First Night - Friday, February 18, 2005

 

It was almost midnight, when we stepped off the plane in Vietnam.  The darkened sky dripped with humidity was barely lit by yellow lights piercing through a light maze of pollution. Welcome home! It has been thirty years!

 

Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport was unexpectedly modern.  The custom agent, a young girl in her late thirties, was kind and polite.  Professional even. And no bribes. After a short while, we were in an old, beaten taxi heading downtown Saigon.  The streets were still packed with cars and mopeds after midnight.  The aging houses and unimpressive buildings seemed tired, and the town seemed uneasily restless, dense, dirty and tiresome. The drive was uneventful, but Dung was fairly suspicious of the advanced taxi fare of US $20.

 

Her suspicion was confirmed by the bellman, as we checked into Bông Sen Hotel on Đồng Khỡi Street (Tự Do) Downtown Saigon.  The hotel was not up to Dung’s standard, but I was pleased for its cleanliness and old styled charm.  The room was comfortable, air-conditioned and was well worth the US $60 per night. Exhausted after the 24-hour trip, we fell asleep easily our first night home.

 

Saturday - February 19, 2005

 

Cô Sáu

 

Dung rushed out of the taxi to hug a frail old lady she called Cô Sáu.  All morning Dung was anxious and cannot wait to get started.  She gulped down a modest breakfast of Phở at Bông Sen, and made phone calls hurriedly.  As she hold onto this petite lady tears streaming down her cheeks, I saw tears trickled down the bony face of Cô Sáu as well.  Seventy something years old, thirty years apart, the old lady was smiling and crying at the same time.  Holding bags of goodies that Dung had prepared tediously from the US, I followed them through a tiny residence obviously shared by many families.

 

Cô Sáu lived, ate and slept on an old tiny hardwood bed called ‘divan’ surrounding by her humble belongings.  The wooden bed sat in the corner of a between-house, where the walled house ends and the opening part begins with minor covering exposing itself to the weather.  On the wall laid a small mantle with pictures of Dung’s ancestors.  We both lit incense and paid respect to them.

 

How do you begin a conversation after 30 years?  What words can adequately convey the feelings of love and longing?  There were just tears. Yet they said plenty.

 

Beaming with pride, Co Sau introduced Dung to everyone around, some related, some just there.  The timid woman talked and talked, smiling and just would not let go of Dung’s hands.  A huge rat ran through the open-air part where they put the dishes, and no one said a thing.

 

Residence on Huỳnh Tịnh Của

 

We and Cô Sáu took a short taxi drive to visit where Dung used to live more than 30 years ago.  The residence was impressive and over built for the modest street called Huỳnh Tịnh Của.  It is a fancy restaurant now called Hoa Cau.  Painted with odd colors of blue and red, the folks who lived there just did a bad job hiding its past glory. Standing outside Dung was just speechless and saddened. This was where she grew up before the end of the War. I took some photos from outside, and then asked the hostess permission to take additional pictures of the inside.  Cô Sáu and Dung were troubled as not to tell them why we were there.

 

We crossed the street and entered into an alleyway across from the restaurant.  The walkway angled down to the center, where a small stream of water trickled though it.  Smelly and claustrophobic.  Near the end of the winding alleyway, we entered a small residence.  About 10 feet by 12 feet was a living room, family room, dining room, bedrooms, kitchen and staircase all rolling into one cramped space.  The family and families of Dung’s aunt and cousins shared this space.  And they were all so glad to see Dung. Within minutes, there was an instant family reunion. Ông Dượng, his children and grand children came out from nowhere and everywhere.  Dung was touched and happy to see them.  Stories flowed from one to another.  Stories of how Dung’s house was occupied after the war, then stripped off of valuables, rebuilt and added on.  Dung asked many questions about their lives and their families.  She told them of hers. Laughter and giggles.  No pretensions, just happiness of seeing families.

 

Cậu Mợ Tài

 

We then took another taxi ride to visit another relative of Dung.  The driver took us on a street called Cách Mạng Tháng Tám (old Lê Văn Duyệt).  This long street busied with shops and people.  Mopeds and mopeds everywhere.  No street signals, or they were just there non-functioning.  People and thousands of people everywhere.  Dense, congested, moving in all directions.  No sense of order, yet safely yielded.  This is the Saigon that I remembered in my dreams, just ten times more intense.

