I Love Vietnam

Let's Caravan

2012-02-22T21:44:00.001-08:00

Vietnam, long the land of the motorbike, is slowly developing a car culture. One enterprising club, Caravan FC Saigon, makes road trips a way of life.

For some travelers, the excitement is not only in the destination, but in the journey. A group of Ho Chi Minh City professionals have taken this credo to heart and created the Caravan FC Saigon, a club devoted to multinational, multi-car trips around Southeast Asia.

The members of the Caravan club come from Saigon's upper class, but they're adventurous enough to take the whole family to discover unfamiliar lands and daring enough to conquer any road at any time of day or night. Mo matter the make of model of car, from BMW to Range Rover, from Mercedes to Toyota, the only requirements are good driving ability and the strong desire to take in new worlds outside their car windows.

Among the trips that the Caravan has taken so far include multinational journey through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. On one recent excursion, the Caravan was led by composer Truong Le Son, who sang over his mobile radio to the begin the convoy's travel, his songs evoking fond memories of distant journeys past. The youngest member on the trip was just six months old.

From HCM city, the convoy moved past the Moc Bai border gate into Cambodia. It made its way to Phnom Penh, and then to Thailand, from the mysterious former capital of Ayutthaya to romantic Chiang Mai draped in mountain fog. The Caravan returned to Bangkok and later Cambodia to complete the journey back in HCM City. The scenery appearing and disappearing behind the convoy fueled the flame of conquering new destinations inside each driver.

Each stopping point is a strong highlight on the regional tourist map. The Kwai River Bridge in Kanchanaburi Prefecture, Thailand murmuring over the brutality of war. Silent ruins in Ayutthaya telling the sotry of the inevitable ups and downs of fate, for individuals and kingdoms alike.

Under the tropical sun, the serene smiles of the multi-faced Buddha on Bayon towers and the colossal sculptures in Ankor Wat posed a still-unresolved riddle. Challenges were everywhere, from steep roads linking Bangkok to Northeastern Thailand to the long wait in the heat for custom procedures at Cambodian borders. Yet hardships only added flavor to the experience.

Each route was a slowly-unfolding charm; each distance marked on the map helped lengthen the endless travel diary. Everyone will miss something: a special meal in Phnom Penh, a traditional music performance in Siem Riep, the robust shopping districts in Bangkok. For young children especially, these journeys will last a lifetime, and will stir up the craving for further discoveries.

The ten day journey offered majestic views of various locations, unexpected encounters with people of many faces and diverse tastes of global dishes that can't be included in a pre-arranged tour. That's the appeal of the Caravan. Non-stop voyages through lands close and far away open the eyes and broaden the minds of drivers and passengers of the Caravan.

By Thai A

Ho Chi Minh City - The City of Miracles

2012-02-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

Ho Chi Minh City is the fast-moving economic center of modern Vietnam, increasingly becoming an international melting pot of tastes and sights from around the world.

A short visit to Ho Chi Minh City's center reveals landmarks such as the gothic Notre Dame Basilica or the Gustave Eiffel-designed Post Office. However, to see the true colors of this changing city requires a trip deeper into streets, alleys and neighborhoods. Whether on foot, motorbike, taxi or cyclo, the city once called "The Pearl of the Orient" is a treasure waiting to be discovered.

A quiet Islamic mosque humbly lies hidden within the city's noisiest commercial quarter. The soothing odor of incense mingles with the smells of cooking in Chinatown. Dong Khoi Street is a silk road lined with luxury stores selling silk from India and traditional Ao Dai. Luxury hotels that rival those in Paris and Tokyo share the street with vendors selling delicious barbecued pork or pho noddle soup.

When Vietnam began the process known as "Doi Moi" (Renovation) in 1986, opening up the economy, it was Ho Chi Minh city that took the early lead. Restaurants and hotels targeted at European tourists and expatriates began springing up, followed by a boom of Japanese, Korean and Chinese restaurants in recent years.

There are dozens of Japanese restaurants right on Le Thanh Ton street which welcome customers with the charm found in Nagoya, Tokyo or Kyoto. In the backpacker area around Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham and Bui Vien streets, Western tourists flock to restaurants and shops catering to global travelers. The area has long been known as an international crossroads where all the popular languages in the world are spoken.

