Furthur: Part 12: Vietnam 1996

The Begin of a new start

51 years ago, on April 30, 1975, the Vietnam war ended with a chaotic withdrawal of the last US representatives and the attempt of many of their supporters to hitch a ride on the last possibilities to get out. The direct involvement of the US had already ended after January 27th, 1973, when the Paris Peace accords had led to a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the US combat troops and the release of US prisoners of war. The US activities in Vietnam, although unequaled in their extent and ferocity, have some parallels to what happened later in Afghanistan and recently in Iran.

Worn out buildings in the old center of Saigon

South-east Asia, the area which today covers the states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, had been a French Protectorate since the middle of the 19th century. Like in other Asian countries, the second world war briefly distracted the colonizing powers. When the French came back after 1945, resistance movements already had gained some control. In Vietnam, the Viet Minh had occupied great parts particularly in the North and their leader Ho Tschi Minh declared independence on September, 2, 1945. Despite massive American assistance the French were unable to maintain control. The decisive moment was the surrender of the French army at the fortress of Dien Bien Phu on May 2, 1954. The Geneva accord of 1954 led to a partition of Vietnam at the 17th parallel into a communist state ruled by Ho Tschi Minh and US backed South Vietnam under president Ngo Dinh Diem. The French moved out.

A colonial beauty marked by war and neglect

In 1959 the North Vietnamese formed the National Liberation Army, nick-named Vietcong, and began a campaign to conquer the South. Provisions were largely transported via the so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail, a route from North to South hidden in the rain forest which partially led through the territories of neighboring Laos and Cambodia. The campaign was very successful and in 1965 the South Vietnamese were on their last legs. The North Vietnamese now also sent regular Army units to the South and the loss of the important strongholds of Hué and Danang on the coast was imminent.

Street corner in Saigon

This was the time of the Domino theory popularized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. It held in that if one nation fell to communism, neighboring states would inevitably fall, like a row of dominoes. In this area, China, North Korea and North Vietnam already were under the scepter of the evil. It was feared that a complete loss of Vietnam would cause the subsequent loss of Laos, Cambodia, later even Thailand, Malaysia and Burma. Note that also in the present conflict, Iran also is behind conflicts in neighboring countries like Syria, Yemen and Lebanon and the biggest danger for Israel.

An unusually quiet street

In August of 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident gave the Americans the ultimate reason to move in. In the incident, American destroyers had got involved into hostilities with three Vietnamese torpedo boats. American President Lyndon B. Johnson had Congress pass a resolution authorizing military force. Note, thus, that the president of the United States did not decide on his own to enter a war but he wanted and got a confirmation by congress. In 1965 the first U.S. combat troops arrived. To give a bit more legitimacy to the operations, troops of other countries were soon invited to join. South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand responded.

A busy Saigon sidewalk

While the mission was initially successful, the fate turned with the North-Vietnamese Tet offensive in 1968. Although the North Vietnamese had suffered incredible losses of more than 50.000 men, the loss of 1000 American soldiers made the further involvement in the war a burden too heavy to bear. Resistance against the Vietnam war intensified.

Motorized tricycle were a common sight in the streets of Saigon

When I was a kid, like the weather report, the war was on the daily news on all the three available television stations. Usually it showed B-52 stratofortress bombers and told us that they had been targeting the port of Haiphong and positions of the Vietcong along the Ho Tschi Minh trail. With all these raids nothing should have been left of neither port nor trail after a short while. We suspected that they showed the same film material again and again. In a later stage Laos and Cambodia were included into full metal jacket. During the Vietnam war the US air force dropped more bombs on little Laos alone than Germany received during the entire second world war. In addition cluster bombs were used which are banned by international law. Before the Paris accord of 1973, the onslaught even was intensified, to get better conditions in an armistice. It did not help. But apparently the failure did not create a learning effect.

