Nothing to fear during trek to Vietnam
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Herb and Anne Ring
It was with a sense of great anticipation and adventure that we
started our three-week tour of Vietnam. American tourists are just
beginning to venture there. Moreover, we would be visiting a country
against which our country had fought a brutal war.
Luckily, we chose to ignore those inner trepidations and
experienced a country where the people are a delight, the scenery is
exceptional and history and religion resulted in other wonderful
sightseeing opportunities. Everywhere we went, we observed
hard-working people struggling to provide for themselves and their
families.
Hanoi was the first city on our itinerary. Our hotel was in the
Old Quarter of this ancient city. We had been warned about the
traffic, which flowed along with many motorbikes and bicycles in each
direction on narrow streets. To cross, one slowly stepped into
traffic, confident that it would flow around you as you progressed
across the street.
Commerce was conducted out of stores or workshops that served as
places of business as well as family living quarters. It was common
to see men drinking tea together on the sidewalk, children playing,
women chatting, even old mother resting on a chair. Since motorbikes
are parked on it, the only thing the sidewalk isn’t used for is
pedestrians.
In Hanoi, we visited the black marble mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh,
open only during morning hours, as long lines of locals and tourists
were slowly ushered past the glass-enclosed body. Nearby was the
simple wooden “house on stilts” where Uncle Ho is said to have lived
and worked while also tending his garden. Later, we toured the
infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison, much cleaned up from the terrible
times when it served as a French prison and later housed American
prisoners. Some may remember that Jane Fonda visited. The courtyard
still showcases an authentic guillotine and carved murals. Other
highlights were a Buddhist temple, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Temple
of Literature and a wonderful art museum, displaying the talents of
Vietnamese artists.
Unique to this area is the famous Water Puppet Show. Held in a
large theater, where the stage is a pool of water, the wooden puppets
are manipulated by rods and wires under water by unseen puppeteers
standing waist deep in the water. This is a delightful presentation
and is a must for every visitor to Hanoi.
In the nearby countryside, small sampans rowed by young women took
us out into the Red River Delta to view rugged hillsides and
limestone formations jutting out of the water -- very dramatic
scenery.
The next day found us again being rowed to view the ancient
Perfume Pagoda. This time, the young lady plied the oars with her
feet and we had an added passenger -- the rower’s mother. During our
return sail, the mother took over the rowing, while her daughter
displayed embroidered linens for sale. What could we do but succumb
to the sales pitch and buy an embroidered tablecloth and napkins? We
were captive customers!
An overnight train took us up to the mountains northwest of Hanoi
to the small town of Sapa. This area is where the “Montagnards” live
-- the women and children of the Black Hmong, Red Dao, Flower Dao and
several other groups dressing in a most colorful and distinctive way.
We visited several villages, hiked among the terraced, mountainside
rice paddies and attended the famous and colorful Sunday BacHa market
where the locals trade everything from silver jewelry, produce, silk,
livestock, including pigs, water buffaloes, puppies (eaten by some)
and everything else imaginable.
In our small group of five tourists were two whose avocation is
photography. Our tour guide was also a photographer, whose boundless
enthusiasm in showing us his country added to our appreciation of
what we were seeing. The results of traveling with photo enthusiasts
is that our vehicle would suddenly come to a halt at the side of the
road, and we would pile out to snap some interesting people or
scenery that would have otherwise gone unrecorded. This added a
unique dimension to our travels.
Vietnam is a long, narrow country with about 2,000 miles of
shoreline and consequently most of the population labors either in
rice paddies or in occupations connected with the water. Halong Bay,
our next stop, found us on a small junk, sailing among thousands of
spectacular limestone islands jutting out of the water. Here we
visited spectacular caves (picture the blue grotto).
Then it was off to Hue in central Vietnam, the ancient capital
where the Imperial Citadel is to be found, as well as the elaborate
mausoleum of the last emperor. Construction of the mausoleum required
borrowing the needed funds from France, thereby opening the door to
French occupation of the country. The area is where the Buddhist high
priest and many major Buddhist temples are to be found. Most are
elaborately built with red and gold decorations throughout and
feature colorful lacquer work. A highlight of this city was a meal we
enjoyed in a private home/restaurant. Each of eight courses was
served in the form of a different creature. One was a dragon, another
a turtle, another a peacock!
