written by Todd DePastino Officially, it's Ho Chi Minh City. But no one calls it that. For residents and most Americans, it remains Saigon, the former capital of the defunct Republic of Vietnam and, today, the dynamo powering Vietnam's Tiger Economy. We landed at Tan Son Nhut International Airport--another one of those American-developed properties

written by Todd DePastino A quick poll of our travelers at the end of Day 7 was almost unanimous: they wanted more time in Danang. I don't blame them. If I had to choose one place to live in Vietnam, it would be Danang. It's considered Vietnam's cleanest and most livable city. It's also

written by Todd DePastino Back in the 1980s, Mt. Lebanon High School, south of Pittsburgh, had a great mound of landfill in the rear we called “The Rockpile.” It was flattened on top into a rectangle and used as a practice field. During track season, discus, shotput, and javelin throwers did their thing up

written by Todd DePastino The Demilitarized Zone--the DMZ--stretched across the narrow waist of Vietnam, 30 km north of Hue City, cutting the country into two states along the 17th Parallel, much as the DMZ at the 38th Parallel does today in Korea. It was never intended to be a national border. The Geneva Accords

written by Todd DePastino Our attention turned once again to the American War when we toured Hue on Day 4 of our trip. Hue burst into the American consciousness like a flash grenade on January 30, 1968, the first day of the Tet Offensive. Nha Do Gate to the south of the Old

written by Todd DePastino Our morning excursion in Halong Bay was a welcome respite from the bustle and war stories of Hanoi. Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site and visual wonder. Two-thousand islands (officially 1,969, the year of Ho Chi Minh’s death), each draped in thick foliage, stand like soldiers at attention