Discovering Vietnam with my Brother
it all began when my brother said he was going to Vietnam by himself
and I raised my hand and asked him if I could come along,
we agreed it would be a good idea to follow his itinerary
and I had a week to put together tickets, visas, and get ready
Ann, who works for Ken, and working with her brother James in Vietnam
put together our itinerary and created
“Ken and Tom’s excellent adventure” from Hanoi to Saigon
Feb 09-11: SFO-HAN
Feb 12-13: Vinh Ha Long
Feb 13-14: HAN
Feb 15: HAN-DAD
Feb 16-17: Da Nang
Feb 18: DAD-SGN
Feb 19-20: Saigon/HCMC
Feb 21: SGN-SFO
we landed in Hanoi and stayed at the most famous
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel, an iconic hotel
whose heritage included a Joan Baez painting in the lobby
Hanoi has a history of strife-torn colonial and political regimes,
this 1000 year old capital was full of lovely landscape of lakes,
boulevards, public parks, and French-colonial architecture
I had always wanted to visit the famous “Hanoi Hilton” or
Hoa Lo Prison and see where John McCain was held prisoner,
the Vietnamese had kept their American political prisoners here
and before them the French had kept their Vietnamese political prisoners
visiting the “Uncle Ho” Mausoleum
where guards stand protecting their national hero,
I was asked to move when I crossed over the imaginary boundary line
by serious and dedicated guards with an important job to do
The Temple of Literature
Built in 1070 in the reign of King Ly Thanh Tong to worship Confucius, who was a thinker and
educator of ancient China and founder of Confucianism. .It was opened in 1067 as a school for
princes and children in the royal capital in the spirit of fondness of learning
Water Puppets Performances are still being performed today,
just as it used to be practiced by farmers in flooded paddy fields for centuries,
wooden puppets manipulated by bamboo wooden sticks.
Each show depicts stories of Vietnamese folk tales and daily life
with special effects such as smoke and mini fireworks plus traditional music
with the performers hidden beneath the water
next on our trip was visiting Halong Bay,
the most famous tourist attraction in Vietnam, .
passing some of the 1600 limestone islands dotting the bay
and exploring caves inside the rocks in a kayak,
after spending a comfortable night on the boat,
waking up to tai chi exercises for our minds and body
on top of the boat in the early morning
and finding a quiet solitude in the movements
the next stop on our itinerary was flying to DaNang
where Ken and I stayed at a resort,
eating at Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants
and relaxing by the pools, but not in the dangerous ocean currents
taking a day trip to Hoi An and walking over The Japanese Covered Bridge
to see the boats decorated with flowers floating on the Thu Bon River
and visiting a store with items made by handicap artists and
meeting the artist of my shirt that I purchased
we next flew to Saigon, the economic center of Vietnam,
and a city of ten million people and six million motorbikes,
staying at the Park Hyatt Hotel across from the Reunification Palace
where the first Communist tanks arrived in Saigon on April 30, 1975 and
where Ho Chi Minh now proudly stands
we were picked up in the morning to visit the Chi Chi Tunnels,
a series of tunnels linking the Viet Cong with the outskirts of Saigon.
The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong lived underground in
these tunnels, covering about 250 kilometers or 150 miles, and were
used for moving men and supplies down from the North.
The iron will of the North Vietnamese and these tunnels kept them safe from bombs
at the War Remnants Museum, we saw the military history of the “American War”
with the Huey helicopters and two original Russian T-54 tanks welcoming visitors,
along with pictures by photo journalists who witnessed to the horrors of war
that destroyed lives families, but not the spirit of the North Vietnamese people
a day tour that included the Independence Hall
where Nguyen Cao Ky served as prime minister of South Vietnam
in the military junta from 1965 to 1967 and as vice president
before escaping to California to become my neighbor
on our trip we met people who escaped the war as children
and then to returned thirty years later as entrepreneurs
with one foot in two countries to build
a better life for themselves and their families
my brother and I enjoyed a drink each night and talked
about our family experience growing up,
but how he kept his youthful look over the years still remains a secret
it was then time for Ken to return to San Jose with gifts
for his staff and a deeper understanding of his
Vietnamese constituents, many whose families
had successfully escaped the surrender to the Communists in 1975
I will always be appreciative for being able
to travel together with my brother who I continue to admire
for the good work he does with for his constituents
I stayed for several more weeks because
my thirty day visa had not expired,
thinking to myself about what my life would be like by retiring in Vietnam
on my last night in Saigon, I went to the Sax ‘N Art Jazz Club
to hear the famous sax player, artist Tran Manh Tuan,
when a Japanese visitor sitting next to me asked
“how I was being treated as an American in Vietnam? “
I explained to him that everyone was friendly
and how this was such a mystery to me,
his reply answered my question and gave me deep insight,
“It is Asian to forgive”