HANOI - Everybody and his brother is on a motorbike. His sister, too, you realize, once you look beyond the masked faces, elbow-length gloves and shrouded bodies - the better to keep the sun away and remain pale in that urbane, I don't-work-in-the-fields way. Me, I'm stupidly tan-happy, bareheaded and bare-legged as I zip along side-saddle behind Long, the motorbike taxi-man of the morning. We're on our way to see Ho.
Ho is Ho Chi Minh, the father of Communist Vietnam. He looks much as when I last visited him here, in 1994. Waxen and pale, the revered peasant leader forever under glass. Dead, but not gone, never forgotten.
But Ho may be just about the only thing in Vietnam that looks the same. A decade ago this month, the U.S. normalized relations with Vietnam, following that government's decision to admit Western visitors. Former Congressman Pete Peterson - a former prisoner of war here - became the first U.S. ambassador in the post-war era. Vietnam vaulted into modern capitalism with a vengeance.
These days, scenes from Apocalypse Now and Good Morning Vietnam seem surreal. Visiting the New Vietnam, you may find yourself wondering if the bloody campaign that ended in America's defeat with the 1975 fall of Saigon was merely a drug-induced nightmare, a cruel trick of collective memory.
Unless, of course, you - or someone you loved - spent time here between 1964 and 1975, when more than 58,000 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 1.1 million-plus Vietnamese died.
Why was the U.S. military here? you may find yourself asking, as you stare into shops filled with sleek silk gowns, beaded sandals and Prada-esque eyeglass frames; hip cafes and pubs and cappuccino bars; day spas and travel agencies offering backpacker trips to just about every corner of this serpentine country. And, who really won the war?
A DECADE OF CHANGE In the time it takes to sip a Saigon Beer, Vietnam's past seems to fade. Yes, you can still see water buffalo pulling plows in the countryside. But in cities, cyclists and vendors lugging baskets of fruit on shoulder yokes are giving way to literally millions of motorbikes. Conical grass hats are being replaced by baseball caps, and even the "Hanoi Hilton" - nickname for the prison where American POWs were held, including now-Sen. John McCain - has been largely vanquished to make room for a glass office-and-retail tower. The new Hanoi Hilton is a sleek tower near the Opera where you can sip a $2 soda, smoke a Havana cigar or buy a Montblanc pen while awaiting your room.
A decade ago, none of this was here. Not the made-to-order tailors, the chic housewares shops, the 400 dragon-prowed tourist boats on Halong Bay, the five-star Ana Mandara Resort on Nha Trang Beach. Not the art galleries stacked to the rafters with canvases of air-brushed Buddhas and bucolic farming scenes. Not the air-conditioned tourist buses that roll along the Vietnamese backbone, Hanoi to Saigon for $31, with stops at Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Dalat.
Roughly 1.4 million foreign tourists came here in the first five months of 2005, reports the country's tourism administration - up 19.4 percent over the year before. American tourists rank third in numbers, behind China and Japan, with 272,000 American visitors in 2004.
Credit curiousity about a fresh, rapidly changing destination and a wide variety of experiences in a single country, says Chris Skilling, vice president of worldwide operations for Boston-based Grand Circle Travel and Overseas Adventure Travel. The two companies are taking 58 percent more Americans to Vietnam this year than last.
Don't forget value: custom tailored suits for $60-$80; an elegant gourmet dinner for $25 per person; simple-but-clean hotel rooms with air-conditioning, international phone and satellite TV for $20. And yes, it's all priced in dollars - U.S. dollars, as common here as the local currency of dong.
A YOUNG POPULATION But for Americans, one of the biggest lures may be the way Vietnamese respond to them.
The day I visited Ho, several Vietnamese stopped to chat, ask where I had come from, practice the English that is widely spoken here. One family - grandmother, parents, two young girls - shyly asked to have their photo taken with me: the oddity, the solo woman traveler, the American. Say "digital."
"I felt really welcomed by everyday people we met," said Shari Drubin of Miami, who visited in February. "I talked with motorbike drivers, museum people, professors, and it was pervasive. The way in which the Vietnamese dealt with the American War, the way they felt about Americans - it surprised me."
Some visitors and experts point to Vietnam's youthfulness: The average age is just under 26; 60-plus percent of the people are under 30. For most Vietnamese, the "American War" exists only in books, a dusty historical artifact.
That was the experience for John Loucks, who served in the U.S. military here in 1968 and returned with his son in May.