 

Cậu Tài and family lived in a big house (Đại Gia) by Vietnamese and American standards.  A handsome house on Mai Sơn Street erected four storied high with double wide frontage of eight meters, rather the average four, completed with carports and alleyway for servants.  The house doubled as a restaurant as well, but only opened for reservations only.  Cậu Tài was at the race tracks, and Mợ Tài welcomed us with the hospitable kindness typical of a Southern Vietnamese.  She graciously showed us her house, and invited us to stay for lunch.  Dung and I excused ourselves and took a short trip, while the servants prepared our lunches.

 

509 Trần Hưng Đạo, Sài Gòn 2

 

The taxi driver took us to my old house on Trần Hưng Đạo Avenue. Đại Lộ Trần Hưng Đạo is just as majestic as ever.  It must be the largest and cleanest street in Saigon.  We drove by the old movie theaters, shops and high rises.  The driver did a u-turn and stopped in front of our old house.  There it is and there it is no more.  The old four-storied stately residence is now a storefront for Electrolux.  Not anymore a beauty parlor with the ever-twirling sign it used to have.  The façade was completely changed as well.  There were bars on the second floor and an unsightly add-on on the terrace.  With the taxi parking in the middle of the street and entrance closed up with mopeds, I quickly snapped several photos and moved on. 

 

The place called Bộ Lao Động nearby, where I used to practice my bicycle riding, was also changed.  It is now some sort of official government establishment.  Trung Tâm Cảnh Sát across the street was also changed into an official government property as well. 

 

Trường Thánh Linh

 

I asked the driver to take us down Nguyễn Biễu Street pass Chợ Nancy, and we took a left turn into Phan Văn Trị Street.  I know this way very well, as I have spent years walking down these paths going to grade school at Trường Thánh Linh.  Bác Aí Học Viện, a school nearby, has changed into Trường Sư Phạm.  And even Trường Thánh Linh had changed its name as well.  “Trung Học Ba Dinh” is the new name.  I took more pictures and stepped inside the old school for several additional pictures as well.  How tiny is it compared to that of my old memories.  The stairways were still there and looked the same.  The old classrooms still brought back so many memories.  I remembered Anh Hùng, Chi Vy, Anh Hưng and I used to stomp this turf.  This was where I grew up and first went to school.  I looked up and saw the fourth floor dormitory still there, and relived my miserable boarding school days.

 

I snapped up several pictures of our other old homes on Phan Văn Trị Street.  The new owners chopped down cay “Vú Sửa” that was in front of one of those houses.  And I just cannot recognize the other one at all, but took a picture anyway.

 

Vietnamese Lunch

 

Back at Mợ Tài’s house, they had cooked up a storm.  Sauté crabs, boiled shrimp, seafood soup, and vegetables.  I could not tell if it was the heat, the appetite, or just the pure freshness of the foods that make the lunch so delicious.  Perhaps it was the atmosphere and the hospitality. 

 

Mợ Tài has a daughter of about twenty something named Tú.  Tú works for Vietnam Airlines.  She is well educated, well traveled and sociable.  They are proud of Tú, and Dung and I did enjoy her young Vietnamese’s perspectives of things.

 

After lunch, we invited them to dinner with us at Hoa Cau; Co Sau stayed behind with them as we left for the hotel.

 

Dinh Độc Lập

 

On the way back to the hotel, I asked the taxi driver to drop us off at Dinh Độc Lập.  The palace is still full of grandeur.  The new regime left couples of tanks on the front lawn showcasing its victory; and for less than 50 cents, we took a tour of the building and its surrounding.

 

We walked through the empty halls and rooms of the palace.  I camcorded the Cabinet Room and others, where once powerful men had met and determined the fates of millions of Vietnamese, ours included.  I went on top of the building and took pictures of Saigon from up high. A lone helicopter still sat there memorializing the old regime.  Dung used to roam these halls, but cannot remember the exact details.  A thought came to my mind on how the rich and powerful had lived here in comparison of how things are now for everyone.  Would I have ever had a chance to meet and marry Dung, if things had been different?

 

It took us nearly five minutes to cross the street from Dinh Độc Lập.  Mopeds everywhere.  Several Xích-Lô drivers stopped and offered us rides.  They must have known that we are Việt Kiều.  As we walked from Dinh Độc Lập to Nhà Thờ Đức Bà, several children followed us first trying to sell us things, then begging us for money.  I missed Vân, Vinh and Minh.  Barefoot, dirty and nagging, these kids are being told to do so and were observed by their parents from afar.  We were actually fearful of stopping and buying anything from them afraid that they could have easily swarmed us.