The next city was Hoi An, a major silk and trading port during the
17th and 18th centuries, which retains the atmosphere and
architecture of bygone days. Now it has many art galleries and custom
silk shops where quality, selection and low prices are among the best
in Asia. We stopped in a cultural center to watch artisans create
silk lanterns, pottery, jewelry, etc., and enjoyed an informal show
by costumed actors and talented musicians playing their unique
instruments. This quaint, picturesque city is well worth a visit.
After a two-day visit to the beach resort of Nha Trang, where we
recharged our energy and also toured a Buddhist temple featuring a
huge white marble Buddha sculpture, we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City,
which was formerly Saigon. We had now arrived in the southern part of
Vietnam. In this, the major city in Vietnam, the traffic was even
more daunting than we had previously experienced. Ho Chi Minh City is
a blend of the old and new -- modern skyscrapers and traditional
temples coexist in harmony. We toured the former presidential palace,
Notre Dame Cathedral and the old Saigon Post Office, all examples of
the colonial architectural heritage of the French. One outstanding
experience was our visit to the chicken and duck market held daily,
where an entire street is devoted to the selling and buying of live
ducks and chickens. Feathers were flying everywhere as people haggled
over the bird, which was sold live and destined for dinner that
night.
Our guide, Son Nguyen, often led us to small restaurants off the
tourist radar. In most places, we sat on low stools at tables crowded
close together, which made for great camaraderie among the patrons.
Noodles and soup (pho) were always staples served with greens. Food
and beer usually amounted to $2 to $3 per person. One small cafe we
visited was the site where the Tet offensive was planned in the back
room, only a few blocks from the government headquarters and military
compound. The owner is still alive, and his son came to our table
describing how the secret meetings were held.
After sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh City, it was off to the Mekong
Delta, where we attended services at the Cao Dai Great Temple, a
building out of the Arabian Nights. This religion blends all the
major faiths of the world and has more than a million followers. Our
religious interlude was followed by a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels,
where the Viet Cong burrowed underground for many miles while
fighting first the French and then our country. Containing three
levels and very small dimensions with cleverly camouflaged openings,
the tunnels were also booby-trapped. Small body size and great
agility and strength were needed to explore the underground maze, so
we had to rely on descriptions. We were able to visit a larger room
underground that had served as a command post.
Our crowning Vietnamese experience, however, was the famous Cai Be
floating market, where the delta people come to do their trading.
Buyers and sellers meet and trade while floating in a gathering,
where one can almost literally walk from boat to boat. What a photo
op for our group!
Looking back on our travel thus far, we had been on a variety of
modes of transport, including boats, various planes, overnight
trains, vans, “cyclos” and the back of motorbikes.
One hour’s plane ride from Ho Chi Minh City brought us to Cambodia
and the temples at Angkor Wat. This ancient temple complex was
constructed by various emperors who ruled from the 9th to the 13th
century. During their reign, they built these temples as their burial
sites. Wealth must have been no problem, as the temples are all
constructed from massive blocks of intricately carved stone. The gold
and gems they contained are long gone, but the elaborate carvings
that depict myths and religious icons are impressive enough to act as
magnets for visitors. Angkor Wat is the largest of the temples, but
each of the many others we visited had a unique quality of its own,
whether it was the intricate carving of one, the hundreds of stone
smiling faces of another or the dramatic trees sending their roots 20
feet into the ground from their perches on the ancient walls at yet
another.
On the last morning of our trip, we visited a nearby floating
village. Here, the people live on the river, maintaining fish or
crocodile farm enclosures that are attached to their fishing homes.
One featured a floating pigpen! A floating school, police station and
church were also part of the community. In the rainy season, when the
river floods, this portable village moves to the nearby lake.
We returned home much the richer for having experienced these most
interesting parts of Southeast Asia and happy that we had not let our
fears prevent our journey.
* HERB AND ANNE RING are residents of Newport Beach.
* TRAVEL TALES runs on Thursdays. Have you, or someone you know,
gone on an interesting vacation? Tell us about your adventures in
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