Why the picture of a map of Saigon? I am going there is November for a 2 week trip. Not exactly a mainstream destination city that many people aspire to visit I know, but let me explain.
History has always been a passion for me, more specifically American history. When starting a coffee company, I settled upon the name Bull Run after the defining First Battle of the Civil War. Although we named our son Gray, it was not a Civil War Blue/Gray reference but rather a family name. As much material as there is about that War it was never part of my personal history because it occurred a century and a half ago. More relevant was a war that was reported on the 6:00 news as I came in from neighborhood sandlot baseball.
Colonial Vietnam and the general region we used to call French Indonesia was more my reality. The battles were reported first hand and when I went to camp several of the counselors had fought and told their stories. There is the obvious attraction to the historical significance of the war, but that is more the part that seduces you in. I had friends with older brothers that served, and watched as they sweated out their draft numbers and decided whether to make a run for it to Canada. It was an impacting time.
Japan and China never really did it for me because it was just too for off the grid and I couldn’t relate to the traditional Orient way of life. The Orient is so totally different that it either grabs you or it doesn’t. I find SE Asia to be different. This region grabs me and who knows, this version of Asia lite may make the traditional Orient more interesting to me.
