“Come to Vietnam with us next year,” pleaded a friend/co-worker shortly before I left the company and moved away from California. She didn’t have to plead twice. Vietnam is an interesting country — yes, still communist and quite hot, but often beautiful and increasingly modern with friendly people who have long forgiven Americans for the “American War.”
&title=Motoring in Vietnam "I had stayed in a hotel half-a-block away from this intersection in Saigon! Also note the girl in an evening gown driving a motorbike, which is not too unusual there! (Photo: Google Video)")
If my descriptions about puttering around on motorbikes in Saigon last summer were not enough for you, here is a great video by Jeremy Clarkson on the topic. Despite being produced in the early 90s (judging by the Porsche 911 in the video and Clarkson’s youthful waistline that’s about two-thirds what it is now), Vietnam in the video looked just like it did during my 2006 trip. Continue reading »
A smile swept across my face as my field of vision shifted through a window on the Airbus we had been perched in for the last 12 hours. Outside were the foothills the color of Grey Poupon, a water-deprived sight once distasteful to my eyes but now entirely welcome as they signified a lack of the humidity that had overtaxed my sweat glands in Vietnam for the last three weeks. Hooray! We were back in the San Francisco Bay Area! Home of moderate temperatures, good food and ethnic diversity.
My elation faded about as quickly as Floyd Landis’ stunning collapse in Stage 16 of this year’s Tour de France. Continue reading »
As my Vietnam vacation is over it is time to account for what I liked most and least in the country. Above all that is listed below, I came out of Vietnam with a great appreciation for motorbikes, jazz, and Vietnamese food. Continue reading »
Considering how hot and humid Vietnam can get, some of the most enjoyable days are spent at the beach. This certainly was the case at the Seahorse Hotel & Spa in Mui Ne (about 4 hours from Saigon) where Loan’s family and I hung out for an afternoon. The hotel was right on a private beach with warm waters and crashing waves. To top it off there was a 25-meter pool on the hotel grounds where we swam and did our own little contests of who could swim the farthest on a single breath.
Even more memorable was staying up with Nam and Kim until 4:00am talking about everything from friends and family to cars and college. It was like a slumber party! 
Loan should be commended for doing such a great job raising those two; both are super cool. More photos are here.
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“I was thinking,” said Loan on the phone early Saturday morning, “that maybe my niece could give you a tour of Nha Trang today. She lives here and could drive you around on her motorbike. Would that be okay?”
Considering that the other day I established that I have a weakness for women in open-aired vehicles, it took about as long to think about that question as a camera takes to snap a photo. “Loan,” I replied, “that would definitely be okay…”
And so one of the best days of the trip thus far was spent with a nice Vietnamese girl named Kristy. Continue reading »
“Please respect local dress standards,” read the Lonely Planet Vietnam guidebook. “Avoid wearing shorts or sleeveless tops and always remove your shoes before entering a temple. In general, Vietnamese dress standards are conservative, especially in the countryside. Nude and topless sunbathing is considered totally inappropriate, even at beaches and hot-spring resorts.”
Considering this warning, I lifted an eyebrow on the Vietnam Airlines jet from San Francisco to Saigon when in the corner of my eye flashed an image of a stripper on the LCD screen in front of the Vietnamese gentleman on my left. Continue reading »
