Vietnam and Cambodia (1979)

Vietnam and Cambodia (1979)

By Rich Juro

   It was almost 50 years ago so our memories are unclear, but these are the highlights of our Vietnam and Cambodia tour. 

Vietnam (1979)

   We were only the third tour allowed in Vietnam. Fran and I had never served in Vietnam nor had our nine fellow tour passengers. The first memory in the ancient bus from the airport to our hotel was severe sharp pain in my eyes. Were the Vietnamese officials getting back at me for an American? This was 46 years ago, previous to a market economy took over in Vietnam (they are still a Communist country). Pretty soon, I discovered that the acute pain was coming from the sunburn lotion I had lavishly put on my face. When I used a combination of water and wiping, it slowly disappeared. I saw and thanked God that I could see.

   The next time I looked out the bus window was an American fighter-bomber jet. It was down on the ground and it was apparently a war trophy that the Vietnamese government had put near the highway from the airfield to the city. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the leader of North Vietnam, but most South Vietnamese call it Saigon. Then, it was only 5-6 years ago that Americans had withdrawn from Vietnam. Whether Vietnam had towed it to a showplace or whether the jet had got shot out of the sky and landed on the spot, we did not learn. The others in the bus took the picture but, to me, it was a second bad omen. 

     Credit: Ron Hibbard

   The third bad omen was the Hotel Normandie. It was pre-remodel (now it is a remodeled five-star hotel). The desk clerk asked for our passports, and when he noted that they were American, he scowled. It was a barn-like hotel with the toilets way down the hall (at least they worked). The rooms were small and dirty, but Vietnam was recovering from a war.

    A local guide reminded us: “Vietnam fought the American War in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, Vietnam fought the French for independence in the 1950’s, Japan in the 1940’s, and had been invaded by China twice, Thailand, and Cambodia in the last 100-200 years.” That’s why most South Vietnamese were happy to see us (except at Cu Chi). The American Army brought dollars to Saigon and South Vietnam (with the bombing).

   Food was, remarkably, very good. It was a combination of French and Vietnamese. We saw the baguettes riding around Saigon with bicycles delivering them to homes and restaurants.

   The next day we went to Cu Chi tunnels. The local people were not friendly. The Cu Chi tunnels were the masterpiece of the Viet Cong, the Vietnamese Army during the war. They were at least 150 miles of narrow tunnels and stretched under the river. The Americans estimated them to be a lot shorter. Some of our group squeezed into them (that was before they enlarged the tunnels so chunky tourists could fit inside them). Many of them got claustrophobic. I followed Fran (I was a lot thinner then). 

   Fran said: “I could stand almost erect in the tunnels.“ She’s about the size of  a Vietnamese. But she minded the cockroaches and bugs that infested the tunnels. When Fran reached the exit, 100 yards away, she couldn’t climb out of them, and she needed pushing to raise to the open hole. I was hunched over through the tunnels, and the walls alongside surrounded me and touched me, but at the exit I pulled myself up. That was an experience we never forgot.

   We purchased a four-sectioned mother-of-pearl wall decoration that still hangs in our house today.

Cambodia (1979)

   From Saigon we flew to Phnom Penh, the capital of neighboring Cambodia. From 1975 to 1979, the  Communists under Pol Pot had imprisoned or killed teachers, intellectuals, city-dwellers, as well as politicians. The ruling Communists, the Khmer Rouge, murdered in a political genocide between one and two million of the local eight million Cambodians in the name of the agrarian policy. The Khmer Rouge were supported from China, and Vietnam was aided by the Russians. Finally the Communists of Vietnam had enough and they invaded successfully. The Vietnamese nominated Hun Sen as the leader of the new government. (He ruled until 2023 and then he appointed his son  as dictator.) But, as we saw, the Vietnamese had not conquered the whole country in 1979.

   Phnom Penh was almost empty in 1979 compared to the previous and later administrations. The people had been imprisoned, killed, or fled the capital. We stayed at Motel Cambodiana, which was comfortable. We ate at a nearby restaurant.  The food was another combination of the French and Cambodian cultures, but it was not as good as Vietnam.

   We saw the highlight of the trip the next day. We took off in a chartered old airplane due north to Siem Reap. After about 40 minutes flight, we landed at the holy airstrip (I mean holes by armaments, not devotees). Our guide told us we told had to be on the plane at 3 pm or they would start shooting. We didn’t argue. 

   The van delivered us to Angkor Wat, the most extensive religious site in the world. It was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire, which ruled a vast expanse of SouthEast Asia. He governed a population of elites, workers, and slaves. Angkor Wat was a Hindu-Buddhist place of religion that also had a astronomical significance. It was magnificent!

   We climbed up and down the buildings of Angkor Wat until the time the guide told us to stop. We didn’t interfere with the Indian archaeologists who were working there. It was a hot, summer day but we were thrilled to see in person one of the top spectacles in the world. No wonder that the movies used it for a backdrop, including Lara Craft: Tomb Raider, which was filmed in 2001 (22 years after us). 

   Later we went to drink a beverage at the only local hotel. It was full of holes shot during the war. (Years later we went to the remodeled hotel; the only thing left is the wooden part of the lobby. Now Siem Reap has over 50 5-star hotels.) We left the hotel in time for the old chartered plane. As we were taking off, both  sides of the civil war started shooting at each other! According to our guide, the daily truce was due to a monetary payoff to each party. 

   The next day was the opposite reaction: we viewed the pile of skulls by the Khmer Rouge. It was by the side of the road. (Later the pile of skulls was moved to a museum.) 

 We were on the way to an orphanage. The parents had been murdered or were in jail. The girls sang a Cambodian tune for us. We cried. Another member of our tour, Dr. Ron Berger, an allergist, applied to the orphans and whoever we saw, creams and lotions so they wouldn’t be infected.

   Epilogue: We went to visit Ron Berger and his wife, Estelle, in Baltimore. He had one of the finest antique surgical instruments collection in the world in wooden drawers. It was for his handicapped son, so when Dr. Berger passed away, their collection would be sold, and their son would be cared for properly. Also, Ron and Estelle bought a bunch of stuff in Vietnam and Cambodia to add to their assemblage. When Fran and I visited their home, we had to pick our way carefully through the floor through their accumulation of world souvenirs.

    Fran and I bought temple rubbings of the Angkor Wat and framed them for our walls. Also, we were forced to buy $10 worth of orange Cambodian uncirculated currency. Its worth $30 today.