Typical Saigon colonial architecture

The Paris Peace treaty was a way for the US to get out of a conflict which had got more and more unpopular as it progressed. A big part of the Hippie movement was fueled by the peace movement opposing the US activities in South-East Asia. Like before the Geneva accord after the withdrawal of the French, the Paris treaty had not ended the war. As soon as the American troops had left, the Vietcong and North-Vietnamese started their final blow against the South-Vietnamese Army, who were now left on their own.

The balconies of Saigon

After the North-Vietnamese victory and the reunification the country was closed to the outside. Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese related to the old system were sent into reeducation camps. The rapid introduction of socialism in the South was a blow against the economy. An anti-capitalist-campaign initiated in 1978 led to the seizure of businesses and private property. Hundreds of thousands became refugees and took to boats to seek their fortune elsewhere. Still today these boat people and their descendants can be found allover the world. Visitors were only allowed from eastern block and socialist countries.

The Vietnamese Sisyphus

The socialist adventure of the late 70’ies proved to be a failure. With the economic reforms carried out in China by Teng Tsiao Ping begin of the 1980’ies also Vietnam started to reconsider their policies. In December 1986 the Communist Party Congress decided on the policy of “đổi mới”, a term in the Vietnamese language meaning "innovate" or "renovate". In 1988 a law was passed to allow private land use, in 1990 private enterprises were permitted. Farmers were now also able to sell their products in the market.

Recycling vietnamese style

In 1990 the government declared a "Visit Vietnam Year". Tourism now was actively promoted. In 1994, the US lifted their embargo, which still had been in place after the communist takeover. That year formed a major turning point in opening to Western tourists.

Cycling girl

In total 3.14 million Americans served in the US armed forces in Vietnam. Officially, 58.183 were killed or missing in action. The direct cost of the war was 165 billion $, but the real economical costs probably was double of that. Throughout the conflict the US never officially declared war on Vietnam.

Mobile kitchen

The toll of the war for the Vietnamese was much higher. In total 223.748 South Vietnamese and around 1 million North Vietnamese soldiers were killed. Approximately four million Vietnamese civilians were killed or mutilated. That was one quarter of the population.

Bus stop

In 1994, a US soldier who had been serving in the war, would have been around 40 to 50. Many of these Veterans were traumatized and, if they could afford it, eager to go back to see the former place of blood and thunder. In Vietnam, this crowd with minds full of guilt and nightmares where confronted with their counterparts, which, in the same time period, had first suffered from the horror of the war and then of the deprivations of the socialist system. They were joined by curious tourists who wanted to see a country on the threshold of development, and by relatives and descendants of the boat people who were looking for their origins or for business opportunities.

Map of the center of Saigon of 1990 showing the system of canals

After the end of the war and reunification Saigon was renamed Ho Tschi Minh city. In the wake of China’s rise as promising economic power Vietnam was expected to follow soon. The newspapers already had nicknamed the country “the little Tiger”. Saigon was the engine behind the boom. When we arrived there begin 1995 the town was booming. The city was an orgasm of impressions, an overflow for the senses.

200 and 1000 Dong banknotes (2 and 10 ct/$)

It speaks for the organizational skill and sense for business of the Vietnamese that the touristic infrastructure had kept pace with the rapid increase of visitors. New guest houses, hotels, restaurants and cafes had popped up everywhere. Tours for tourists to major attractions were offered. Although we tried to avoid them, Minibus services catering in particular for tourists had been established connecting the major tourist destinations along the north-south extension of the country. The national brewing companies providing brands like Saigon, BGI and Bia Hoi must have managed to increase their output considerably in the short available time. There was never a shortage in the beer supply anywhere.

Labels of beer bottles

Many streets were lined with colonial buildings which must have been beauties for the affluent until the beginning of world war II and the time before all the mess started. Now they were covered in soot and mold. Balconies lacking their floors hang precariously on their banisters from the walls, ready to fall down on the crowd at any moment. Shutters and sun shades once turning the bedroom of the quiet American into the cool dim light for Asian lovers now are distorted, loose and rattle in the wind. Wooden planks have replaced glass in windows. Makeshift panel and sheet constructions serve as additions to add living space. Clothes dry on their lines everywhere.

