KSV News: Short Round 041

Getting Back “In Country”

Getting back to Vietnam is definitely not half the fun. No matter how you cut it, it’s an awful lot of hours in a tin aircraft to get there from the US. Our trip from the US East Coast had about as tight scheduling as you can. It still ends up taking at over 20 hours in the air. With over 26 hours travel total. And that only if everything goes perfectly. Our route was Washington, DC to Seoul ,Korea; then connecting to Saigon. I will call it Saigon instead of Ho Chi Minh City because I’m still pissed off at the communist north regime.

As you probably know, the airport lines are absolutely horrible. I cannot recommend a connection of less than three hours. And four hours connecting would be better. The flights being delayed is almost guaranteed. On top of that, the lines trying to get through customs and immigration are understaffed and backed up. Not just a little backed up, hours backed up. And then there is the 11 hour East Coast time zone difference and the International Date Line to adapt to on arrival. Plan on feeling like crap for a day or so after you arrive- no forced marches for a couple of days in country.

I am genuinely embarrassed to tell you this, but I went in a wheelchair And did so without regret. I never would’ve done this had I had not severed my Achilles tendon a few months back. I can walk, but not well. And my shuffle is nowhere near fast enough on polished Airport floors. Being in a wheelchair allowed us to cruise through customs, immigration, and all of the other nasty parts of the airport process..

Vietnam:

Enough whining. The good parts of the trip were flying in clear skies over the invasion sites in Inchon, Korea and seeing the terrible landing conditions. It is a huge collection of mud flats, surrounded by hills and pretty good tidal swings. Gen MacArthur was very fortunate it all came together.

Arrived “In Country” at midnight.. Relearned my Dad’s lesson of how important it is to spread around just a few dollars. The arrival lines were horrendous. But Danielle had purchased a Fast Track pass for like $25 +/-. We literally went right to the front of 1,000 other travelers and got through immigration with bio Customs inspection.. She had filled out all the proper forms on line at home, which was wonderful. It took us no longer than 10 minutes from wheelchair pick up to arrival lobby. REMARKABLE

The next wonderful surprise was our two nights at the Majestic Hotel. I had been there several times in earlier years, and it is simply a wonderful place to visit. Elegant, clean and traditionally comfortable. It was built in 1925 and has been restored to its most excellent condition. Breakfast on the open air balcony overlooking the Saigon River is something no one should miss. The food was exquisite, even for breakfast. Honestly, as good as any French restaurant.

But coming to grips with what is going on today in Saigon is another huge adjustment from our time there. Let me start with the motorbikes. Enjoying my breakfast Pfo noodle soup (with chopsticks by the way) I was overwhelmed by the traffic on the small stretch of Saigon River front road below. The flow of autos, trucks, and motorbikes was simply continuous. I took the time to count the number of motorbikes that passed, going just one direction on this one side of the road, during one minute. I counted 139 that passed on that one side of the road during 60 seconds. That equals 8,340 per hour on one side or 16,680 in both directions in one hour. And this was just one small section of the roadways in downtown Saigon. One estimate is that there are 10 million motorbikes operating in Saigon. It is literally a sea of humanity moving from point A to point B on motor bikes in this very small area of downtown. Add continuous busses, cars and trucks and you begin to get the picture of how busy and vibrant Saigon is.

And this is only a small portion of the total picture. Mid rise building construction is everywhere. Across the Saigon river from the hotel used to be open marshland. It is now completely filled with buildings of all sorts for miles in all directions..

Without the earlier strict communist controls holding it back, the population and the economy has absolutely boomed in the last 25 years. Thinking the measured growth was about 7% per year. But in Saigon, growth seems so much faster. The place is absolutely booming!! New roads, bridges and modern buildings are everywhere. I have experienced nothing like it in the US or Europe.

This is not a place to try a self drive rental car.

Bob Koury: Website & Digital Manager

______________________________________________