 

Nhà Thờ Đức Bà was much smaller than I remembered, but we stopped by and I offered a prayer for the old country and its people.  We crossed the street to Bưu Điện and bought Dad a simple souvenir.  We then walked pass La San Ta Be looking for Trường Saint Paul, but could not find it.  We then follow Đồng Khỡi Boulevard back to the hotel.

 

Chợ Bến Thành

 

At the hotel we changed quickly and headed out to Chợ Bến Thành.  We walked pass the Continental Hotel, Hotel Caravelle, Tòa Thượng Viện, Tòa Hạ Viện, Bùng Binh, Cư Xá Tax, Rạp Rex and made our way to Chợ Bến Thành stopped only for Dung to get a quick drink of fresh Nước Mía.

 

Chợ Bến Thành is nice and clean inside compared to what I had imagined, though it was crowded and hot.  No ventilation and noisy.  We walked through isles of fruits, cosmetics, fabrics, souvenirs, foods with no obvious apparent order.  A set of Phước Lộc Thọ statues caught my eyes, and for 750 thousands Đồng, I just could not refuse.  Dung bought Cam Thảo from a stand managed by a nice old lady with her young daughter whom did not aggressively pursued her.

 

Dinner at the Old House

 

Dung and I went out for dinner at Hoa Cau Restaurant, her former residence.  We invited Bà Sáu, Ông Dượng, all the cousins, Cậu and Mợ Tài.  All 22 showed up.  I camcorded the house and the event for Dung.  She and her relatives roamed the restaurant freely pointing out the rooms and talking about how it used to be.  The old house obviously was gutted.  The walls and marble flooring were removed, perhaps for selling, and all the rooms were converted to private air-conditioned dining rooms.

 

We ended up eating dinner in the private dining room that once was her own bedroom.  It was hard for me to tell if Dung was glad or sad to see and be in her own home, that was no more hers.  One thing I know for certain is that Dung’s family must have been extremely wealthy before 1975.  I did feel sad for her parents walking through what used to be their extravagant master bedroom.

 

The foods were bland and the service was bad; but the company was welcome and enjoyable.  Dung and her relatives were genuinely happy to see each other.  Cậu Tài showed up and took many snide remarks from other folks, perhaps for his being the wealthy one in the family.  Two million Đồng  (US $130) later, everyone were full and satisfied. Lots of beer.  Vietnamese folks in Vietnam can drink lots of beer.

Sunday - February 20, 2005

 

Long Thành

 

We hurried through breakfast again at Bông Sen Hotel.  The chauffeur Mẫn had reserved earlier for us showed up 15 minutes ahead of time to take us on our outings.  A nice Vietnamese man of late forty called Anh Ngọc was the driver, and the car was a new Daewoo from Korea, even though he insisted that it was a General Motors.

 

Anh Ngọc took us to Long Thành, a province 50 miles southwest of Saigon, where my father used to be the Mayor for 10 years.  My sister Huyền, the Optometrist, was born there in 1962.  The trip took about two hours, as we winded though Bến Bạch Đằng, Cầu Thị Nghè, Xa Lộ Saigon, Thủ Đức, Biên Hòa, then made our ways through Long Thành to visit Anh Tạo and his family.

 

Just outside of Saigon, there were a number of subdivisions of expensive and modern housing.  The highways were congested with mopeds, automobiles and heavy trucks.  Some parts of the highways have dividers, and many have not.  For those areas where there are no dividers, big trucks made u-turns among mopeds and pedestrians.  A scene of utter disorganization.  Once in a while all traffic slowed down indicating Công An ahead. These Công An (highway patrols) dressed in ill-fitted khakis waving their radar guns and gestured speeders to stop.  The guys are tiny, darkened by the sun, often standing next to their trucks, representing terrors for drivers, as Anh Ngọc told us the speeding penalty is quite severe in Vietnam.

 

Along the highways, where once were nothing but farmland, now stood factories and shops.  People were out and about.  Dust everywhere and small restaurants and cafes were ever-present.  The scene reminded me of Beijing and Nanjing, China.  If this is any indication of the modernization of Vietnam, I can see a much brighter future for Vietnam in the years to come.

 

We drove through several rubber plantations on our way to Long Thành.  My parents used to own several of these plantations, and I remembered well driving through them on my way to my father’s palace.  Although I just could not remember where his palace used to be, I noticed that all of the provincial government buildings along the way are monumental and new.  It was obvious that the government of Vietnam is taking care of its officials very well.

