Good Morning Vietnam
Vietnam, November 2011
Vietnam borders China, Laos and Cambodia and stretches along 2000 miles of coastline. In the North you will fall in love with Hanoi's Old Quarter before being transported to a mythical time of dragons in Halong Bay. In the South you will witness Ho Chi Minh City become a modern metropolis, learn about the "American War" and watch the sun set on the eerie Mekong Delta. When I look back on our trip my brain is rushed with a million amazing memories but the best take place first thing in the morning.
from the smiling faces it seemed the perfect way to start the day.
I couldn’t wait to wake up in Hanoi and say Robin William’s famous words “Good morning Vietnam” although I almost forgot as our alarm went off so early. While we were sleeping the flower market had been open all night. If you get there just before dawn, you can wander between the stalls and photograph the overwhelming displays of roses, lilies and orchids as well as admire flowers never seen before. The market starts to wind down just as the sun rises and as you head back into the city you will follow bundles of colourful flowers piled high on mopeds. As we approached Hoan Kiem Lake I was surprised to see so many people but, what surprised me more, was what they were doing!
Whether you prefer to Cha-cha-cha, play badminton, perform Tai Chi or take part in an aerobic class, this is the place to be. For the older generation there was a slightly less energetic stretching class at the foot of Emperor Lý Thái Tổ’s statue that ended with a group massage. Resembling a stationary conga-line, each person massages the person in front’s shoulders and from the smiling faces it seemed the perfect way to start the day. Joining the aerobics class, albeit briefly, and creating our own massage conga with the help of a smiling 80 year old grandmother is something I will remember for the rest of my life.
The people of Hanoi have amazing smiles. They literally smile from ear to ear unless of course they are on a moped in which case their mouths are covered with colourful masks. Mopeds are everywhere and are the dominant form of transport. Parents with two or three children sitting between them; crates of beer; flowers and fruit piled high and even live animals tied to the back. The roads are the city’s living veins and traffic flows continuously, merging from one street into the next and the deafening noise of tooting horns drowns out all other sounds. At traffic lights, bikes line up as if they are on the starting line of a race and for a few minutes, when the lights change, there are mopeds going in all four directions at once.
Just the thought of crossing a road is terrifying but eventually you will develop your own technique. However, the key is not to run and to walk at an even pace. This may sound easy but trust me when hundreds of mopeds are revving towards you its hard not to panic. Even walking along the pavement is not easy as they are used for everything but walking on - from parking mopeds, selling merchandise or marked out for playing badminton. In addition, food and drinks are prepared on most street corners with customers squatting on low, plastic stools adding to the already tricky obstacle course.
Land is very expensive in Hanoi so all the buildings are bizarrely narrow but most are only four or five floors high. The majority have a covered roof terrace and some resemble giant bird cages thanks to the metal grills that stand in place of walls. Despite the windows having elaborate balustrades or balconies the buildings are extremely run down and some are built around trees. Black cables are strung along the streets from building to building like thick liquorice and at road junctions they turn into large tangled nests sitting on wooden poles.
The best way to experience the original 36 streets of Hanoi is from the back of a one-man rickshaw. Weaving your way through the chaos of the narrow streets is exhilarating. Originally, each street specialised in a specific trade such as silk, jewellery etc and there are still pockets where you will see a row of hardware stores selling bamboo scaffolding or fishmongers with live fish, eels and frogs squirming around in plastic basins or shops selling tiny birds in metal cages. If you were to remove all the mopeds the streets would probably look the same as they did a hundred years ago. This is particularly true when you see women, wearing bamboo conical hats, selling their wares from baskets hanging from a pole across their shoulders.
Although the Old Quarter is by far the most colourful, exciting and intoxicating place to spend your time in Hanoi, there are many other buildings and areas worth visiting. From the austere concrete of Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum to the Temple of Literature which was the first university in Hanoi dating back to 1070. Then there is the French Colonial district where you will find the Grand Opera House and The Metropole Hotel as well as several museums including the infamous Hanoi Hilton – the nickname given to the city’s prison.
Hanoi has many lakes but, thanks to the one way system, the one you will become most acquainted with is Hoan Kiem. It is the city’s heart and where the residents and visitors of Hanoi are drawn to both day and night. In the evening, the lake is enchanting with lights hanging from the trees like colourful balloons and the restaurants on the water’s edge are lit up with hundreds of white bulbs. The best view is from the 5th floor City View Café located beside Hanoi’s version of Piccadilly Circus. It might look tacky during the day but at night with its neon lights and incredible view across the lake it’s the perfect place to try one of the local beers.
