Moving on

Photo essay: Vietnamn, the land of China plus one

by Keyvan Tabari
02-Sep-2009
 
“The runway that you just landed on was the world’s busiest in the late 1960s because many of the American soldiers and much of the war materiel came through here,” our guide reminded us while we were waiting for our luggage in the Saigon airport. Soon we were taken to our hotel, the Caravelle. This was where, the guide pointed out, “the American mission everyday at 5 P.M. gave a progress report on the war.” For visitors of a certain generation from the United States this type of introductory comments about Vietnam is common. The Vietnam War is the part of your memory that demands immediate attention if this is your first visit. Only by addressing it fully can you exorcize its ghost. The Vietnamese seem to have done it. For them, the “American War,” as they call it, is no big deal anymore, what with their much longer “French War,” not to mention the prior “Chinese War.” As the guide put it, “we were at war with China for a thousand years!” The “Saigon Saigon Bar” of the Caravelle, where we were having this conversation, looked nothing like the bustling venue for the American military’s daily press briefings which it had once been >>> FULL TEXT
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Anonymouse

Such a captivting

by Anonymouse on

Such a captivting country and people.  Beautiful pictures.  I'd like to visit there one day.

Everything is sacred.


gol-dust

Much appreciated Mr. Tabari! Loved them all.

by gol-dust on

I always wanted to see how viet nam would look like, and thanks to you I got a glance.


Farhad Kashani

Vietnam has done a great

by Farhad Kashani on

Vietnam has done a great job moving beyond its Communist and Socialist past towards Capitalism and democracy,. they got rid of the old slogans and old anti Western propaganda.

 

On the other hand, some of our lovely compatriots still live in the cold war era talking about “Zionism” and “Imperialism” and how they wanna fight them and how they are out to get the world and how they hate Iran and Islam and they talk about the 300 member club! People just don’t wanna realize they were wrong.

 

Its sad. Vietnam fought a bloody war with the U.S but neither U.S nor Vietnam hold grudges against each other. On the other hand, some of our Neo Comm Iranians won’t let go of the outdated U.S bashing blaming America for the 1953 coup and how that caused this and that and how we should be eternal enemies with the U.S, a country that by the way has done more good for Iran than bad!

   


yolanda

I like....

by yolanda on

I like #6 also, it is soo colorful! Thanks! I think Vietnam is the land of China minus 10, 'cause China is way bigger.

thanks,

yolanda


farokh2000

Beautiful Pictures

by farokh2000 on

Thanks for sharing.

What a beautiful Country and people.

It is such a shame that the Big Monsters do so much harm to innocent people of the World.


yolanda

My favorite..

by yolanda on

My favorite are #66 and #67. They give you the feeling of tranquility and serenity! They are post-card quality! Awesome! thank you for sharing!

yolanda