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2025 marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon. What does Vietnam look like now? From a war-torn nation to one filled with color, creativity, and rapid growth, Vietnam’s transformation is both inspiring and unforgettable. In this episode, we reflect on history, resilience, and how the past still echoes in Vietnam’s vibrant present.
Watch now and read more here:
👉 https://abusonadustyroad.com/how-vietnams-war-torn-past-shaped-its-vibrant-present/
#VietnamHistory #VietnamToday #FallOfSaigon50Years #VietnamResilience #ABusOnADustyRoad #VietnamWar #AsiaTravel #CulturalHeritage
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[Music]
0:07
hi this is anita from the dusty roads
0:09
podcast if any of you have been
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listening to me you know that i spend
0:12
most of my time in hanoi vietnam and
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have lived here for quite a while i i'm
0:17
actually working here in hanoi vietnam i
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you know travel throughout vietnam i
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have to say vietnam is a beautiful
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country and one thing that i've been
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noticing more especially over the years
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is how many more visitors are coming to
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vietnam it used to be when i first came
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here there were very few foreigners on
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the airplane and now there are many many
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people that have discovered vietnam and
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are traveling here because vietnam is a
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great place to travel and just a great
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place to see i want to talk a little bit
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about vietnam's past in particular how
0:50
vietnam's war torn past shapes its
0:52
vibrant present
0:54
you know vietnam is a very vibrant
0:56
country today and many people have asked
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me because i'm an american and said
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"have you ever felt any animosity or
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have you ever felt fear for your life
1:08
being an american and living in
1:09
vietnam?" you know i first came to
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vietnam in the early 1990s before the us
1:15
had any diplomatic relations here i
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later then moved here in 2000 so i've
1:20
been here in vietnam or in and out of
1:22
vietnam for many many years and i can
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honestly say that i have never felt my
1:27
life in danger or felt any animosity
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because i was american i've never had a
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vietnamese say to me like "oh you're an
1:34
american i hate you." because of what
1:36
your people did to my people during the
1:38
war in fact it has been very different
1:41
it's been very welcoming
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the vietnamese people have been very
1:45
kind and very generous that has always
1:48
been one of the amazing things about
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vietnam and in asia in general that i've
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seen you know you look at a countries
1:54
like japan japan that was you know
1:56
bombed heavily by the americans during
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the world war ii you know basically they
2:02
moved forward they didn't allow that to
2:04
define their country or who they were
2:07
vietnam has done the same from 1945 to
2:11
1975
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vietnam endured 30 years of near
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constant warfare first came the battle
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against the french then the civil war
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between the north and south you know the
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cold war and then there became areas of
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the cold war you know with the you know
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the of course the americans were
2:28
involved in that war and that's known as
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the american war by the vietnamese you
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know there became agent orange um the
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milelay massacre the ted offensive all
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these horrible things happened you know
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this was a chapter of time where
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terrible terrible things happened which
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many parts you know people are still
2:48
paying for you know still paying for
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many of these things but what may
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surprise you vietnam doesn't dwell on
2:55
the war they don't talk about the war
2:57
they don't dwell on the war i lived in
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hanoi here and one of the streets i
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lived on there was this man that i
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always you know thought he looked like
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ho chi min had a little ho chi min beard
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i'm sure he fought in the war
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and he every day would walk with his
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little wheelchair i'm sure something
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happened to him in the war that made him
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that way he always smiled at me said
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hello no animosity at all i've lived and
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worked in vietnam for years and you know
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i like i've said i've always felt
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nothing but welcome so any of you that
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are out there thinking about do you want
3:30
to come to vietnam as an american please
3:33
do not hesitate you will find this to be
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a very friendly
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and a wonderful place vietnam simply is
3:41
not stuck in the past you know it hasn't
3:44
erased it either you can still crawl
3:46
through the the the chuchi tunnels
3:48
outside ho chi min city visit war
3:50
remnants museums where images of the war
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you know atrocities can be shown um you
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could take a tour of hanoi in a restored
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military jeep but once you step out of
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these you know created experiences you
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step into a country that's firmly facing
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forward and i think this is one of the
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great things and lessons that we can
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learn is this is the country which is
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facing forward they are not looking back
4:14
at all walk down the street of hanoi and
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ho chi min and you'll see tech startups
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buzzing cafes electric motorcycles and
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teenagers filming tik tok vietnam's
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medium age is just above 30 so they have
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a population here about 95 million 97
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million close to close to 100 million
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but over half of it is just about the
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age of 30 so it's a very young
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population this is the nation that's
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driven by youth a generation born long
4:44
after the bombs stopped falling but even
4:47
the older generation that had the bombs
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falling on them are still not bitter
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either what's remarkable is how you know
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this generation teaches you not with
4:58
ignorance but with perspective vietnam
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hasn't just rebuilt it's really it's
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really redefined itself
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you know it took the architectural bones
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that the french left behind colonial
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villas and they reshaped them you go to
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hanoi you beautiful downtown part of
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hanoi with many of the old french
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colonial buildings you know you can find
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many of these you know buildings with
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you know repurposed co-working spaces or
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trendy boutique hotels you know the past
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is not hidden it's just been repurposed
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there's also the cuisine which if you
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love food this is the place to travel
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vietnam is a great foodie capital great
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french bread great you know vietnamese
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food and ingredients is just very good
5:45
so today vietnam is no longer a secret
5:47
it is a place that's on many people's
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bucket list for travel it's a great
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place to visit great beaches great
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things to visit great things to see
5:56
there's many things i've learned living
5:58
in vietnam but you know some of the
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things i learned is that that the war
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does not dominate life young people here
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are still chasing their dreams cities
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are growing upward and a culture's eagle
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to share itself not shield itself i've
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never once felt unsafe i've never once
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been treated with hostility for being
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american
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i've had meals in homes of peoples whose
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families fought on both sides of the war
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i work with people whose generations
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were whose grandparents were you know
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vietkong on the other side of the war
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the war may be part of their history but
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it's not their identity this is what
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makes vietnam different in many ways
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wiser they've been able to get over the
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war that i think in many way instances
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we as americans maybe have not been able
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to this is one of the things that i love
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about vietnam
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i love the way that they've been able to
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forgive forget not really forget i
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wouldn't say forget but they've been
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able to forgive learn from the past and
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move on and that's one of the great
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strengths of this beautiful country if
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you'd like to be able to read more about
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this you can read my blog post on how
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vietnam's war torn past shapes its
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vibrant present and if you're
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considering to visit this country i
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highly recommend it it's a wonderful
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place to visit you'll come out and you
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will love it as much as i do you know
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please subscribe we'd love to have you
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be part of our community we're all about
7:22
living our lives as a global citizen we
7:24
hope you'll join with us to live your
7:25
life as a global citizen
7:29
[Music]
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