According to all the guidebooks no trip to Hanoi would be complete without a visit to the Water Puppet theatre. This is Vietnam’s equivalent of a Punch and Judy show but takes place in a waist deep pool, representing the flooded rice paddy fields, and dates back to the 11th century. Despite the story being told by melodramatic singing and accompanied by a band playing xylophones, zithers and drums, the majority of the audience used the 45 minute show as an opportunity to catch up on some sleep.
Afterwards, the best place to revive your spirits is at the Bamboo Bar in The Metropole Hotel which first opened its doors in 1901. Thanks to a dramatic monsoon downpour we had to stay longer than intended which wasn’t a hardship as their signature cocktail – a Graeme Greene Daiquiri – was addictively good. Eventually, the thought of some delicious Vietnamese food and in particular my favourite Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) dragged us out into the rain.
I was sad to leave Hanoi and could happily have stayed longer but Halong Bay beckoned. Driving past the Red River and its paddy fields I expected the scenery on our four hour drive to become more picturesque but I was in for a shock. The landscape was scarred by quarries and we got stuck behind numerous dumper trucks. We even drove through a town where the locals had to wear face masks to walk down the street as the coal dust was so thick you could see it. I didn’t think it could get worse but then we arrived at Halong City.
My first reaction was “no wonder UNESCO felt they had to protect it”. From all the photos I had seen of Halong Bay I had no idea it was located next to a city whose main industry is coal mining and is also home to a large deep water container terminal. To see large container vessels and oil tankers moored against the backdrop of Halong Bay’s famous limestone islands almost brought tears to my eyes.
The harbour where we were dropped off was filled with twenty Chinese junks of all shapes and sizes sleeping between two and 48 people. We headed out to our junk in a motorised rowing boat accompanied by our Captain. Sitting on loose blue plastic chairs with water sloshing around our feet to say I was apprehensive was an understatement. However, once we were on board and had set sail things got better very quickly. The limestone islands - or karsts to give them their technical name - became so numerous and beautiful that the memory of the city with its high rise buildings and oil tankers soon started to fade.
I was amazed at how many islands there were. The area covers 1,553 km² with over 2,000 islets of all different shapes and sizes. Some are just bare rocky columns whilst others are proper islands covered with green bushes and a few even had beaches. As well as enjoying our time onboard the junk, we also kayaked around some of the islands; explored a cave with its stalactites and stalagmites and went swimming in the Vietnamese Sea - or the South China Sea as we know it. Translated Halong Bay means “Bay of Descending Dragons” and I wouldn’t have been surprised to have seen a dragon or two. The other vision I frequently had was that of pirate ships hiding behind one of the islands waiting to attack us but instead it was just one of the six junks that were part of our flotilla. At night the sky was pitch dark and the only lights for miles around were from the other boats moored close by.
The next day we woke early and were lucky to witness an amazing sun rise. I must have taken over a hundred photos as we sailed towards a floating village with its own pearl farm. There we swapped our Chinese junk for a rowing boat and were given a tour of the village’s sheltered cove by an 80 year old lady who, despite being the size of an 8 year old, managed without any effort to row me plus two men. The village had its own school and all the houses had red tiled roofs and floated on blue barrels. There were even several dogs and one that frustratingly kept barking at its own echo.
I wouldnt have been surprised to have seen a dragon or two.
While we were in Vietnam, it was announced that Halong Bay had been voted one of the World's New 7 Wonders of Nature. I just wish we could have been dropped onto our junk from the back of a descending dragon and hadn’t had to face the disappointment of its location. We were told that a rail link was in the process of being built from Hanoi and hopefully this will not only shorten the long road trip but also bypass some of the eyesores.
Landing in Ho Chi Minh City we were surprised that our guide kept referring to it as Saigon despite being re-named back in 1976. Saigon is Vietnam’s largest city and conjures up so many images and emotions but unfortunately for me it didn’t live up to its evocative name. The Saigon of today is rapidly transforming into an Asian metropolis with several high rise buildings being constructed on every street. From new hotels, shopping malls with designer shops to skyscrapers with helicopter pads. I fear it won’t be long before it is another soulless Asian city and with the number of young girls offering massages on the streets we could easily have been in Bangkok.
