13 Days in Vietnam

Why Vietnam?

Several reasons:

1. It's a place I've never been;
2. More and more people I know have visited and said good things about it;
3. It's closer to New Zealand than to the USA, so can be added on a trip back home;
4. For people of my generation (AKA: Boomers) the Vietnam War was one of our seminal events, whether you served there or not, and:
5. The daughter of one of Fayne's dearest friends along with her family is living and teaching in Ho Chi Minh City (i.e. Saigon).

I had some concerns about planning the trip, such as language and cultural differences creating difficulties. Also, I worried about heat and humidity and the risk of environmental and tropical diseases. It seemed best to book the trip through a well-regarded locally-based tour agency, and err on the side of more luxurious accommodations. Geographically, starting in the north and working south made the most sense, so we flew into Hanoi, then on to Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, inland to Dalat, ending in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), henceforth abbreviated HCMC.

Map courtesy of Lonely Planet

There is a LOT to cover, but I will attempt and probably fail to be somewhat concise. First I will make a few general observations. In 2011 I was able to visit Cambodia and China. I expected Vietnam to be similar but it is different in several ways. With few exceptions there are no grand edifices reflecting ancient glories. Very little of what we saw was over 200 years old. The story of Vietnam until 1975 was one of battling against foreign domination, at first the 1,000 years of Chinese rule until 1427, then French colonization in the 19th and 20th centuries, and finally the "American War" as it is known there.
As a result, the culture, arts, and religions are strongly influenced by their former rulers. Paintings, calligraphy, architecture, and religion (Mahayana Buddhism, Confusianism, Taoism, and Christianity) all are Chinese or French inspired. The modern cities of Hanoi, HCMC, and Dalat were all "founded" by the French, as our tour-guides told us repeatedly.
The other major thing is although the current nation has a young and optimistic population which is modernizing at a breakneck pace, the gaping wounds of the civil war from 1955-1975 are omnipresent, and is not all due to the tremendous assault of the USA (more on this later). This was brother vs. brother, region vs. region, and feelings run deep from both the South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese/Viet Cong sides. More than once, our tour guides were near tears thinking about those tragic times. The story is much more complicated than we might like to think.
Geographically, Vietnam looks like the appendix of Asia. The country is over 1,000 miles in length with a slim 31-mile wide waist in the middle, and historically the north and south have always been quite distinct. Over 95 million people live in an area the size of New Mexico. There is 2,000+ miles of coastline with mountains over 10,000 feet. I prepared for hot and humid climate and was surprised to find it much cooler in December than expected, especially north of HCMC and in the highlands.
 
Now onto our itinerary:

Hanoi

We may as well start with the Capital and the area around the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. If you wait in a long line you may file by and view his embalmed body, inspired by the crypts of Lenin and Mao. In fact, the corpse travels to Russia yearly for a "tune-up" with their special secret technology. Some consider him the "George Washington" of Vietnam considering how long and determinedly he fought for independence and unity of the nation under communist rule, although he died in 1969 before the war ended. Whether he would approve of his deification by the Communist government is unclear, as he reportedly requested a simple cremation. His face is on all the money and prominently displayed everywhere, and the authorities rigorously curate his legend. They maintain he was "celibate married only to the cause of revolution", although he may well have been married and fathered children.
Directly across the street is the National assembly Building and further around the grounds you can see the Presidential Palace, the modest stilt house where Uncle Ho spent his last days, and the 11th century Buddhist One Pillar Pagoda.

National Assembly of Vietnam

Presidential Palace

Stilt House

One Pillar Pagoda

Nearby, Trấn Quốc Pagoda is on a small islet in a lake and is the oldest pagoda in Hanoi. It is dedicated to the Mother Goddess Buddhas, and is a popular place of worship.The gods worshiped seem to favor cookies, fresh fruit, and money as offerings.

Mother Buddha Goddesses

The outside walls have a series of cartoons helpfully explaining how Karma works.

The Temple of Literature is a handsome complex dedicated to Confucius and higher learning. Established in 1070, the names and accomplishments of revered scholars are recorded on stone stelae mounted on turtles, the sacred animal which represents long life and wisdom (the other three traditional sacred animals are the dragon, phoenix, and unicorn). A series of five gates and courtyards leads to the main temple.