 

Anh Tạo’s Family

   

Anh Tạo’s family lived well.  Several family members lived in a cluster of nice new houses with a large common courtyard.  Ten years ago, Anh Tạo visited his older brother named Tân, and given him US $10,000 to buy a truck.  Anh Tân used the truck to transport goods from Long Thành and Saigon, and made his family wealthy for Vietnamese standard.  Today, they had multiple residents, some clustered within this compound, others are on the main highways.  The single truck had now become a fleet of three ran by his sons and their families.  A true Vietnamese success story.

 

Anh Tân now is taking care of their elder mother, raising German Shepherds, and managing the transporting operations.  His wife, a southern Vietnamese lady with sweet accent and pleasant smile, fed us all sort of fruits:  Mẵng Cầu, Vú Sửa, Bưởi, Sầu Riêng, Soài, Chôm chôm…  And his mother, a petite lady of 91 year old, was glad to see us there.  The children and grand children ran from house to house, while Kareoke music was blaring in the common.  This reminded me of my visiting Bác Ba and Dì Hai in Nha Trang, when I was little.  Stress free, poor and happy.

 

Vũng Tàu

 

Anh Tân took us out to lunch at his favorite seafood hangout.  The restaurant was huge by any standard.  It can easily sit 300 to 400 persons and located in the middle of a mango farm.  The seafood was exceptionally fresh, but the heat was intense.  Dung and I ate quickly and drank lots of liquids.

 

Anh Ngọc took us down to Vũng Tàu afterward.  The drive was pleasant as the highway was new and well paved.  As we entered Bà Rịa, the scenery along the highway became even more enjoyable.  Anh Ngọc informed us that Vũng Tàu is now a major tourist attraction and a resort area for wealthy visitors and rich folks from Saigon.  Local government spent money lavishly to improve and upkeep the environment in and around Vũng Tàu.

 

When I was a kid, Vũng Tàu seemed big and overwhelming.  The shops and streets seemed wide and attractive, the beach seemed endless and beautiful; however now, Vũng Tàu seemed so incredibly inadequate, and not even worthy to be compared to Cancun or Hawaii. 

 

Anh Ngọc took us to Bãi Sau, Bãi Trước, va Núi Vũng Tàu; Dung and I were disappointed.  The beaches were crowded, the hotels and resorts were mediocre, and the views were unimpressive. Perhaps my memories and expectations were too much and too high. We still got a long way to go comparing to other resorts.

 

We stopped by Thủ Đức briefly for me to take pictures of An Phong Học Viện my old seminary school.  But the old school had turned into a hospital and was totally unrecognizable.  The long street leading to the old school where I used to walk every week now was occupied by shops and houses on both sides.  It was sad that so many things had changed, and I felt completely lost.

 

On the way back to the hotel, Anh Ngọc drove by La San Ta Be, and I took some pictures to show Dung’s brothers, who used to attend there.  As for Saint Paul Catholic School, Anh Ngọc told us that they had demolished the school to make room for the roads that are now going through it.

   

Sông Ngé Restaurant

 

That night Dung and I went to Sông Ngé restaurant, an upscale restaurant highly recommended by the folks at the hotel.  Although it was a nice and clean restaurant frequented by the rich people of Saigon and lots of Japanese tourists, take my advice and don’t go there.  The foods are expensive, yet not so worth it, for Vietnamese standard.

 

Monday - February 21, 2005

 

Nha Trang

 

Dung and I took an early flight to Nha Trang on Sunday.  Tân Sơn Nhất’s domestic terminals are clean and modern.  No hassle traveling inside Vietnam. We ate Phở at the Food Court at the airport, and joined many foreigners on a flight on a Boeing 737 to Cam Ranh Airport.  The former American airbase in Cam Ranh is now the airport for Nha Trang.  The old Nha Trang Airport is now reserved for small local domestic propeller flights.

   

On the flight, we sat next to a nice gentleman named Nguyễn Văn Tâm.  Anh Tâm and his associates are building a 320-room 20-storied beachfront hotel in Nha Trang.  When finished, it would be the tallest building in Nha Trang.  He has a son attending the University of Houston majoring in Hotel Management.  Anh Tâm offered us a ride to Nha Trang from the airport.

 

The highway between Cam Ranh and Nha Trang is newly built.  It hugged the mountain on one side and yielded incredibly beautiful views of Cam Ranh Bay on the other.  The views just took our breath away:  Blue emerald water shone against the crystal while sand on endless beaches.  True natural beauty unspoiled by hotels and resorts.

 

Along the way, Anh Tâm showed us the new Tu Viện Sao Biễn; and we actually stopped by and took pictures for Anh Hưng, since he once was a student at Sao Biễn.  As told by Anh Tâm, the old Sao Biễn was confiscated by the new regime and moved to the new location.  Seminaries do not need to be by the beach they said.

