Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

The morning after his decision to leave Saigon, Pham packs up his things and prepares his bike. He heads north to a coastal town called Vung Tau. The mother of his brother Huy’s boyfriend has a beach house there, and she’s offered it for his use. Viet, Khuong, and their nephew Nghia ride along on a motorbike to see him safely there. He says goodbye to Grandaunt and Granduncle, telling them he is just going away to recuperate from Saigon’s smog and pollution. They still don’t want him to ride all the way to Hanoi and, lying, he promises not to.

On the road, a group of boys on motorbikes ride with him, tossing out questions in English. When they learn he is a Viet-kieu, or foreign Vietnamese, most fall away, disappointed he is “not a real foreigner” (125). The road is noisy and clogged, full of motorbikes, cyclos, pedestrians, and carts drawn by animals. After a brief stop for lunch, they continue on to Vung Tau. Viet urges them to take a quick swim at the beach before he, his brother, and his nephew depart for home. Pham finds the house where he is staying, and the housekeeper and his wife help him settle in.