Outer gate at the Temple of Literature

Turtles bearing stone stelae

Main temple

Confucius

Hoan Kiem Lake, meaning the Lake of the Returned Sword, is a small lake in the center of town, beloved by the locals as a place to congregate, ambulate, and celebrate. The legend involves a great turtle god reclaiming a magic sword after it was used to free Vietnam from China. While unlikely, it seems no more unlikely than the fact that truly giant reclusive turtles have lived in this small inner city lake for centuries, and one of the last floated up dead on January 19, 2016. There are only three of these rare (and somewhat unattractive) turtles known alive, all male. If you cross the bridge to the Temple of the jade Mountain in the lake you can visit the ex-turtle.

Turtle Tower

Bridge to the Temple of the Jade Mountain

The last local individual, affectionately known to locals as "Cụ Rùa", meaning “great grandfather turtle”

Our first night in Hanoi we walked two short blocks from the classic Metropole Hotel to join the Vietnamese in walking around the lake and grooving to the sounds of Russian bands celebrating Moscow Day 2019.

The Metropole Hotel (more on Christmas in SE Asia later)

Christmas decorations, trees, and music have been everywhere in both Vietnam and Malaysia. It was like living in a shopping mall, and very disorienting and somewhat disturbing to hear songs about sleighs and baby Jesus in counties that never have snow and are mostly not Christian. Whoever lost sleep over the "War on Christmas" can rest easily: Christmas won!

Bamboo

Made of colorful Vietnamese conical hats

Americans are likely to visit Hoa Lo prison, a. k. a. the Hanoi Hilton, because of the POWs held there, most famously John McCain. I did not realize it is located in the center of the city. Partially demolished, you can visit the part remaining as a museum. The point is made clear that it was built by the French to incarcerate and torture Vietnamese, including independence fighters. Tales of their suffering and struggles with the Europeans are depicted, including daring escape attempts and executions by guillotine.

An aerial view of the complex

The French "razor"

Photos of beheaded Vietnamese

The last few rooms do talk about the US POWs. You can see John McCain's flight suit when captured and photos of antiwar protestors in the US and around the world.

The country is still tightly controlled by the Communist Party, and their description of the conditions for the captives differs significantly from stories told by those held there for years.

Read the official Vietnamese description above.

If you have time it is worthwhile going to both the Vietnamese Women's Museum and the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. In the former you will see exhibits of female national heroes, traditional women's costumes and crafts, weddings, and fashion. Check out these classic wartime propaganda posters.

The latter museum emphasizes the ethnic diversity in the country. Although the Viet represent 85% of the population, they also recognize 54 ethnic minority groups, many mountain people with their own languages and customs. These are represented alongside recreations of typical homes. We also took in a Vietnamese water puppetry show, something unique to their culture. Somewhat zany, try to catch a performance if you can.

The puppeteers emerge from behind the screen with their puppets for a curtain call.

Tam Coc/Hoa Lu

A day trip south of Hanoi takes you to Tam Coc, called "Halong Bay on land" because of the dramatic karst limestone formations characterized by peaks, caves, and sinkholes. You board a small river craft propelled by locals rowing with there feet. The river flows through several low-slung caves. For lunch you can enjoy the regional favorite, goat meat on skewers.  

After lunch we stopped by Hoa Lu, the anciet capital of Vietnam in the 10th century when it broke away from China before relocation to Hanoi. Little remains of the original site, but a large mural tells the tale of Emperor Dinh Bo Linh and his progeny. I can't say I fully understood his legend, but a caption below tries.

Legend has it that in his childhood, while tending the water buffaloes, he used blossoming reeds (“lau”) as pennants in mock combats organized among the village children. He later defeated the twelve feudal lords within a year and was proclaimed as the King of Ten Thousand Victories (“Van Thang Vuong”).

Ha Long Bay

Sometimes when I visit exotic places I feel like the dying replicant Roy Batty (played by Rutger Hauer, RIP) in Blade Runner when he says:

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Halong Bay is one of those places. If you have seen any travel photos of Vietnam, you surely have seen images of some of the over 1,000 dramatically unreal karst limestone islets, and like in Tam Coc they are filled with caverns, like Sung Sot Cave.

Sung Sot Cave

We were on a high-end small ship and they had many activities planned for us in additions to caving and climbing. There was dress-up as a Mandarin dinner. They had laid out such a fine set of silk threads, I didn't want to disappoint them. I did eventually draw the line at squid fishing. After swishing an unbaited hook dangling from a bamboo pole in the dark for a few minutes, I feared it was the equivalent of a Vietnamese snipe hunt and I gave up.