 

Nha Trang Lodge

 

The folks at Bông Sen Hotel in Saigon recommended Nha Trang Lodge, and it was quite nice.  Nha Trang Lodge resided on Trần Phú Street facing the beach.  We got there early enough to take some gorgeous pictures of Nha Trang beaches from our balcony.

   

Dung and I set out immediately to search for our old houses at 5 Phan Năm Street.  We both were quickly disappointed as the young hotel clerks and folks around there do not remember the name Phan Năm any more.  It had been renamed 30 years ago by the new regime.  We did walk down that direction following my vague memories.  Found none.

 

Determined not to waste any time, Dung signed us up for a boat trip to the islands of Nha Trang.

 

Islands Tour

 

For US $7 per person, we were jammed into a mini-bus with ten “Tây Ba Lô”, a term that local folks called backpacking foreigners, and taken to a small fishing port.  A small modified fishing boat took us and about 30 other tourists, many are foreigners, to four different islands in the Bay of Nha Trang.

 

Before reaching the first island, Dung had already made friends with several retired couples from French.  She and they started to converse in French.  Soon the younger American group joined in, then Dung started to speak English to the American, French to the French, and Vietnamese to the rest and me.  Everyone was amazed of her language ability, while she was just having a great time talking to people.  I was proud of Dung and happy for her seeing her in her elements.

 

We visited Đão Mun (black rock island) and the captain let people go snorkeling.  The water was clear blue, but there wasn’t much fish to see.  I guess the fishing had decimated the fish population round these islands. Since we were not prepared, we did not go snorkeling; instead I sat and listened to Dung speaking French, English and Vietnamese; which was quite enjoyable.

 

We stopped at another island nearby for lunch, as the US $7 price tag included lunch.  After lunch the captain and his crew put on a live band performance, and invited everyone to join in.  It was non-sophisticated, cheap and fun. We then proceeded to Đão Miễu, where we played volleyball while others explored the island.  We made the last stop at Làng Chài (fishing village), where we selected from the retainers huge lobsters and giant squids for dinner.  Dung and I bought one large lobster (one kilogram) and a large fan squid.  We carried our food onto a float where two little kids pulled the rope transporting us from the boat onto the restaurant on shore.

 

The lobster and squid were prepared with local spices and served with special sauces. The meal was so big that we invited the captain and one of his men to eat with us, and we could not finish them all.  On the way back to the boat, Dung gave the kids pulling the rope some money and made their day.

 

Later in the day, we ate dinner at Hải Vị Restaurant next to the hotel.  It was good.  Nha Trang is beautiful and peaceful at night.  The moon shone upon the waves reflecting million points of light; the islands appeared softly from a far in the moonlight making the scenery surreal and romantic. 

 

I love being with Dung on days and nights like these.  This might be what living is all about.

 

Tuesday - February 22, 2005

 

Nha Trang, Day Two

 

Originally we both planned to visit Nha Trang then go to Bình Cang to visit Cô Hương and give her some money to help the orphanages; but after seeing the condition of Dung’s cousins in Saigon, we decided to give the money to them instead.  We decided to spend our second day in Nha Trang exploring the town.

 

Nha Trang is small.  From Cam Ranh to Hòn Chồng there was not that much to see.  Dung and I walked to Chợ Nha Trang (Chợ Đầm) at the foot of the hills, and checked it out.  We bought some Mẳng Cục and Chôm Chôm.  The market is much smaller than that of Chợ Bến Thành and has substantially less to offer.  On the way back to the hotel, we asked the locals about  Đường Phan Năm, and found out that it had been changed to Pasteur Boulevard and Trần Hưng Đạo Boulevard.  Following Yersin Street to Pasteur, I found 5 Pasteur, supposedly our old addresses.  The villas were no longer there, as they had flattened it to build new offices for the government people.  I took pictures of the areas anyway; perhaps Mom and Dad can made something out of these photos.

 

At lunch, we picked the best authentic restaurant and ate nem nuong, a dish that made Nha Trang famous.  It was good.  We walked the beaches trying to avoid as many beggars and vendors as we can, and then in the evening we ate jumbo shrimps at Phố Biễn (beach shops).  It was also good.

 

In Nha Trang, the local folks get up very early in the morning and perform Tai Chi in the parks, while others play badminton and walking along the boulevards; but as the sun goes up, people go to work and disappear into their offices and homes.

