We are in Ho Chi Min now, having arrived via plane this afternoon. What a day to be here too! Vietnam won a football (soccer) match against Malaysia this afternoon and everyone is partying in the streets. And it's not even a finals match. Or a semi finals match. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, waving flags and cheering and shouting. In the center of downtown we watched as traffic ground to a halt around a giant roundabout as motos converged on the area. Fireworks were set off, the street vendors are out as if it's a carnival, and the police arrived to try and move traffic. I have never seen a display of national pride quite like it.
It all started about 4:30 pm with small gangs of moto bikes circling the streets cheering and waving the Vietnamese flag. Hour by hour the gangs got larger and joined together, whole families of four (parents and children) climbing on their bikes and coming out into the street to celebrate. It reached a crescendo about 9:30pm and has been tapering off since then. But, wow! It was cool.
When it all started we were out in the middle of it on a cyclo tour of the downtown. We watched the crowds from the REX hotel rooftop bar (famous as a war era hangout for expats and journalists). Later, we were eating dinner at the very mouth of the main roundabout. We had to walk home crossing the streets through the sea of bikes several times.
Tomorrow is a big day with an early start at the Cu Chi tunnels followed by the War museum. Dinner will be a Mekong River cruise and then maybe drinks at one of the many bars in our neighborhood. At some point I will find time to finish my entry from Hoi An...
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Vroom, Vroom and Hue!
Just when I think this trip can't get any cooler, it does. We arrived in Hue (pronounced Hway) via overnight train from Hanoi. We were all signed up for the all day moto bike tour of the city and it's surrounding areas with all the extras. This might be the most fun day we've had yet!
Our bikes picked us up at 10am and we headed into the city to see the Citadel and Royal Palace grounds. The palace grounds are under mass amounts of reconstruction as the palace was destroyed during the war, first with the French then the Americans. Hue, the former capital of Vietnam, was a major target during the war and there are rebuilding efforts all over the area to try and restore and reconstruct some of the historical sights that were destroyed. The Citadel was the site of a major battle in the Vietnam war but remains intact. We also stopped by a Buddhist temple and saw the tomb of the last emperor to reign prior to the French invasion. Before his death, a fortune teller predicted that his enemies would raid his tomb and try to loot his riches so he kept the true location of his tomb a secret and created a false one instead. Thirty years later, the French raided this "fake" tomb but didn't find the riches and remains they were hoping for. We also managed to squeeze in 1 hr dragon boat cruise down the perfume river before we stopped for lunch.
Lunch stop was a nunnery where we were treated to yet another delicious meal. As Buddhists, monks and nuns do not eat any meat, it was a 5 course vegetarian meal. Up to this point it had been a grey day and had been threatening rain, but just as we finished eating there was a complete downpour. Our fabulous moto guides produced rain ponchos for each of us and we spent the rest of the afternoon scooting around in true Vietnamese style.
After lunch we took a tour through the back streets and alleys, city streets and along the river into the countryside. There we raced through rice fields and villages exploring the historic city. Andy wasn't kidding when she told us that there was no other way to see Hue. Everywhere we went there were temples and brightly painted historic buildings tucked between modern homes, lean-tos and burial sites. It was fascinating and really gave us a sense of the rich history of this place. We stopped at what is the second oldest covered bridge in Vietnam. There are only two remaining and we will see the other in Hoi An. On the other side we were welcomed like old friends to sit in a streamside pagoda and warm up with, you guessed it, delicious Vietnamese coffee. (I am rapidly falling in love with this place.)
If you can believe it we were not done yet. Next we stopped at a family incense stand where we learned and then each got to try rolling our own incense stick. Not exactly a success for any of us but cool nonetheless. After an impromptu game of hacky-sack with our moto drivers we were back on the road again. We found ourselves winding up dirt paths into a reforested area towards the top of a big hill. Like so many other things on this trip, what greeted us was not what we expected. We were at the top of Hue's best make-out and scenic viewing spot above the river and the city. It just so happens to also be the site of one of the most famous battles in the Vietnam war, Bunker Hill. It was so strange to stand up there and imagine the lives that were changed that day, to stand on top of the nondescript concrete bunkers and to admire the view. It just brings into perspective how the people here are faced with the wars that have been fought in their country everyday. They are immersed in it and it has become part of their culture. Homes are squeezed between burial plots. Ancient palaces and temples are in ruins. And lots of them, our guide included have stories of how their family was involved in the war. Today, our guide's father was a Captain in the Southern Army which is the side the American's were fighting on. He told us some of his father's war stories and how as a child he witnessed a nun burning herself in protest against the war.
A traffic jam in the city and a little more racing through the narrow back streets to get our heart pumping and we stopped at Thuy's house to see how conical bamboo hats are made. She is an expert on the craft and has been in several international magazine articles. It is said that Hue is the home of the bamboo hat. Just as we left Thuy's home, the heaven's opened up and dumped cats, dogs and cattle on us. The streets immediately filled with water and we had to wade and then drive through a good 5" of water to get back on the main roads. We were deposited at the DMZ bar at 6pm just in time to catch most of the Vietnam vs. Thailand soccer game.