A brief trial of squid fishing

But it was all worth it (despite the presence of many other ships) to see the sunrise over the bay , do early morning Tai Chi on the deck, and climb the 400 steps to the top of Ti Top Island for the view.

Dawn, Halong Bay

Ti Top Island, named for Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov who visited with Chairman Ho in the 60's

The view from the top of Ti Top

Huế to Hoi An

From Halong Bay we flew to the middle of the country and the city of Huế, home of the last Emperors of Vietnam and the scene of intense combat during the war. To prepare for this trip I watched the full 18+ hours/10 episodes of Ken Burns' 2017 PBS series The Vietnam War. Much of the city was destroyed during the grueling month-long house-to-house campaign. The impressive wall and moat surrounding the citadel still remain along with some of the imperial palace (40 of the initial 148 structures), part original and part reconstructed.

Front of the Hue Citadel

An aerial view

There is still plenty to take in in the Imperial City, including the opulent throne room (sorry, no photos allowed) and the innermost Purple Forbidden City, exclusive to use of the Emperor, his family, concubines, and eunuchs.

Imperial Library

Temple of the 9 Dynastic Bronze Urns

Here is a collage of several of the sights.

When in Hue there are a few more worthy stops. Many of the Nguyen dynasty constructed elaborate tombs nearby. The most extravagant and recent one is the Tomb of Khai Dinhm,,the 12th of 13 Nguyen emperors, built between 1920 and 1931. He was much reviled by his people as a puppet of the French who increased taxes on the peasants to build this blend of Western and Eastern architecture.

Khải Định's crypt

More ancient is the Thien Mu Pagoda ("Heavenly Lady") built in 1601. It sits serenely upon a hill overlooking the Perfume River.

Our journey continued several hours drive down the coast by the pearl farms and fishermen of Lăng Cô, on to Da Nang, known to Americans as the home to a large air base during the war.

Lăng Cô

Because of the large U. S. presence, Da Nang was largely spared widespread destruction and currently is a booming port city with beaches and new high-rise condos (largely for Chinese) and the flashy Dragon Bridge.

We had time for an unexpected visit to the Museum of Cham Sculpture. Established by the French in the early 20th century to house some of the treasures of Hindu temples discovered in the jungle nearby, such as at Mỹ Sơn. Built between the 4th and the 14th centuries, the Champa people were similar to the Kymer who were responsible for Angor Wat in Cambodia. While many objects were sent to the Louvre, what remains here is impressive and worthwhile. 

Mid-afternoon we arrived at our destination, the charming UNESCO World Heritage site of Hoi An. Worth much more than the one night we could squeeze in, old Hoi An has a remarkably well-preserved collection of buildings from its heyday in the 15th-19th centuries when it was a major trading port. Originally a Champa town, increasing trade brought Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, and other seafarers. Currently Hoi An is a tourist mecca because of the preserved buildings and the many artisans drawn to the area. If you have a day, you can have suit or dress made, take cooking classes, or shop for leather goods, woodcarvings, and fine art. The Japanese Covered Bridge is a landmark as are the numerous Chinese clan shrines like the Fukian Assembly Hall. 

Japanese Covered Bridge

Inside Fukian Assembly Hall

Angry Fukian Sea God

The food is plentiful, cheap, and delicious. There is a lively night market and the ancient streets and river are lantern-lit.

In a silk shop, I asked about silkworms and they took me upstairs to show me some in action. I realized I knew almot nothing about the production  of silk so I found some remarkable facts via Wikipedia. Did you know silkworms have been domesticated for over 5,000 years, they have been bred specifically for production of silk so that they can no loner fly as adult moths and cannot live on their own, and they make cocoons from a single silk thread up to one kilometer long?  I thought not.

Silkworms at work

A change on our flight time from afternoon to morning severely limited our visit in Hoi An, which was a shame.

Dalat

I added Dalat as a destination because I read it was a lovely place in the mountains, quite different from most of the rest of the country, cooler and full of flowers and fruit. Locals seemed a bit surprised we were going there, and indeed there were few other Westerners around, but the place is also famous in Vietnam as the National Honeymoon Capital (very romantic...we did in fact celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary there). We stayed at the premier hotel there, the Dalat Palace Hotel. Built by the French in 1922, it was a favorite of the colonists and the Vietnamese elite. The Emperor and the President of South Vietnam had palaces nearby. It is such an agreeable place that neither side in the war felt like trashing it and thus other than some fighting during the Tet Offensive in 1968 it was mostly spared, despite the fact the South Vietnamese Military Academy was there.
The standard rooms were all taken, so we booked the suite. It had a spectacular view from our window, but frankly we felt more than a little ridiculous, having six rooms to ourselves.