Today, imported Western chains like KFC have grown in popularity with Vietnamese locals. At the same time, homegrown chains such as Ashima Hotpot and Pho 24 delight overseas tourists as traditional Vietnamese tastes meet modern, convenient services.

Yet the old world is never far away. One only has to take a day trip to the Mekong Delta to experience the timeless images of ba ba silk pajamas, dugout canoes and conical hats amidst tropical fruit gardens and the floating markets at Cai Rang, and Phong Dien.

Ho Chi Minh city retains the southern charm of the past while meeting the future at full speed. It is a sleepless city with much inner silence, where tastes from all over the world are aptly integrated and where secrets unveil themselves as time goes by. Proud of its East-meets-West synthesis, Ho Chi Minh city is the modern heartland of many bloodlines, where cultures and races know no boundaries.

Long Tuyen

From The Very First Moment

2012-02-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is the story of a famous photographer follows the lives of seven couples whose wedding album he created, reflecting on the myriad changes that time brings.

For over 20 years, my camera has been a faithful companion at my side to observe, analyse and synthesize the myriad angles of life. Photography has been crucial tome through long journeys across 27 countries on three continents. Here at home, I love tracing all the changes in Vietnamese life that stem from constantly developing culture, art, ideologies, politics and customs.

Below are seven simple stories that mirror the happy faces of seven young couples in seven wedding album. Some of them I met when we were all students, while others came to me because of friends' recommendations, online newspapers or magazines. These are not celebrities, but a cross-section of professionals: scientists, businessmen, artists, architects, engineers, officers.

The photos have been taken for 10 years and the work is still going on, with the latest ones taken three years ago. These wedding albums only mark the first chapter in a book of life which may be titled: "Seven Vietnamese families in the 21 century." Together, we are producing a grand work of art with a lifespan that will add up to a century.

The landscape varies from Tibet to Halong; from Ninh Binh to Anglor Wat; from Phu Lang Village by Luc Dau Giang River to Marina Bay in Singapore. Each couple chose sites that could convey their dream of the bordeless love they give to each other. The sites in my wedding photos are where natural and cultural heritages are combined and harmonized to make a brilliant juxtaposition between the past, the present and the future.

Nguyen Duc Minh and Tran Dieu Mai are a pair of devoted backpackers from the Northwestern region. Thus, their photo were inspired by the snow covered holy lake of Namtso and their adventurous journey to the mighty Everest. Despite the national flag and an ao dai in our luggage, the frigid cold of below 10 degrees hindered us from created a strongly patriotic album.

The architects Tran Duy Duong and My Nham chose the sites of Halong Bay and the Emeraude cruise ship, designed in the style of an antique paddle steamer. Right before the wedding the groom was a post-graduate student in the Ecole d'Achitecture de Belleville (Franch), and an apprentice at the overlooking the Seine River. For Duong, the Emeraude was not only a lovely Deco-style structure and luxury vehicle but also a tangible cultural connection with the heritage of Halong Bay.

For a gifted artist-designer like Thien Thu, the perfect witnesses for her happy moment were the mysterious Bayon figures in Angkor Wat, their smiles depicting multidimensional human emotions that survived the harsh destructive power of time and nature.

For the couple Vu Lam and Nguyen Huong, Singapore was their second home. The lively and sharp-witted Lam was an assistant lecturer in the National University of Singapore and is currently and operator of a start-up company specializing in developing and applying risk management software for banking and financial institutions.

Huong was a banker with USB bank and has now moved to Bank of Singapore in charge of the private banking sector in Indochinese region. The sculpture depicting Singapore's old trade as the back ground went well with changes in the careers of both Lam and Huong.

The past ten years have witnessed so many ups and downs in the young families. Duc Minh left Ericsson to start up his own hydroelectric company. Mai stopped working as accountant for a foreign enterprise to be the manager of the Green Garden kindergarten. Hoang Dat and Thuy Mai are working to make HD the top structural design company in Vietnam.

Tran Duy Duong and My Nham opened an architectural planning and construction consultancy called PACE. After being responsible for projects such as the An Ban Urban area in Hoi An or the southern urban area in Son Tay town, Ha Tinh, PACe is on its way to reaching the far-away continents looming in the dreams of the couple.

My heart tells me that photography is the art of moments. Ten or twenty years later, I wish my camera could capture the gently smile, the brightened eyes or the silent reflections whenever these seven couples browse through their wedding albums.