 

Wednesday - February 23, 2005

 

Back in Saigon

 

Anh Tâm came by and took us to Cam Ranh Airport in the morning, and we flew back to Saigon.  Anh Tâm had his chauffeur waited at the TSN Airport and took us back to Bông Sen Hotel.  He gave me one of his contacts, who has a software company in Đà Lạt, and asked me to make introductions when I visit Dalat.  Anh Tâm was a nice guy.  Very wealthy, yet humble.

 

Our room at Bông Sen was not ready by the time we got there, so Dung and I took the taxi to the best Phở place in Saigon.  It is called Phở Hòa on Pasteur Street.  The place was packed when we got there.  The lunch crowd of Vietnamese and foreigners sat side by side enjoying the authentic dishes of Phở.  While it was not the pristine place that Dung would like to dine, it was satisfying enough for me.  The food was good; the service was second-rate; and the price was right.  Authentically Vietnamese.

 

Once back to the hotel, we changed and headed out to Chợ Bến Thành again.  This time Dung was determined to find some Chuối Khô to bring home; and we found it at the earlier place where Dung bought Cam Thảo.  She loaded the bags with Chuối Khô and Bánh Phòng Tôm.  About 15 Kg. 

 

 

Bò Bảy Món

 

Bà Sáu, Cậu Mợ Tài picked us up for dinner that night.  We all loaded onto a small taxi and went to eat Bò Bảy Món (seven dishes of beef).  It was awesome.  We ordered two portions (a portion feeds two persons) and some Đồ Chay for Bà Sáu.  Cậu Tài talked, so I ate and listened.  Dung really liked the Bánh Tráng Nước Dừa that goes with one of the dishes.  We just could not find it anywhere else on this trip.

 

It turned out that Cậu Tài became wealthy due to all the properties left behind when the brothers and sisters of his wife Mợ Nhu escaped Vietnam in the earlier years.  They all deeded to her their properties all around his current residence, and he in time sold many of these properties and rebuilt his own.

 

He also related to us the hardships of the earlier years after the new regime took over.  In turn, Dung told them stories about the hardships her parents had gone through to adjust to the new life in the US.  My wife the ever diplomat.

 

Thursday - February 24, 2005

 Đà Lạt

 

Anh Tạo came by the hotel early in the morning to meet with me and Linh Tang, President of Mobinex.  We met and discuss the outsourcing opportunities, and Linh demonstrated his avatar chat software.  During the meeting, I got a call from Nguyên, one of my earlier childhood seminarian friends, and we set up a luncheon for Saturday.

 

I was looking forward to meeting my old friends in Vietnam.  Even though 30 years had gone by, I would still recognize them due to our Gabriels website, which I hosted.  The call from Nguyên was greatly appreciated, and I was anxious to meet my old friends again.

 

After the meeting, Anh Ngọc came by to take Anh Tạo and us to Dalat as planned.  We took the same highway through Biên Hòa to go to Dalat, and stopped at a restaurant along the highway for a lunch of Cơm Tấm.  It was good, and I ate two full plates.  Afterward we drove up to Bão Lộc then Dalat. 

 

The highways were full of people, shops and houses long its sides.  Children walked along the highway, as cars, trucks and mopeds zoomed by.  Công An positioned themselves all along the highways, but people still managed to speed.

 

It took almost seven hours to travel by car from Saigon to Dalat, a distance of approximately 150 miles.  I am certain that it was not because of the road, since the road was fine; but it was because of not enough roads.  The highways between Saigon and Dalat sometimes bottlenecked into two lanes streets, where passing was nearly impossible.  The roads also winded through town where crowded vendors competing for every inch.  And then there was Công An, who forced all to slow down to less than 30 miles per hour on the highway.

 

We made it to Dalat late in the evening.  Dung and I thought it would be cold and brought our leather jackets, but it was quite pleasant, and jackets were not needed.  We met Mẫn at the hotel and checked into the same hotel.

 

Mẫn’s Friend

 

Our friend Mẫn is traveling with a woman named Liên.  Ever since the death of Phượng, Mẫn’s wife, his friends and families had been introducing him to many Vietnamese ladies.  I guess Liên was one of these ladies that Mẫn had chosen to spend time with.

 

Dung thought it was too early for Mẫn to start dating, but I told her to let Mẫn live his life in his own ways.  Liên seemed polite and timid.  She did not talk much, but Mẫn seemed to take a liking to her.  He seemed happy to have a companion.