It’s also not a good sign when you look at a sightseeing map and there are only nine places of interest, even more so when one of them is the Central Post Office! Although, I have to admit it, was probably the most amazing Post Office I’ve ever set foot in and it was fun to withdraw cash from an ATM located inside one of the old telephone kiosks. Across the street is one of the other places of interest - the Notre-Dame Basilica - whose construction started in 1863 and all the bricks and building materials were imported from France.
I was expecting to see more colonial buildings but these were few and far between and its three historical hotels were looking tired, particularly the Continental where journalists stayed during the War. Our hotel, The Majestic, did have a great rooftop bar overlooking the river although seeing the same view in the daylight would put you off one of its dinner cruises. The city does have plans to clean up the river and already it’s less polluted thanks to the new freeway whose construction demolished all the waterfront slums. Slums still exist on the other side of the river so it’s not too hard to visualise what this part of the city must have looked like.
Despite asking for the quick version, the tour of The Reunification Palace lasted far too long mainly because it resembled a conference centre as opposed to a palace. The highlight was the view from the second floor of the entrance gates where in 1975 a North Vietnamese army tank crashed through marking the end of the Vietnam War. So many books and films have been written and made about the Vietnam War - or the American War as it is known in Vietnam. The war lasted 20 years from 1955 to 1975 and a visit to the War Remnants Museum is on most itineraries. Once known as the Museum of American War Crimes the most poignant sections are the photographs showing the affects of Agent Orange and those featured in the memorial to the journalists who lost their lives covering the War. Afterwards we asked our guide how the Vietnamese people felt about Americans who visit and he gave us not one, but five reasons why they had no bad feelings. His explanation was humbling and made me respect and admire him and the Vietnamese people.
It was hard not to make constant comparisons between Saigon and Hanoi. The most obvious were the two rickshaw rides. Our tour of Saigon’s China Town took us through streets upon streets of moped spare parts - the smell of oil and fumes from browsing bikes was overpowering although not as bad as the food market and the piles of rotting fruit and vegetables. We were eventually deposited at Binh Tay Market which is a wholesale market, so we couldn’t have bought anything even if we had wanted to. It really was the most bizarre and pointless tourist attraction I’ve ever visited. Where you can buy souvenirs and a t-shirt or two, is at the Bến Thành Night Market.
Despite being a very uninteresting tour, it was the best way to see China Town as it was far too big to explore on foot and has no pavements. It was also interesting to learn why it is in Saigon and not in Hanoi. The Chinese who came to Vietnam as refugees did in fact arrive first in North Vietnam. However, the Vietnamese government worried they would cause problems if there was ever a war between the two countries particularly as many of the refugees were ex-army, sent them down to Saigon so that they would be as far away from China as possible.
The traffic in Saigon is busy but not as crazy as Hanoi and although there were more cars, they were still outnumbered by mopeds. We were told that they had recently introduced a law that a moped could be confiscated for three months if you were caught driving through a red light. Going by the number of people waiting patiently at traffic lights it appeared to be a good deterrent. Saigon is also not as polluted as there were definitely less people wearing face masks.
The city may not have lived up to my expectations but is still worth a visit and a great base for the Mekong Delta and a trip to the Củ Chi tunnels. Even if you are not interested in the Vietnam War it is well worth seeing how these 75 miles of tunnels, some two and three levels deep, were constructed. It only took me a few minutes, crouching my way through the tunnel they had built for tourists, before the heat and confined space became unbearable. As well as the tunnels you will learn about village life; be shown vicious booby traps and find out how to make Ho Chi Minh sandals from tank tyres. As with every good museum, you can't leave without walking through the souvenir shop and for a few Dong you can take home a US Army Zippo lighter; a miniature tank made from bullets or a Viet Cong checked scarf.
On the way back to Saigon we stopped at the colourful and bizarre Cao Dai Temple and watched the midday mass from the upper balcony. Caodaism combines Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity was founded in 1933 and it was fascinating to see the followers dressed in white and the priests in brightly coloured robes taking part in their daily ceremony. Since it was our last night in Saigon, we held our own farewell ceremony in the Saigon Saigon Bar at the top of The Caravelle Hotel whose cocktails have names such as Miss Saigon, Good Morning Vietnam and Journalists’ Juice.