Salesman along the curb

Recent additions are all the colored advertisement signs. They compete for attention. The bigger the company, the larger the sign. The largest try to attract the attention for big car or electronic companies. Philps, Mazda, Bose, Kenwood, Aiwa, Konica, the companies on the photos represent the time in the 1990’ies. Many have disappeared from the streets today, replaced in the street view by the big IT giants.

Panel about the 65th anniversary celebration of the communist party

Already enterprises selling expensive luxury articles have popped up in some fancier neighborhoods. Ancient clocks and lacquerware only tourists can afford were on sale. The shop attendants or owners try to lure or even physically drag passers-by, which they regard as hopeful customers, into the half-shadow of their premises. We ship anywhere, they shout.

Street food

But the small businesses are in the majority. You get the feeling everyone wants to be part of the new beginning, everyone is doing something, even if it achieves almost nothing. Those who cannot afford an indoor shop earn their money in the streets. Many have opened a little kitchen with a couple of stools to serve the passing crowd. Some only have a stove and have set out a tea can and a couple of glasses on a dirty sheet of newspaper. Others sell vegetables, sun glasses, fruit, chewing gum, cigarettes, newspapers or just a couple of lighters or snacks.

Bicycle repair shop

Plenty of shops repair bicycles but there are more humble repair services. Their owners have spread out their few tools on the pavement. The most basic just offer the service of a pump to inflate tires. Across the street from a gas station women try to sell plastic bottles filled with gasoline stalled in a neat row along the curb.

Bicycle repair on the curb

They don’t seem to see a lot of business. A woman sleeps on a straw mat next to her plastic bottle gasoline business. Her slippers stand neatly next to her. Others lie somewhere in a corner or doze away in their bicycle rickshaw.

Sale of gasoline fro palstic bottles on the curb across the gas station

Selling the national flag on the sidewalk has added another means of income. Celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the founding of the party are coming up. With all the commerce going on it is difficult to realize that we are in a communist country. Even now, when I write this, it still is. Only some of the posters, usually red and decorated with a national flag or the image of Ho Tschi Minh, are a reminder in which system we move around. They blend into all the other advertisements in the street.

The guy who repaired my camera

At a certain moment my SLR camera broke. The pin moving up and down the mirror upon release, then a standard part of this type of camera, was broken. We have met a couple of expat Vietnamese who live in Los Angeles. On their motorbikes they bring us to a street where mechanics repair cameras, electronics and watches. A guy has his micromechanics workshop on a tiny table under a TL lamp. He can do it, he says. I can pick up the camera the next day. And it worked until it was finally replaced by a newer model some years later.

Copy center

Those owning a typewriter offer Photocopy services. The fortunate few are able to set up their typing business in a downstairs shop. But most just sit at a table on the sidewalk. Those can be lucky who own a parasol or have conquered a spot in the shade to wait for customers. They also do official letters for those unable to write.

Writers in the streets

We feel sorry for many of the people who try to sell us something and so we throw the money away out of pity. My friend forgot his Lonely planet, the universes’ essential guide before the arrival of internet, on the plane. In the streets we get a new one for $4, a fraction of what the price is at home. When we see the sad eyes of another boy watching the transaction we get postcards from him for 15,000 Dong (less than 1 $ 50). This again is observed by a pregnant woman trying to get rid of postcards. Hers are historical views of the city and we buy them as well.

At a street kitchen

My mate buys real Rayben sun glasses at the market. Haggling is essential. He brought the price down from 50 to 6 $. After he next buys trousers and a fan from a little woman her neighbor looks so sad that I feel obliged to buy three fans from her as well.

My fish does not smell

T-shirts with nice designs are so cheap that we buy a new one each time the one we wear is dirty. And we need many since in the humid heat we are covered in sweat as soon as we have left our room. The wet sweaty shirts then attract dust and grime. The air of Saigon is so bad that a constant haze is hovering in the streets. I never have problems breathing but here, sometimes at night, I have to fight for air.