 

Friends of Anh Tạo

 

We all went out to dinner that night.  Along the way, we passed a street where one of Anh Tạo’s best friends used to live.  Anh Tạo stopped by and surprisingly found his old friend still living there, and we all went to the nearest restaurant.  Anh Tạo’s friend named Khê also brought his sister with him, so now there were eight of us.  At the dinner table one of Anh Tạo’s friends showed up as well.  It was a mini reunion for Anh Tạo.

 

The foods were lousy, but everyone enjoyed the company, especially Anh Tạo.  I told Anh Khê that I was looking for Số 4 Đường Thũ Khoa Huân, my old summer home, and they all knew exactly where it was.

 

4 Thũ Khoa Huân, Đà Lạt

 

After dinner, they took me to the old home once owned by my parents. As we climbed the gentle hill, I immediately recognized the villa.  The villa at 4 Thũ Khoa Huân is now a radio and TV station for the City of Dalat.  It used to be one of our vacation homes, and it was my Mom’s personal favorite. It was late in the evening, so we went on back to the hotel leaving Anh Tạo and his long lost friends at a café along the way.

 

Hotel Duyên Hương in Dalat is new, but not quite accommodating for Dung. It was loud and uncomfortable.  I worked the phones with the deal with SimDesk before going to bed, only to find Dung struggle to fall asleep as well.

Friday - February 25, 2005

 

Đà Lạt

 

In the morning, we ate Bánh Cuốn from a little place across from the hotel, than Anh Tạo and I went back to take picture of the old villa.  At first we took some pictures from the front side of the house, but it was mostly blocked by an unsightly new addition, so we went around the backside.  Once there, I ran into the TV anchor woman for the station, and asked her permission to record the surroundings without intruding to the operations inside the station.  She was surprisingly pleasant, after I explained to her that I am a Việt Kiều whose parents used to own this property.

 

I recorded the outside of the villa and its surrounding.  My Mom would love to see this tape.  My memories of Dalat were not so good.  I remembered that I had never enjoyed the drive up to Dalat.  The winding roads along the mountains always gave me motion sickness when I was a kid; and then the colder weather always made me ill.  I did love the villa and the bread from the pastry shop at the foot of the hill, but not much else.  My sister Tí and Anh Hùng probably knew this place better than the rest of the kids, since they lived here longer than any of us.

 

While taping the villa, I received a call from Anh Chi, the friend of Anh Tâm whom I met in Nha Trang.  Anh Chi invited Anh Tạo and me to visit his software operation in Dalat.  Anh Tạo and I went back to the hotel, and Anh Ngọc took us to VidalTek, Anh Chi’s company.  Anh Ngọc dropped us there and took Dung to Chợ Dalat.  He later came back to take us on a tour of Dalat.

 

Tour of Đà Lạt

 

Dalat is a small tourist town of approximately quarter of a million people.  The bakery shop at the foothill had closed, since the family there left the country.  Hồ Xuân Hương seemed much smaller than I remembered, and Sân Cừu is all fenced up with houses sprung up all around.

 

Anh Ngọc took us to Vườn Hoa Dalat.  It was not much of a showcase garden, Dung was understandably unimpressed; and Anh Tạo kept making fun of wasting his US $1.50 entrance fees.

 

Afterward we went to eat ice cream at Hồ Xuân Hương, then visited Đại Học Dalat (University of Dalat), where Anh Tạo attended college.  Anh Tạo was very happy to be back in his old school.  The guard at the gate let the car through and we drove inside the old college.  Anh Tạo took pictures of his old schools.  Dung and I had not seen Anh Tạo this happy in quite a while.

 

We then went back to the hotel to meet Anh Tạo’s friends and went out to eat lunch together.  While at the hotel, Ninh, one of my old friends called and wanted to meet.  We all met up at the HP Restaurant, an upscale restaurant in Dalat.  Ninh brought his wife, and Anh Tạo met up with five of his old buddies.  We all had a blast, and the foods were even better there.

 

My friend Ninh owned and operated a eight-ton truck, which he used to transport vegetables from Dalat to South Vietnam, and then loaded the truck with rice from the south and brought them back to Dalat.  He said the work is hard, due to the temperature differences in which he operates.  The truck is non-refrigerated, that means that Ninh and his wife must loaded up early in the morning in Dalat and then rush the vegetable to the south, before the heat can ruin the goods.  His wife seemed nice and smart, and they seemed happy together.  She sounded religious and talked to Dung at length about her older son, who had a rare skin condition that was cured by drinking the water from Fatima and praying.  Ninh seemed tired from the morning run, but appeared happy.