"Time has . . . left the Vietnam War to history and the memories of my generation," he said. "You talk to [Vietnamese] people now, tell them you were here in 1978, and it doesn't mean anything to them. Most of them don't really think about the American War."
The country, he found, "still exotic and beautiful . . . My trip back triggered a wealth of memories I didn't even know that I had. But they are my memories, my experiences. The next generation has and will have their own."
A few remnants of the war remain, primarily in museums in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City - 'most everyone still calls it Saigon - and at the Cu Chi Tunnels, a 155-mile-warren of narrow underground passages outside Saigon where the Viet Cong hid and planned their campaign during the war. Older Vietnamese - especially in Hanoi - may be a bit reserved once they learn you are American.
But the manifestations of U.S. as Evil Empire have mostly vaporized. Photographs in the War Remnants Museum in Saigon have been relabeled in the past decade, shifting from emphasis on "American aggression" to colder, less-embellished fact. The museum itself has been renamed - from "War Crimes" to "War Remnants." Other historical recitations in museums and by guides tuck the American presence into its chronological place, after the Chinese and French, before the Khymer Rouge and Chinese again.
The north-south war buffer called the DMZ, the De-Militarized Zone, is now a tourist stop. My Lai, where American soldiers massacred hundreds of villagers in 1968, has morphed into a destination for motorbike taxis ferrying American customers from nearby Hoi An. Once-barren napalm patches in the rich farmlands between Danang and Hoi An are no longer a source of guilt for an American visitor; they're rapidly being converted to 21st Century tract houses.
"Let bygones be bygones," says my motorbike driver in the hill town of Dalat, where farmland is being transformed into country villas for Saigon's elite.
Or, as 30-year-old tour guide Vuong Lien Duong of Hanoi puts it, "In Vietnam, we have had many invaders. We have learned to forgive, but not forget. It is best to be friends, not enemies - and easier to do that, when you were the victor."
SUBTLE DIFFERENCE Still, if you listen carefully, you can hear the undercurrent.
Yes, locals tell you, their lives are vastly better than a decade ago. But in Hoi An, in a made-to-order tailor shop, the manager allows that she gets only a single day off each month. Corruption is an issue - not perhaps as much as in some neighboring countries, but a hot topic nonetheless; just look at the staunch stucco house with the TV dish - owned by a government official - amid a row of rough thatched shacks. As for the universal benefits of education and healthcare that you might expect from a Communist country, think again: Schools, you learn, must be paid for out of pocket, as must doctors and medicine and hospitals.
And though the economy is booming and the day spas are filled with locals, this is still a country where elections are predetermined.
"It doesn't look much like a Communist country, does it?" one man asks me. "But there's a difference. You have a choice. We do not."
VISITING VIETNAM
Getting there: There are no direct flights from South Florida, but several carriers connect through Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo. Thai Airways offers nonstop flights from New York to Bangkok, the closest hub to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Tours: Many companies offer Vietnam trips, with itineraries for budget travelers, adventurers and more traditional visitors. Companies include Grand Circle Travel (www.gct.com), Overseas Adventure Travel (www.oattravel.com), SmarTours (www.smar tours.com). Recommended budget tours (think $750 for a two-week trip) include Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtrav el.com) and Imaginative Traveler (www.imagina tive-traveller.com). Adventure Center (www.adventurecen ter.com) also represents good-value operators.
Health: 23 deaths have occurred from bird flu since December 2003. However, those have slowed, reports the Centers for Disease Control. Vietnam locals say they simply avoid eating chicken.
On your own: The infrastructure is well developed for travelers at all price points, and making arrangements on your own is as simple as walking into one of the many tourist agencies (most are around the backpacker districts) or sending an e-mail.
Money, language: ATM machines have sprouted in the last year and appear on just about every corner. Prices often are quoted in U.S. dollars; you can pay in either dollars or Vietnamese dong. Most people under 35 speak English.
When to go: Weather varies from north to south; any time of year will be both pleasant and putridly hot, depending on location. April, May and October are best bets weatherwise. The Tet Festival celebrating the lunar New Year falls between Jan. 19 and Feb. 20; in 2006, it falls on Jan. 29.
Lodging: Prices range from the pure budget end ($5-$10 per night), to moderate (around $20 in a city) to the top end ($100-$200, e-mail hotels directly for the best rate) with five-star service.
Even most budget hotels will pick you up at the airport for a small fee and offer a clean, safe room with air conditioning (you'll need it), private bath, satellite TV, international telephone and Internet service in the lobby. Service is friendly and nearly all hotel staffers speak English. You can book most by sending an e-mail.