Mobile kitchen

Even the disabled serve as a source of income. A man pushes a flat cart in front of him. On the cart lies an old man, 10 cm above the ground. The remains of his only leg are wrapped in a bandage. The more fortunate still have one unharmed leg left and drag themselves along with wooden crutches. Another has only one arm, under which he has tucked a cap to collect money. Some have no legs, others have legs, but they crawl on their knees, pulling their legs up with their hands.

Market street

The war ended 20 years ago. The legacy is still there. Still, buried ordnance and mines daily claim their victims.

Street market

The sidewalks are very busy. One must be careful not to destroy someone's business investment while walking. Escaping to the street is no option. A pedestrian walking there is hunted down by scooters and motorbikes. I have never seen so many tourists stumbling along on crutches or even having a leg or arm in plaster as during our time in Saigon.

Street vendors

Many of the merchants doing business on the sidewalks have to bring their little children along. They play in the slimy gutter. The endless traffic passes by a short distance away. A wrong move at a wrong moment can cause a fatal accident. Nobody seems to care. They are used to that.

Honda Om race

Bicycles are largely replaced by scooters called Honda Om here. Saigon alone probably is home to a million, and most of them seem to be around us at any time. Crossing the street is running the gantlet. There is no break in the flow. The only way to cross is stepping into the flow and keep going in a slow but steady pace while hoping that the oncoming madness correctly assesses how to pass you.

Zebra crossing

Following a local at the downstream side is an insurance but since there are no medians you are at face of danger as soon as you have passed the center of the street. I watch a woman with two fully loaded baskets of garbage on a pole over her shoulder who tries to cross the street. She just keeps walking. Nobody touches the baskets although the obstacle is rather wide.

How to cross the street?

How many can fit on a scooter? Entire families, the children on the lap or standing between the feet of the driver, can be moved. On their feet slippers, the only protection a cap or straw hat against the sun.

Delivering a load of bananas

The scooters share the street with bicycles carrying 30 chicken bound together by their legs. A tricycle carries an entire kitchen. Another is so overloaded with green bananas that two boys have to help the driver by pushing. Life is easier for the owners of the motorized version of the tricycle. They can carry easily a load of brimming sacks with unknown content so high that they just can overlook the road in front of them.

Rikshaw to transport freight

The rickshaws can serve for the transport of people, but also can be overloaded with goods. How can you ride a rickshaw and smoke at the same time in this heat? The drivers are keen on landing a deal with tourists. They not only try to charge astronomic prices but it also can happen that you end up in an entirely different location than you had planned to and end up in a restaurant or shop in an unknown part of town. It is better to have the exact fare since they will never have change.

Everybody needs a rest

Of course there are nice and helpful guys among the rickshaw drivers. They can be perfect guides and bring you to spots which you would never see without them. However it is difficult to tell apart the wheat from the chaff.

Rikshow driver waiting for passengers

The streets of the town are full of tuk-tuks, rickshaws, motorbikes and they all want to give you a ride. Some get aggressive, walk along with us, pull at our sleeves. A particularly irritant guy follows us even though we expressly ignore him. Suddenly my friend turns around in a sharp move and slaps him in his face. Even I am surprised. The guy stays back. He had his hand in my pocket, says my mate apologetically.

2CV - one of the few private cars in Saigon in 1996

While the scooters are about to replace bicycles in the streets there are still only very few cars. Most are vintage, usually old French made Citroen or Peugeot, but there are also some German beetle and the odd Mercedes. Most are well taken care of, shiny as much as their advanced age allows.

German cars are even rarer

We have made Vietnamese friends, descendants of those who emigrated at the end of the war to try their luck elsewhere. They grew up in Los Angeles. They are here for the first time, meeting family and old family friends. For them this is like being fish in calm water. They have got their own motorbikes and take us along on their explorations in the city.

