My wife and I adopted our son in Nam Dinh Province in 2007 when he was 11 months old. He graduated from high school in Texas this spring and we'd promised a tour of his homeland for his "senior trip" as he has no recollection of Viet Nam. For the first two weeks of July our son was able to relate, at least a little, to the culture of his homeland and we had a great family vacation. Our son is as Texan as they come but he truly enjoyed, and was obviously fascinated by, the country of his birth. It may well be my last trip to Southeast Asia but I doubt it will be his though he's going to have to work on language skills.
We started in Ha Noi, then Nam Dinh, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Da Nang, and then to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and the Mekong Delta. So much to enjoy and experience and it's fair to say we ate our way across the country - the food alone is worth the trip. Our son is quite the pho aficionado and it turns out the dish originates in his home province of Nam Dinh. He enjoyed pho at least daily for our two-week stay enjoying the regional variations of the national dish. If you are willing to eat what the locals eat and eat at common restaurants it's inexpensive by our standards. The "best" pho restaurant in Nam Dinh, where for dinner we fed five and had drinks, was the equivalent of eight dollars. Pizza was another matter and was about like a decent Italian place here.
We spent almost three weeks in Ha Noi 18 years ago but other than Nam Dinh we didn't get out into the countryside much as there was virtually a daily activity to attend to in support of the adoption. Many things have changed in the last 18 years; the most notable is the number of English-speaking Vietnamese citizens that were scarce but now not unusual. In 2007 we exchanged $100 for 1.6 million dong. Today's exchange rate indicates significant inflation at 2.6M dong per $100.
Eighteen years ago there seemed little evidence of their from of government but the one-party system of communism seems more obvious now. Nevertheless there is a degree of individual initiative allowed that is uncommon under other communist regimes (I've traveled Cuba on business and find it incredibly repressive). Nothing like the freedoms we enjoy but a step up from where they were prior to their 1986 economic reforms.
I understand many of my fellow forum participants have an entirely different Viet Nam experience. Just as we felt 18 years ago there seems little animosity concerning what they term "the American War." Nevertheless we consistently skipped the museums and other establishments dedicated to remembrance of our past conflicts - some it is hard to avoid and seems more than a little one-sided. We met some wonderful and helpful people and made many new friends. Viet Nam signed a trade deal with the U.S. while we were there and it was much celebrated by the Vietnamese people. Virtually every Vietnamese citizen we got to know expressed a willingness and goal to visit the U.S. and some were unabashed about their dream of emigrating here.
I've been to some "vibrant" places but nothing in my experience compares to the streets of Saigon. The energy level seems orders of magnitude beyond New York. We had a personal family tour service virtually all along the way and saw things we surely wouldn't have without them. They were wonderful and if you go I'd recommend them highly. From our overnight cruise on Ha Long Bay to our boat and bike tour of the Mekong Delta and islands, we saw and did so much that would not have been possible without local help.
Mother and Son at a memorial to an early emperor in Ha Noi, 2007 and 2025. And scarfing pho on the streets of Saigon.
We started in Ha Noi, then Nam Dinh, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Da Nang, and then to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and the Mekong Delta. So much to enjoy and experience and it's fair to say we ate our way across the country - the food alone is worth the trip. Our son is quite the pho aficionado and it turns out the dish originates in his home province of Nam Dinh. He enjoyed pho at least daily for our two-week stay enjoying the regional variations of the national dish. If you are willing to eat what the locals eat and eat at common restaurants it's inexpensive by our standards. The "best" pho restaurant in Nam Dinh, where for dinner we fed five and had drinks, was the equivalent of eight dollars. Pizza was another matter and was about like a decent Italian place here.
We spent almost three weeks in Ha Noi 18 years ago but other than Nam Dinh we didn't get out into the countryside much as there was virtually a daily activity to attend to in support of the adoption. Many things have changed in the last 18 years; the most notable is the number of English-speaking Vietnamese citizens that were scarce but now not unusual. In 2007 we exchanged $100 for 1.6 million dong. Today's exchange rate indicates significant inflation at 2.6M dong per $100.
Eighteen years ago there seemed little evidence of their from of government but the one-party system of communism seems more obvious now. Nevertheless there is a degree of individual initiative allowed that is uncommon under other communist regimes (I've traveled Cuba on business and find it incredibly repressive). Nothing like the freedoms we enjoy but a step up from where they were prior to their 1986 economic reforms.
I understand many of my fellow forum participants have an entirely different Viet Nam experience. Just as we felt 18 years ago there seems little animosity concerning what they term "the American War." Nevertheless we consistently skipped the museums and other establishments dedicated to remembrance of our past conflicts - some it is hard to avoid and seems more than a little one-sided. We met some wonderful and helpful people and made many new friends. Viet Nam signed a trade deal with the U.S. while we were there and it was much celebrated by the Vietnamese people. Virtually every Vietnamese citizen we got to know expressed a willingness and goal to visit the U.S. and some were unabashed about their dream of emigrating here.
I've been to some "vibrant" places but nothing in my experience compares to the streets of Saigon. The energy level seems orders of magnitude beyond New York. We had a personal family tour service virtually all along the way and saw things we surely wouldn't have without them. They were wonderful and if you go I'd recommend them highly. From our overnight cruise on Ha Long Bay to our boat and bike tour of the Mekong Delta and islands, we saw and did so much that would not have been possible without local help.
Mother and Son at a memorial to an early emperor in Ha Noi, 2007 and 2025. And scarfing pho on the streets of Saigon.
