In Ho Chi Minh city, still almost always called Saigon, vestiges of France's colonial mission civilisatrice include Catholic churches, a replica of the Paris Opera, cafe' filtre, the best baguettes east of Suez. But, as everyone has reported, the sprawling metropolis of five million people pulses with fresh vigor. Billboards advertise computers by Hewlett-Packard, electronic equipment by Sony and Samsung. Shops overflow with television sets, video recorders, stereo systems, cameras, jewelry, counterfeit Rolex and Piaget watches, and garments flaunting such logos as Lacoste and Ralph Lauren, smuggled in by sea from Thailand or by land from China. Stalls are stacked with Marlboros, Salems, Johnny Walker and Remy Martin. By law, transactions must be conducted in Dong, the national currency, but the dollar is almighty. Even taxi meters click away in dollars. The streets are a swirl of cars, trucks, bicycles and, predominantly, motorbikes- some propelled at breakneck speed by teenage boys in jeans, with microskirted girlfriends clinging behind.
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Like the rest of the world, Vietnam is in thrall to American pop culture. Vintage Tracy and Hepburn movies appear on television along with Cable News Network. Vendors hawk Snoopy tote bags, Michael Jackson posters and T-shirts emblazoned with "Good Morning, VietNam" the title of a Robin Williams film. Coke and Pepsi battle for the soft-drink market; a Baskin-Robbins branch offers its familiar spectrum of flavors. There is a bar called Apocalypse Now. I spotted the announcement of a forthcoming beauty pageant and a concert by one Elvis Phuong, a local rock star. During the war I often grabbed a snack at Cheap Charlie's, a Chinese bistro; it has been transformed into another fast-food joint titled HAM-BU-GO CA-LI-PHO-NIA.
35 years ago, educated Vietnamese spoke French. Today English, regarded as a necessary business tool, is the foreign language of choice. Signs advertise English lessons; and the demand for instructors has lured quite a few young Americans to Vietnam. Bookstores are crammed with English Made Easy and Business Correspondence in English. Also with pirated American titles- including one of my own- mailed by relatives in the United States and reprinted on copying machines.
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In 1995 an estimated 10,000 Americans visited Vietnam. A few were relatives of soldiers missing in action for whom the Vietnamese government is finally trying to account fully. But most come for pleasure or out of curiosity. A team of surfers arrived to ride the waves at Danang, known to G.I.'s during the war as China Beach; one adventurous group traveled around the country by bicycle. Number of the tourists were veterans. "It's weird," one said. "I've got a better reception as an American returning to Vietnam than I did as a Vietnam veteran returning to America." They trek through villages and around rice paddies that were once battlegrounds; a few even encounter former foes. A favorite excursion is to the labyrinth of tunnels at Cu Chi, north of Saigon, from which the Vietcong attacked the city. Some fall prey to peddlers fake dog tags and Zippo lighters engraved with the emblems of American Army units.
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