For lodging recommendations, check out a good guidebook (our faves are the Lonely Planet Guide, Moon Handbook and Let's Go). Also see www.hotels-in-vietnam.com.
Dining: A simple Vietnamese-style meal can cost as little as $1 per person, though you're more likely to pay around $5 in tourist-oriented eateries. Western food is widely available. A top-end restaurant will cost $25-$30 per person.
Getting around: Within any city, it's simple: Just walk outside your hotel and a motorbike or cyclo taxi will offer you a ride. Negotiate the price upfront by either the segment or the hour. If you need an automobile taxi, ask your hotel to arrange it. Between cities, Vietnam Airlines (www.vietnamair lines.com) flies Western-standard jets between most major tourist areas for bargain prices (most legs cost around $50.) Budget travelers opt for air conditioned Open Tour buses, easily booked at the omnipresent travel agencies; legs between major cities cost around $5 each. For more info, check out www.bootsnall.com.
HIGHLIGHTS * Sapa: Northern hill area is home to tribal peoples. Three and four-day trips easily arranged in Hanoi, where most agencies are in the historic area. Travelers recommend visiting soon, before the area becomes overrun. * Hanoi: Vietnam's most gracious city, with French Colonial architecture, prettily landscaped lakes and a crumbling historic district that is home to most moderate lodgings. Don't miss Ho Chi Minh's Tomb and Museum (dress discreetly or you'll be turned away), the Museum of Ethnography and the Hoa Lo Prison museum, known as the "Hanoi Hilton" by American POWs during the war. The Opera - near the upscale hotels, Sofitel and Hilton - hosts many arts programs. Hanoi is also the best place to catch a performance of water puppets, a traditional art form mixing storytelling and music. Shops here are stylish and well priced; this is also the place to stroll contemporary art galleries. There's a burgeoning club scene, too. Top dinner recommendation: Club Opera, with gourmet Vietnamese offerings and a seductive atmosphere, near the Opera. * Halong Bay: This once-serene setting of sea and pearl-drop islands is now ringed with high-rises. Still, it's worth the day or two visit from Hanoi. Tip: Overnight trips get the best reviews. * Hue: The remnants of the 19th-century Citadel - damaged by fighting with both French and Americans - is the pretty little city's top draw, a remarkable Imperial City once reserved for royalty. In these commercial times, you can also catch an elephant ride here. Beyond the city proper lie the royal tombs, a series of impressive mausoleums easily reached by taxi or a boat tour along the picturesque Perfume River. One of the most elaborate and least-visited is the newest - the tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh, completed in 1931. Most tours also stop at Thien Mu Pagoda, perhaps best known by Americans as home to a Buddhist monk who immolated himself in Saigon in 1963 in protest of the Vietnam-American war. * Hoi An: Thanks to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and local laws against aggressive touts, this riverside village retains the historic charm of trading houses and temples, some dating back 300 years. The Old City is a living quarter with a thriving morning vegetable and fish market, though most of the historic buildings are now home to boutiques, cafes, galleries and museums. This is the place to rest up, have custom-tailored clothes made, take a cooking class or go to the nearby beach. Highly recommended are the two antiques-filled guest rooms once part of a Chinese trading house and now located in the Vinh Hung 1 Hotel (vinhhung.ha@dng. vnn.vn) in the historic district; one appeared in the movie, The Quiet American. * Nha Trang: This is one of Vietnam's hottest beaches - and accordingly, one of its crazier scenes. Many travelers complain about aggressive vendors here. cycle-guides easily found at local hotels. Notable, too, is the Crazy House, a museum-hostelry in the architectural spirit of Gaudi. * Ho Chi Minh City: Traffic-crazed Ho Chi Minh City - still also known as Saigon - isn't a great place to visit, though expats who live here rave about the people, restaurants, cheap day spas and booming economy. For tourists, the highlights are the Reunification Hall (center of the South Vietnamese government), the War Remnants Museum, galleries near the Fine Art Museum and shops along Dong Khoi, the main shopping drag. Be prepared for an onslaught of beggars. The Cu Chi Tunnels - the 150-mile warren where the Viet Cong hid during the War - lies outside town (you can shoot an AK-47 here), as does the magnificent temple of the colorful Cao Dai religious sect. Ho Chi Minh City is also the stepping off point for trips to the Mekong Delta and Vung Tau beach.
