a guided tour by someone who speaks English but is not part of a tour agency. Tell them you want some iced down beer, the ability to stop at a few places, crawl around, get dirty and take pics.
A 50 dollar bill on top of their expenses for the car, gas and incidentals would probably do it. Maybe a little more.
ping
I was in Khanh Hoa in May-June this year. I went back for the High School graduation of a lass I have sponsored since I met her in 2003 when, at age 14, she told me she had just quit school because it was time to go to work for her family. She was about the smartest 14 Y.O. I had ever met so I made a deal with her daddy. She started at the University in Sai Gon in the math department this fall. You will find that everybody over there loves Americans. Do not make the mistake lots of old soldiers make when they go back. Don’t apologize for America’s role in the War. They have a different outlook on it. War was fated to happen. It happened and it was a terrible thing. It is long over. They really don’t want to hear about it. No matter which side they were on or their daddies were on, they think Americans make the world work. They love Americans.
Tourists are allowed to go just about anywhere they want to go except some parts of the highlands where they are still having arguments with some of the “minorities.” Old battlefields are mostly unrecognizable except, sometimes, for the little round lakes made by bombs. There is nothing left of the American presence at Cam Ranh. It is a beautiful and clean small town now. You would recognize Monkey mountain if you see it from the right angle but there are no Quonsets left or airstrip.
Go back. Get out of Sai Gon. Take the tours. You should go for at least 3 weeks. A month is better. Take those tours for the first week then just ride the buses or the train and visit the smaller towns and cities. Sit in the cafes. Walk around. Talk to anyone who will talk to you. Many have some English.Don’t feel obligated to marry the daughters that will be offered to you once mothers have scoped you out and determined you are a worthy man. Do NOT stay in western or Japanese hotels. Stay in the mom-and-pops or even in a motel (they exist and are all very new) if you run across one. Eat in the stalls, avoid uncooked food. Ride the cheap buses, the overcrowded ones that break down. The interaction is much better than on the modern air-conditioned ones. Ride the hard seat trains- same reason.
Don’t spend too much time chasing ghosts. Meet the people. It is hard to leave.
I'd opt for a hotel at the coast - springing up like flowers. Great service, food & swimming. You can get a driver there who speaks English and who'll take you anywhere you want to go.
Please post pix!
Thanks, and good traveling.
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Wow, this is a really interesting thread. Someone ping me when you get back, can tell us how it went? Hope the trip is everything and more than you hope.
I was there in 2005! Not sure if this was soon enough for you. Are you wanting to vacation there? If you do. I recommend it. It is a wonderful country. The people are so nice. I think that Americans need to begin vacationing there because it will be a destination for Europeans and Americans within the next 10 years. The U.S. Navy already have an occasional ship pull into port there.
Ok. More information after actually reading your post. I was in “Saigon” also. I did go to the camps and they are fine. They have some American equipment there that was perhaps taken or Americans just left it there. Wait until you see the tunnels. Not one American could fit into the holes that the Vietnamese had to go through. They showed us some touture items that they used. Not good. Those North V’s were pretty nasty. Well new time. I am 38 so I don’t remember the conflict that America and Vietnam had like those over 60. Same with the Vietnamese people. Nobody discusses the conflict anymore.