Uncle who?
Uncle Ho, as the locals refer to him though otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh. He was and still is in many ways the revered communist leader of Vietnam - immortalized in the renaming of Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City after the Vietnam war ended in 1975.
My friend Nicholas Le was just 9 years old at that time. He fled his country of Vietnam in a huey helicopter with a few family members and headed to the American aircraft carrier just off the coast - eventually making its way to the shores of southern California. It wasn't until a few years ago that Nick decided to return to Vietnam with an American passport in hand.
Nick and I have known each other since 1995 when we had worked together at the Los Angeles Times newspaper. Though we've lived in different cities since 1998, we have kept in touch and now, I was able to visit him in the country where he was born.
One day while riding on the back of his electric bike, Nick pointed out a familiar street he remembered as a kid. I journeyed back with him, if only for a moment, and imagined the way it used to be. Picturing small storefronts, food being sold and eaten off the streets and alleyways among people who all knew each other or greeted everyone as if they did - and imagining Nick as a small kid running up and down the streets made me smile.
The simplicity and innocence of an imagined past, however, contrasted what I actually experienced. In a sea of thousands of motor scooters narrowly dodging one another, I felt the hectic pace of this city. A local Vietnamese would rather have a dollar today then ten dollars tomorrow - as the saying goes among the expat community. And to some extent, it seemed like many expats lived by that same token. A city of hawkers, each buying and selling as quick as they can for as long as they can.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
We traveled to neighboring Cambodia for a few days. The traffic, the street hawkers, the contrast of expensive western type establishments to the local shops and guesthouses a few blocks away seemed much like Ho Chi Minh City. In talking to some of the locals, however, my experience felt different. I wasn't there long enough to explore the difference but I am reminded there is always much to explore beneath the surface.
Vung Tao, Vietnam.
A coastal town south of Ho Chi Minh where locals are known to go for the quick getaway.
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