Street kitchen

Our new friends warn us about gangs of homeless children who try to steal from tourists. One of them walks up to you and waves a newspaper or fan into your face as if trying to sell it. While you are distracted another kid tries to rip a loose bag off or pull something out of your pockets. One evening we walk down the sidewalk some meters behind the friends when some noisy kids show up. The friends turn around and shout a warning in our direction. In a blink of an eye we are surrounded by a dozen kids not much older than 10. It is difficult to keep all of them at bay at the same time. Again my friend gets the upper hand by a liberating strike at the most aggressive of them. They disappear as quickly as they showed up.

Honda Om repair facility

In the streets there are few moments of rest. As soon as you stop there are people trying to get something from you. Even changing a camera lens attracts little kids who immediately have their tiny hands inside the camera bag, for curiosity or stealing. Sitting quietly to relax at the side of the street to observe what is going on is impossible.

Street kitchen at a bus stop

And then it happened indeed. While walking and avoiding other distractions I stepped on a glass stalled out on the sidewalk next to a tea serving business. The glass breaks. The woman yells after me. I probably have just ruined a promising startup. We get out of there as quickly as possible.

Chinese entrance gate

We have arrived in Cholon, the Chinese part of Saigon. It is not quieter here in the streets, but at least there are some Buddhist temples. The interior of temples, mosques or churches always offers rest and tranquility for the traveler. In front of the entrance waits a cage with little birds. It is said to bring luck when you spend the money to release one. With the money earned they travel to the countryside to catch more.

Entrance to the chinese Pagoda

The Ong Bon Pagoda occupies a square shape surrounding a courtyard. The houses are built with wooden frames, painted in red, a tiled roof and brick walls. The roof above the entrance is decorated with dragons and phoenixes in colorful ceramics.

Courtyard of the Ong Bon Pagoda

The inside is bathed in a dim light by the smoke from coils of incense suspended from the ceiling. A courtyard allows for some light and air. Everything is covered in soot. A few men sit at a big, roughly hewn table. In the dark light of the main shrine is the altar of Ong Bon, the god who protects land. Although the interior was quite neglected at the time, it offers a place of rest. I guess the temple today has got a fancy make-up, but probably is full of tourists so that much of the solemn peace is gone.

Freight boats in Saigon

A bit further on a woman tries to persuade us to go on a boat trip. She's missing the top row of her teeth, and her straw hat has got holes in it. After the chaos and hectic pace of the street, the tranquility of a boat trip seems inviting. Finally we could watch life from the undisturbed peace of the water without having to be careful about others around. The poor appearance of the woman makes us feel sorry for her and we follow her to a ramshackle jetty where a guy with a boat is waiting. The boat is driven by an outboard engine where the screw is attached at the other end of a long pole

Under the bridges

Due to its location in the Mekong Delta Ho Tschi Minh city has an average elevation of only about 5 m. Part of it was built on tidal flats. The seasonal floods of the Saigon and Dong Nai Rivers in combination with the tides caused regular flooding. To master the amount of water the city was crisscrossed by a system of canals, which at the same time served as transport hub and for drainage.

Buildings along the canal

When we stepped on the boat it was clear that the canal we were about to travel on had meanwhile got another main function, that is, to be an open sewer. The water was oily and black, there was no visibility beyond the surface at all. From time to time bubbles of gas audibly erupt with a plop next to our boat. A slightly foul smell hangs above the water. The shoreline is covered with an uninterrupted belt of garbage.

Makeshift constructions above the garbage belt

The oily water of the canal provided a perfect mirror for the reflection of those makeshift wooden constructions built precariously on poles above the waters edge. In between boats of all sizes are parked. The bigger vessels are typical for those used for freight transport on the numerous waterways of the Mekong Delta shuttling the agricultural products from the countryside to the markets of the big city and returning loaded with building materials or consumer goods.

The outboard engine used in the canals

The smaller barges serve for local transport and there are even some carrying the hopeful few trying to find the last surviving fish in the mess. Many of these boats are rowed with a single oar by men standing in the stern. However, others try even more rudimentary methods for fishing. One guy, wading naked in the oily muck reaching up to his shoulders, tries to catch fish with a net at the other end of a long bamboo pole. Around him a number of bright red plastic basins wait to accommodate his catch.

