We Won't Miss Saigon

School girls on bicyles.
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We Won’t Miss Saigon.

Vietnam

Fast facts:

*Written language doesn't use Chinese style script. It had until the 17th century when it was rewritten, using the Roman alphabet, now adopted throughout the country.

Driver Ed in Vietnam
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*Major religion is Buddhism.

* Saigon official population 6,000,000. Probably more like 8,000,000 live there though.

* No sign of any sheep. Many plump dogs though. Hmmmm!

For something completely different!

A temple somewhere
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We’ve left a relatively prosperous, democratic, uncrowded, modern, environmentally progressive society (in New Zealand) for one that… isn’t. Major cultural shock on arrival. But first the getting to.

Left Auckland on a 9:00 AM flight to spend the next 11.5 hours in the air en-route to Hong Kong. (There, during a pleasantly tight connection, we get a glimpse of Hong Kong prosperity. If you can’t buy it in Hong Kong airport, you don’t need it. We will pass through here two more times during our travels and will no doubt have more to say.) Back in the air again for another 2 1/2 hour flight to Saigon (also known in Vietnam as Ho Chi Mihn City.) City of 8.1 million people, not one of which knows how to drive (at least, safely)

Women working rice paddy in Mekong
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In pretty short order we get through immigration etc. in this non-descript, aged airport to emerge to a zoo. Hundreds of people waiting for something or someone. It’s 6:30 PM here and 35 degrees centigrade. We’re met by our tour representative who gets us and our luggage into a shuttle van. (He and a driver will guide us around, as it turns out exclusively for the next two days.) We take the 45 minute trip to the hotel in a city choked with traffic none of which stays on its own side of the road, observes traffic signals or can move two feet without blowing their horn. Totally chaotic, yet somehow we get through it all without damage or injury. Major impression is the multitude of motor scooters and small motorcycles. Best guess is that for every car or truck there are at least 50 scooters on the road. We’ll learn later that in the cities there are about five motorcycles for every 8 people.In the next day or two we’ll routinely observe the following on these scooters:

Boats paddled by grandmothers in Mekong
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• Women wearing skirts and high heels driving or riding side-saddle on back.
• Individuals carrying skiffs of beverages, paper products or supplies that you’d be hard pressed to get in any car trunk.
• Driver negotiating traffic while talking on a cell phone.
• Any number of bodies on the scooters. Very normal to have three on it. Spotted four frequently. The record was a family of 5 on one 110cc unit.

We arrive at the hotel (Meridian) and get checked in. Tired but wired, we decide to venture out on our own to buy some water. Hot, noisy, smoggy, crowded. It’s great! We find a market that will take US cash. Give them two dollars and get 6,000 Vietnamese dollars in change. (actually dongs, but dollars sounds more impressive. The next day I’ll get 2,000,000 dongs from the ATM and feel rich. But, alas, nobody would ever have heard of the Bare Naked Ladies had the song been “If I had a Million Dongs”. It wouldn’t have bought a fur coat or a K-car; maybe a nice dinner for two.) We take our water, our dongs and bee-line it back to hotel and bed.

Motorcycle mania
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Next day, after a hotel breakfast we’re met by our guide and driver at 7:30. I won’t chronicle each place visited. Would take too long and it’s gotten a little bit blurry anyway. But first some history to provide a necessary context.

Here goes. Chinese subjugation, (on / off / on / off), independence (off / on / off / on), Colonization by the French (twice, almost), the Vietnam War (they call it the American War), re-unification. There. (Don’t you wish I’d been your history teacher in high school?)

China Beach
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Sites and attractions in Saigon tend to focus on the American War portion, partly because it is a relatively new city (300 years) with less hisotory but mostly because it was the seat of the South Vietnamese Government and the home base for the American forces during the war.

(If you don’t like home movies, skip the What We Saw Today sections. These are more to remind ourselves of what we did than anything)

What We Saw Today:

1) Presidential Palace (also communications bunker headquarters for Saigon Government.) breached by North Vietnamese in the 1975.

Roll em! A V movie in the making.
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2) Cu Chi Tunnels: underground tunnels originally constructed to defend against the French re-conquest in but then used by the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) against Americans. This quite fascinating. Over 200 kms of underground tunnels where VC’s hid, lived and died. Original tunnels, lots of demonstrations of booby traps, living facilities.Got to go 30 meters in one. Quite ingenious. Allowed hundreds of the enemy to live and operate within 60 kms of Saigon.

3) Went to Mekong Delta (Not a hotel!). About 50 kms to the south. Took a small boat on the Mekong river to a couple of islands to witness some local craft and activities. In an even smaller boat proficiently paddled by a Vietnamese grandmother through some tree covered streams for 20 minutes or so.

Family Sedan in Vietnam
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4) Visited the Chinese section. Many Chinese here.

During our drive to the Mekong Delta we were dropped off at a restaurant and served a Vietnamese food sampler lunch. Whatever it was it was, was tasty. Here, Claire is introduced to her new food of choice “pho”, which she will have several more times this week. Pho is basically a hearty noodle soup with chicken or beef served with chilis and sauces to spice to your own preference. The Vietnamese typically eat this for breakfast and again for dinner. I request one pho the road. (These Vietnamese people don’t seem to have much of a sense of humour.)