Dalat Palace

The French-created lake view from our window

Bedroom

Living room and foyer

Truthfully, the Grand Old Dame is showing here age, and lacks "modern" conveniences like electrical outlets that work or any form of heating. This is despite a $40,000,000 makeover financed by reclusive millionaire Larry Hillblom in the 1990's. Californian Mr. Hillblom is a fascinating story. He is the "H" in DHL courier company and was lost and presumed dead after a seaplane crash in the South Pacific in 1995.  Posthumously he was found to be a pedophile who fathered children with young girls throughout Southeast Asia and Pacifica.

Sitting area

The weather was beautiful, and our tour around town showed many modern flourishes.

A shopping mall..

...next to a cafe

...in front of an ampitheater being prepared for the annual Dalat Flower Festival.

They are very proud of what they call their art deco train station, although since the war took a bridge out you can only take short rail excursions.

Train Station

A  trip up the hill to the outskirts of town takes you through wooded areas to one of Emperor Bao Dai's Palaces.

Entry to King Palace

In what is a recurring theme in Vietnam, the Palace featured secret passageways and a helipad with a US helicopter for quick escapes.

You may not know that only Brazil produces more coffee than Vietnam. Perhaps you have heard of very expensive coffee beans that are collected after they pass through the digestive tract of the civet. In Vietnam this is called "Weasel coffee" (although the civet is not a weasel), and it is available from coffee farms around Dalat. We had to taste some and bring some back to share with the family, as nothing says Christmas like weasel coffee. (One US coffee reviewer found it "tasted like Folgers"). Like much in life, there is some controversy about the taste as well as animal welfare issues of "free-range" vs. captive civets. To visit a completely biased pro-weasel coffee site click here.

The area around Dalat offers many ways to enjoy the woods and streams, from adventure sports to hikes to waterfalls to taking a cable car to a Buddhist pagoda and monastery. We had no time for any of that but I did make time to see Hang Nga Crazy House, a 30-year labor of love of Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga. Inspired by Antoni Gaudi but more like the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, it is a continually evolving project, more oddity than art. But as the creator is the daughter of the successor to Ho Chi Minh as president of Vietnam, she need not worry about zoning ordinances or building inspectors.

The most impressive part of our visit was a trip to the market, which confirmed the #1 thing the Vietnamese people bragged about when learning we were to visit Dalat: bountiful and beautiful flowers and produce. These photos and collage will give you an idea.

HCMC (a. k. a. Saigon)

A morning flight from Dalat took us to our last stop, Ho Chi Minh City. Before we could check into our hotel in downtown HCMC we were wisked off a mere 24 miles from the center of town to Cu Chi. This was the site of some of the most extensive tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the wars. At their height they are said to encompass more than 75 miles of narrow labyrinthine interconnected passageways dug into the clay. Perhaps more than anything else, they are a symbol of the determination of the VC forces and the futility of the American mission.

A diorama of three levels of the tunnels.

Now one of the most macabre tourist attractions, your guide will show you examples of some of the perilous and ingenious booby traps, like this hidden pit of bamboo spikes, sometimes covered in feces awaiting GI's.

A local demonstrates the camouflaged tunnel entries

Mannequins display how unexploded US bombs were repurposed as VC waepons

The complex includes primitive meeting rooms, officer quaters, mess, even a hospital area. Adding to the surreal experience, the sounds of machine gun fire explodes from visitors who pay $3/bullet to fire their weapon of choice at the target range: AK47, M16, K63, etc.

Buy your bullets here

You are encouraged to give the tunnels a try yourself. Being a large and older Yank and at times claustrophobic, I only made it to the entrance for this photo op.

It was on the the heart of HCMC with an estimated population of nine million. As a side note, throughout our visit to Vietnam, everyone was following the progress of the men's football (soccer) team in the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. In the finals against Indonesia on December 7, 2019 VN won 3-0 for its first-ever Championship as a united nation. There was widespread joy in the streets as motorbikes cheered and rode about with large Vietnamese flags.