The three hour drive out of Saigon towards the Mekong Delta, took us past beautiful rice fields and the scenery was more how I expected rural Vietnam to be. In this part of Vietnam the dead can be buried in your garden or paddy field. We saw many tombs dotting the emerald green fields and were told the direction they faced related to the age of the deceased.
I seemed to spend most of our long drives sitting in the back of our mini bus with my eyes shut as the driving was pretty scary. On the occasions they were open I noticed that all the road signs showed place names phonetically so Vietnam would be Viet Nam; Halong Bay would be Ha Long Bay; Saigon would be Sai Gon and Hanoi, Ha Noi. We also passed roadside cafes selling French bread with roast Peking duck and many had hammocks for moped drivers to rest their backs during long journeys.
After Hanoi and Saigon we were used to all the cables being above ground but out in the country it was even more obvious due to the number of pylons. We even passed through a town with the most amazing collection of aerials and there was not a satellite dish in sight. It was like an antenna forest with each one taller than its neighbour as they tried to pick up as many channels as possible.
The increasing number of bone jarring bridges crossing the Delta's many tributaries told us we were getting close to our destination. The Mekong Delta covers 15,000 sq miles and there are no typhoons in the South so the weather is much more predictable and there are even palm trees. Farmers are able to grow rice for 11 months of the year and when the flood waters get too high they can fish in their paddy fields.
The next morning we woke to an eerie fog which was very atmospheric.
Our home for the night was a Sampan. Although most of our time was spent on board, we had the opportunity to do an easy 6km cycle in the countryside as well as visit a fruit farm and a local village where they make coconut candy. Back on board we passed flooded houses and brick kilns and lots of waving children and as the sun set we were treated to a complimentary foot massage on the rooftop deck. At dinner we were surrounded by midges although thankfully we weren’t bitten by a dreaded mosquito probably due to the amount of Deet everyone was wearing. Despite being pitch dark you could sense that the river was very busy and a few times our little Sampan was rocked by a large dredger or barge passing close by.
The next morning we woke to an eerie fog which was very atmospheric. The river was a hive of activity with every boat imaginable – barges, dredgers, fishing canoes, speed boats and ferries crossing back and forth. After breakfast we transferred into a smaller boat to visit the Cai Rang floating market. Here the boats hang a sample of their produce from the top of a pole so that buyers can instantly see what they are selling. Some only had one item whilst others were selling several such as live crabs, sweet potato, tapioca, cabbage as well as all sorts of exotic fruit. The boats come from different provinces all over the Delta and stay until they have sold everything and then head home to re-load. Several had eyes painted on their bows, a practice dating back to a time when the waters were infested by crocodiles. The belief was that these “monsters” would mistake their boat for a larger predator and keep out of their way.
Being in a small boat meant that we could go down the narrow tributaries where we saw people washing their clothes, dishes and themselves in the dirty water. The houses were shacks made of corrugated iron which must become very hot in the summer. Back out in the main river we were instantly transported back to the 21st century as we passed floating fuel stations and under a brand new suspension bridge before being dropped off at Cần Thơ, the 4th largest city in Vietnam.
Thanks to our two great guides – Tran and Thanh - I learnt so much about Vietnam but what surprised me most was how un-communist the country was. There is no free healthcare and they have to pay for their children to go to primary school. There is also no free housing and they started paying income tax two years ago. The military are also allowed to have their own businesses and own football clubs, building sites and phone companies. We saw several new factories and business parks with the most notable being Samsung’s whose signage boasted that it was the largest mobile phone factory in the world. We were also told that a lot of the new infrastructure had been created through joint ventures with the Australians and the Japanese and on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City they were busy landscaping a Disney World style theme park – Happy Land – which is due to open in 2014.
Unfortunately I only had time to see the highlights of North and South Vietnam but it’s exciting to know there is still so much to discover such as the ancient capital of Huế on the border and the remote hill tribe villages in the far North. Despite it being a short trip I have so many amazing memories especially those of the sun rising over mythical Halong Bay and the eerie mist that morning on the Mekong Delta. Last, but not least, I will never forget taking part in an aerobics class as the sun rose over the lake in Hanoi and one day I’ve promise myself that I will go back and finish it!