Fishing in murky waters

Rowboat ferries provide a connection between the two sides of the canal. Women with paraplu’s protecting them from the sun balance carefully on the wobbly craft. The skipper has resorted to the traditional conical straw hat for sun protection. Bicycles and carefully dressed children are boarded using a narrow plank hovering above the disgusting black, garbage covered slime of the shore.

Passengers entering one of the ferries across the canal

Also bicycles can be ferried across

A little bit further on they have built an even more precarious construction to connect the opposite shores. A plank has been placed between the ends of two barges positioned perpendicular to the canal. The plank is removed to let us pass.

Temporary boat bridge

The noise of the roaring engine on our boat is deafening, but suddenly the noise stops. Already for a while the progress has been increasingly onerous. Our boatman stops the engine. Now we soon learn why the screw is at the end of a long pole. He can lift pole and screw out of the water and it turns out that a big piece of plastic sheet has wrapped itself around the other end.

Screw blocked by garbage

While all the rubbish is disposed into the water of the canal and there is no doubt that it also serves as the only available toilet others use the same liquid to wash their veggies or take a bath. It also seems to serve well for doing the laundry. Afterwards, the laundry is spread out on lines spanning along the verandas of the wooden structures as well as above the boats moored along the shore.

Boy at the water's edge

Many people also live on the boats. Even small crafts carry roofs and blends to allow people to stay there. Little children play on the boats, right above the edge of the muck of the canal. Imagine that one of the toddlers ends up in the water. As soon as it has disappeared under the surface nothing will leave a trace of its whereabouts in the absolutely impenetrable darkness of the black sludge.

Boat people

However, most of the faces are happy. A man in his shorts enjoys his lunch while he watches the life on the canal squatting precariously in the opening of his hut a couple of meters above the black, garbage filled muck. Many places in the world have floating markets but here is not a market, this is street life on the water.

Boat people

At our time the stinking, dirty canals of Saigon posed a serious sanitary problem. The dirty water was a source of sickness and a home for vermin and insects. Meanwhile many of the canals made a remarkable recovery. The government cleaned up the waterways. Instead of wobbly, makeshift wooden constructions some now are lined by walkways allowing a green promenade across the city.

Enjoying lunch with a view

The war in Vietnam ended with a chaotic evacuation preceding the conquest of Saigon as the last stronghold of the South-Vietnamese government by the Vietcong. The debacle of the intervention in Vietnam was a masterprint for many of the subsequent later US interventions in other parts of the world. None brought a lasting improvement. Iraq, Somalia and Libya were left in turmoil still ongoing today. The retreat from Afghanistan was chaotic and left the local supporters of the international forces in the hands of the Taliban.

The vietnamese way of rowing

Boat man

In his famous book “The rise and fall of the great powers” Paul Kennedy addresses the problem of “imperial overstretch”. Already the Roman empire was suffering from long delays for logistics and communication due to the distance of their conquests in the middle east and Iberian peninsula to the capital in Rome. Napoleon’s ventures into Egypt and Russia eventually bled out due to the long supply lines, as did those of Hitler into North Africa and the Soviet Union. The colonies held by the European powers only survived for a long time since their subjects were largely inferior in power and development compared to their colonial rulers. Now, the sum of the total of US’ global involvements is getting larger than the available means of power to satisfy them all simultaneously. The conflict zones are so far away from the home base that logistics not only becomes prohibitively expensive but also slow.

Boatman

Tim Marshall analyses in “Prisoners of Geography” the geographic advantage or disadvantages of the location of various world powers. From the aspect of defense the position of the US between two coasts with only two neighbors is ideal. All conflicts are far away, overseas. For offensive actions this advantage is turned into a disadvantage. Expensive military bases have to be established on other continents and are depending on the goodwill of allied nations. Even moving forces between the Atlantic and the Pacific theater of operations is a long and slow process. Taking into account the financial situation and the enormous amount of US debts it is only a matter of time until the US will have to stop big interventions overseas. In Vietnam, a relatively poorly equipped army succeeded to overcome the world power with an endless succession of minor needle prick activities.