Unveiling the Secrets of Vietnam

Unveiling the Secrets of Vietnam: You Won't Believe What Happens Next!

Vietnam, Past and Future
Vietnam has a long and rich history filled with strength and pride. From ancient kingdoms to years of war, the country has faced many struggles but always found a way to rise again. Today, Vietnam is growing fast, with new roads, tall buildings, and more jobs for people. Tourists love its beaches, mountains, and food. The future looks bright as Vietnam works on clean energy and better schools. With smart planning and care for its past, Vietnam can become even stronger and happier for the next generation.

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NHA TRANG, Vietnam — Driving into this port city in what used to be South Vietnam, it is impossible not to notice the traffic. Where bicycles were once the most common sight, there are now a buzzing multitude of scooters that move like schools of fish though the streets, carrying residents on busy errands.

We were in Nha Trang for a visit to the night market and a pedicab tour of the downtown area. As the twilight emerged we could see the colorful lights of a Ferris wheel on one of the islands offshore. Our pedicabs weaved and coasted along the avenues of this mid-size city. We craned our necks upward to see a forest of modern office towers and hotels.

Vietnam is a country with one foot still in the developing world and one increasingly out. There are open-air markets where meats are sold a foot off the ground. There are also wind farms, fields of solar panels and sparkling seaside resorts.

Rice paddies fill the countryside, but the cities bustle. Prices for most things are remarkably low. I bought three local beers one night for our tour group for 60,000 dong — about $2.35.

Most of all, this is a nation that has largely moved on from the wars it fought from 1945 to 1975, defeating the French, the Americans and finally the Vietnamese of the south to become a unified, independent country.

Although 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the North’s victory over the South, the war seems like a back-burner event in a country that is more interested in the current century than the last.

There are no Soviet-style monuments and few memorials or shrines. One exception is the Independence Palace, once the seat of government of the Republic of Vietnam. Anyone can tour it and see the war from the North’s perspective. But even there, replicas of the two tanks that crashed through the palace gates on April 30, 1975, ending the war, are parked not on the front lawn but discreetly off in the trees to the side.

As a teen I watched the war on television. Years later, I was curious to see what the country was like in person. A weeklong press tour took us to Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and resorts in Mui Ne and Cam Ranh.

Throughout, one constant was the tropics. “What people don’t think about is the Vietnamese jungle is just beautiful,” said Ed Hellenbeck, a Marine veteran I spoke to who was assigned to long-range reconnaissance duty in 1968 and 1969.

Palms, heliconia, frangipani trees, banana plants and birds of paradise are just some of the foliage that adorns the landscape.