Not the greatest image to show the celebration

Reason #5 to come to Vietnam at the top of this admittedly long posting was because Mona Schraer and family have been living in HCMC for the last year and a half. Mona is the daughter of Karen and has been known to both of us almost since her birth. Visiting with them was the undeniable #1 highlight of our trip to Vietnam. She came with her husband and two daughters to teach math and it has worked out so well they plan to extend her two-year commitment to three.
One night Mona and her husband Aaron invited us to join them downtown for dinner at their favorite restaurant. It was about a 25 minute walk from our hotel, down a dark street but we found it. At the door we were directed to their annex across the street, and Aaron commented that their was a lot of security and perhaps some high official was eating in the main room. The food was great and we were invited to come out to their place for dinner with the whole family the next night. That's when we found out the cause of the commotion: the Obamas were eating there! It turned out we were on a parallel path with Barack and Michelle, as from Vietnam they went to Malaysia the Singapore. We hoped to bump into them later, but it didn't happen.
Our trip to that point found us in fancy city-center hotels and tourist sites, so it was a revelation to visit the quiet residential suburb where they live. We took a short walking tour of the neighborhood then enjoyed visiting with the whole family over dinner and hearing of their experiences living there. It was a very special time. I even managed to get everyone to pose for this blog-worthy photo.

There was still a bit more touring to go. In the center of HCMC the first stop is the Reunification Hall, formerly the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam. It is the scene where North Vietnamese tanks and troops entered on April 30, 1975 to take over and officially end the civil war.

It is an impressive modern building with official meeting rooms, war rooms in the basement, and more secret escape passages leading to waiting helicopters.

Helicopter on the roof.

You also will be proudly shown colonial era buildings like Notre Dame Cathedral, the City Hall (now the People's Committee Building), the Central Post Office, and the Opera House.

Cathedral

People's Committee Building fronted by a statue of Uncle Ho beckoning

Old Post Office

Opera House

The final stop in the city was the most challenging, so much so that our guide left us to wander through, stating tearfully she found it too emotional an experience. Called the War Remnants Museum, it documents the wars with the French and the USA and the aftermath, frequently quite graphically.
Clearly presented from the "victors" point of view, there are many undeniable facts to consider:

•  7 million tons of US bombs were dropped in Indochina, compared with 2 million in all of WWII.
•  A NY Times editorial from 2018 states: Estimates are that at least 350,000 tons of live bombs and mines remain in Vietnam, and that it will take 300 years to clear them from the Vietnamese landscape at the current rate.
• 19 million gallons of herbicide were used, including up to13 million gallons of Agent Orange.
• Birth defects and heart problems are showing up not only in the children but the grandchildren of veterans who served in America’s military during the Vietnam War, thought to be related to Agent Orange exposure.
• Although precise numbers are hard to document, there may be a 2-3 fold increase in birth defects in Vietnam.

Captured or abandoned US-made armaments: planes, tanks, helicopters, etc. are displayed here and throughout the nation  There is no shortage of these from the 10's of thousands brought in. There also remains a robust "army surplus" business in the country.

The third floor documents the history of the wars, including graphic images of war casualties and war crimes. The highlight of the second floor is the Requiem Exhibition honoring 134 brave photographers and war correspondents who died covering the Indochina wars. These powerful images displayed in Life and other US magazines, as well as TV coverage, brought the war into our homes.

Photo by Larry Burrows in Life Magazine Jan. 25, 1963 photo essay entitled We Wade Deeper Into Jungle War

The damage of Agent Orange and other chemicals used in the war are on display, including the presence of individuals suffering from severe birth defects. This problem in Southeast Asia has been documented in international coverage, including this graphic report from Australia.
On the ground floor they do acknowledge the international peace movement of the 60's and 70's, with photos of some familiar activists like John Lennon, Jane Fonda, and Pete Seeger.

For my final full day in Vietnam I went on a day-long tour of part of the massive Mekong Delta. My guide grew up in a small town in the region, and assured me that while leeches and crocodiles were swimming-related hazards of her youth, they no longer were. She could not explain what happened to the leeches and the crocodiles. I did not go swimming.
As we explored the islands and waterways by xe loi (a motorized cart) and sampan I learned of fishing, brick making, making rice paper, and all of the marvelous uses of coconut including how to make coconut spirits.

A local boat full of coconuts

Paddling through the Mekong

The next day we were off to Kuala Lumpur for 10 days in Malaysia. More to follow.