 

We left Dalat at 3:30PM and made it back to Long Thành about 8:30PM just in time for me to have a conference call with our lawyers and Ross Crawford about the Garage Round A matters.  Finally we got back to Bông Sen Hotel in Saigon around 10:30PM.

 

Saturday - February 26, 2005

 

Last Day in Saigon

 

My friend Lân came by to pick us up at the hotel on Saturday’s morning.  He seemed well to do and had a company car and a driver.  He took us to Vườn Cau Restaurant near Bến Bạch Đằng, where we met up with Nguyên, Phước, Phú Sơn, Hải and Linh.

 

It was nice to meet up with these long lost friends, but I can hardly recognize their faces.  The hardship over the years made them much older for their ages.  Lân probably the most successful guy of the bunch seemed happy and aggressive; while others seemed timid and uptight.  Nguyên became a philosopher and argumentative.  His hair is thinning, so he let it grow long to compensate.  He talked quietly and slowly, and loved to related things back to the “early days”.  Phước is working in some kind of art shops making drawings and using PhotoShop.  He did not talk much, though he seemed genuinely content.  Phú Sơn worked in some sort of textile shop making clothing or clothing components.  He rarely talked at all, but drank quite a bit.  Linh seemed to be the poorest of the group.  He work xe ôm to make a living, and that does not make money hardly at all.  Hải came late, and seemed to be the wild card of the group.  I don’t recall what he said he is doing, but vaguely remembered that he is overly concerned about his children.

 

Overall the whole group seemed typical of the entire generation.  Some are successful, while others still struggle. All the while, it seemed that this religiously rooted group somewhat out of place in a world of fast wheeling and dealing of Vietnam.

 

After the luncheon, Dung told me that she is concerned about Linh and his ability to make it in Vietnam.  I told her that I have been sending a little bit of money to him, when once in a while he sent a desperate email requesting help.  I think she felt better knowing I am trying to help.

 

Cô Sáu

 

We checked out of the hotel and went to see Cô Sáu.  Cô Sáu told us to drop our luggage at nhà Cậu Tài and that she would be joining us soon.  We went to nhà Cậu Tài and spent some time with Mợ Tài there.

 

It turned out that Cô Sáu could not join us, because she could not get anyone to watch her belongings that she might go with us.  She came late as Mợ Tài was taking Dung onto her moped heading out to the market.  As Dung got on the small motorcycle with Mợ Tài, I was scared for her knowing the ways they drive in Vietnam.

 

I had some time talking to Cô Sáu.  This old woman is sharp.  Her mind is clear and she is very articulate.  I can almost detect a manipulative manner required to live in Vietnam through this woman.  She had done herself right to survive such treacherous conditions of living in such harsh environment.  All the while maintaining her sanity and wit.

 

Children of Dung’s Aunt

 

I was more than pleased when Dung got back from the market.  We took a taxi with Cô Sáu to go back to the alleyway so that Dung can give her cousins some money.

 

In the taxi, Dung gave Cô Sáu US $300.  That is a lot of money in Vietnam and probably can sustain her for at least half of a year.  I looked the other way, as not to embarrass the old woman, but assumed that she would be happy with Dung’s help.

 

After a short visit, Dung gave each of them (seven and Ông Dượng) US $50, which easily equates to about a month worth of salary for these folks.  They were very happy.

 

Originally Dung and I planned to give some money to Cô Hường and the orphanages, but after meeting and seeing how these cousins of Dung lived, we decided that blood is much thicker than water, and helped them instead.

Saturday’s Night

Saigon

 

Cậu Tài invited us to dinner at their home prior to going to the airport, so we did.  The meal was excellent.  Fresh seafood, plenty of dishes served continuously by the maids.

 

They have a nice family there.  As mentioned earlier, his daughter Tú works for Vietnam Airlines.  Tú is well educated and speaks several languages.  The classes in Vietnam are still fairly apparent.  Cậu Tài and his family enjoy a houseful of servants, good foods and companies; while Dung’s cousins still lived in the alleyway cramping together watching an old color TV.

 

We left for the airport around 10PM.  Lots of people at the airport, but mostly the farewell folks.  Once inside, the lobby is fairly empty of travelers.  The process of going through immigration was a breeze.  No one cared that Dung had bought US $150 worth of “mấm” in our luggage.

 

On the plane to Japan, Dung asked me what I thought about Vietnam.  I had mixed feelings.  What I thought was home, I was glad to depart; so I decided to write this paper instead.  Perhaps I can write about my feelings about Vietnam, when I am ready, if ever.

 

Vui

 

 

More Stories