Claire's first 100,000 dongs.
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After a very long day, back to hotel. Way tired, jet lagged, terrified to go out etc so decide to eat at hotel. Not bad.

Start next day at 7:30 again in order to do clean up.

What We Saw Today Part 1:

1) War museum; The American War. (Truth lies somewhere between the American news reports during the Vietnam War and this museum’s story of the American War.)

2) Some temple.

3) Post Office. (Claire contributes to economy. Buys stamp)

4) And here’s a first. We actually had a tour of a souvenir factory. No pretext of a hand crafted, 100 year old Tee Shirt. They were, hand crafting art type things in the factory attached to a retail (and I use that term loosely) showroom. Actually, quite interesting. The sales guy who followed us around was married to a Canadian living in Noranda, PQ. (What are the odds?) Had twin boys who he hadn’t seen and was waiting on his visa. He was waiting on my visa as well and we finally capitulated and bought a picture.

Whisked to airport in late morning where we board a Vietnam Airlines flight to Danang. Just settling in on the plane waiting to take off, pull out my 3^rd edition of Footprint Vietnam Handbook read. “Despite the poor safety record of Vietnam Airlines, it is far quicker, and a safer way to travel than going by road. And since the old Russian aeroplanes were scrapped there have been no fatal accidents.” Doesn’t really alarm me. I stoically secure my seat rope and prepare for take off.

Two hours later, in Danang, we’re met by our new guide and driver and taken to Faruma Resort on China Beach. You might remember the TV show China Beach based on American troops taking r&r during the war. This is it. Remnants of the base still there.

Time out for some geography. Vietnam is divided roughly in half by the 17^th parallel which, in fact, pretty much divided South Vietnam and North Vietnam unofficially over time and officially since 1954 until reunification in 1976. Saigon is well in the south section. Hanoi, our final stop in Vietnam, is in the north. Danang along with the two nearby communities we will visit are just south of the 17^th parallel and therefore in the centre of the country. (The distance between Saigon and Hanoi spans quite a bit of territory, almost 1,700 kms, and climate change. One day for example its 35 degrees in Saigon while its 16 in Hanoi.)

China Beach and our hotel couldn’t be any further opposite than Saigon. Quiet, smog free. The beach is sandy, long and gorgeous. The hotel is decadent in the nicest possible way. (Two pools, lagoons, foliage, outside restaurants, balconies with patios etc. Stand alone review to come). We’re left to check in and relax for an hour. Around 2:00, after I get Claire’s jaw to stop dropping we rejoin our twosome to be taken on a 30 km drive to Hoi An.

Hoi An is an ancient Sea Port whose major claim to tourist fame is the old village. Shops, crafts, museums, small bars, restaurants. We spend the afternoon here.

What We Saw today Part 2:

1) Stone carving community (en route). For generations most of the community has been carving art from the marble in this area.

2) Silk making facility

3) Local food market

4) Some kind of temple or pagoda.

5) A funeral (Real one, not fake)

6) Movie being filmed, real one, I mean fake one, whatever)

We ask the guide about a couple of things. One is the veil that most girls wear when on bikes or even walking. Part of it is to protect against the smog. But more significantly it’s that they value light skin, wanting to be more “western” looking. The second question is what the reaction of the thin locals, who are typically very slim, to some of the more portly visitors from the west. The answer is that the heavies are envied; even thought to bring good fortune if touched. (Vietnamese trying to stay white while westerners try to tan. Vietnamese wishing to be fat while westerners are always trying to diet. What a strange race we are.)

Had a local beer (La Rue) at a sidewalk café before heading back to hotel. Here we’re professionally hustled by a 13 year old girl selling trinkets. Not the first or the last time that this happens. Not the first or the last time this happens but she is the most charming to date. Back at hotel in the five star restaurant we have dinner on the terrace listening to the waves crash in. The menu is to die for. Claire has pizza. It’s Friday again.

Tomorrow we’ll hit the road on the way to the north part of Vietnam.

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QUESTION OF THE DAY:

(I think I sort of know the answer on this one but I’m a little vague on dates and justification.) In both Fiji and in New Zealand cars are driven on the left side of the road. In Vietnam we’re supposed to drive on the right side of the road although that’s a bit arbitrary. It seems that in every country that England has colonized or had a political control over the English practice of driving on the west has prevailed. But Canada was an English colony and we drive on the right side. What’s the story here. Why are we different than all the others?

(Betty won the last contest related to weather in South America and a postcard is on the way to her from Hanoi.)

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WHAT I LEARNED TODAY:

In my ignorance I presumed that Vietnam was very much under the influence of and very similar to China. This based on its proximity etc. I also presumed that if anyone was doing any conquering in the last few hundred years it would have been the Chinese. In fact there has always been a great deal of conflict with China and they still aren’t best buds.It’s true that China has controlled at least the north part of Vietnam off and on over the years but they’ve always been resisisted. It was those sneaky French that colonized Vietnam and did so from 1860 to around 1954. (Along with the pesky Japanese for awhile in 1940). What we know as the Vietnam War really started with France trying to reclaim it’s control over the country. And it went downhill from there

What I learned today was that there has always been a rivalry rather than a coalition between Vietnam and China.