Holy Cow! I can't wait to show you all some of the photos and video of our ride, it is difficult to describe in words. When we started the day we were told that our job was to ride along and wave to all the children on the way. Sure enough we were greeted with lots of waves, hellos and even a high five. It was a truly fantastic day!!!
Hoi An next...where you can have a three piece suit custom tailored overnight. My bank account is dwindling as I write this... :)
Our bikes picked us up at 10am and we headed into the city to see the Citadel and Royal Palace grounds. The palace grounds are under mass amounts of reconstruction as the palace was destroyed during the war, first with the French then the Americans. Hue, the former capital of Vietnam, was a major target during the war and there are rebuilding efforts all over the area to try and restore and reconstruct some of the historical sights that were destroyed. The Citadel was the site of a major battle in the Vietnam war but remains intact. We also stopped by a Buddhist temple and saw the tomb of the last emperor to reign prior to the French invasion. Before his death, a fortune teller predicted that his enemies would raid his tomb and try to loot his riches so he kept the true location of his tomb a secret and created a false one instead. Thirty years later, the French raided this "fake" tomb but didn't find the riches and remains they were hoping for. We also managed to squeeze in 1 hr dragon boat cruise down the perfume river before we stopped for lunch.
Lunch stop was a nunnery where we were treated to yet another delicious meal. As Buddhists, monks and nuns do not eat any meat, it was a 5 course vegetarian meal. Up to this point it had been a grey day and had been threatening rain, but just as we finished eating there was a complete downpour. Our fabulous moto guides produced rain ponchos for each of us and we spent the rest of the afternoon scooting around in true Vietnamese style.
After lunch we took a tour through the back streets and alleys, city streets and along the river into the countryside. There we raced through rice fields and villages exploring the historic city. Andy wasn't kidding when she told us that there was no other way to see Hue. Everywhere we went there were temples and brightly painted historic buildings tucked between modern homes, lean-tos and burial sites. It was fascinating and really gave us a sense of the rich history of this place. We stopped at what is the second oldest covered bridge in Vietnam. There are only two remaining and we will see the other in Hoi An. On the other side we were welcomed like old friends to sit in a streamside pagoda and warm up with, you guessed it, delicious Vietnamese coffee. (I am rapidly falling in love with this place.)
If you can believe it we were not done yet. Next we stopped at a family incense stand where we learned and then each got to try rolling our own incense stick. Not exactly a success for any of us but cool nonetheless. After an impromptu game of hacky-sack with our moto drivers we were back on the road again. We found ourselves winding up dirt paths into a reforested area towards the top of a big hill. Like so many other things on this trip, what greeted us was not what we expected. We were at the top of Hue's best make-out and scenic viewing spot above the river and the city. It just so happens to also be the site of one of the most famous battles in the Vietnam war, Bunker Hill. It was so strange to stand up there and imagine the lives that were changed that day, to stand on top of the nondescript concrete bunkers and to admire the view. It just brings into perspective how the people here are faced with the wars that have been fought in their country everyday. They are immersed in it and it has become part of their culture. Homes are squeezed between burial plots. Ancient palaces and temples are in ruins. And lots of them, our guide included have stories of how their family was involved in the war. Today, our guide's father was a Captain in the Southern Army which is the side the American's were fighting on. He told us some of his father's war stories and how as a child he witnessed a nun burning herself in protest against the war.
A traffic jam in the city and a little more racing through the narrow back streets to get our heart pumping and we stopped at Thuy's house to see how conical bamboo hats are made. She is an expert on the craft and has been in several international magazine articles. It is said that Hue is the home of the bamboo hat. Just as we left Thuy's home, the heaven's opened up and dumped cats, dogs and cattle on us. The streets immediately filled with water and we had to wade and then drive through a good 5" of water to get back on the main roads. We were deposited at the DMZ bar at 6pm just in time to catch most of the Vietnam vs. Thailand soccer game.
Holy Cow! I can't wait to show you all some of the photos and video of our ride, it is difficult to describe in words. When we started the day we were told that our job was to ride along and wave to all the children on the way. Sure enough we were greeted with lots of waves, hellos and even a high five. It was a truly fantastic day!!!
Hoi An next...where you can have a three piece suit custom tailored overnight. My bank account is dwindling as I write this... :)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Just calmy step out into trafffic
We have arrived in Hanoi. And I don't think the city noticed at all. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam is bustling and crowded the way all capital cities are. But the Vietnamese do bustling with a special kind of vigor and enthousiasm and a cacophony of honks and beeps. There are about 6 million people in the city and approximately 5 million motorized bikes. No kidding.
After checking in at our hotel we headed out onto the streets for our first lesson in walking. Andy has a policy that she won't allow her passengers out of her sight until she has taught them how to walk across the street here. The trick is to find a break in the edge of traffic and then calmy step into the road and start walking. Walk, NEVER RUN, across the street and watch the traffic flow around you the way a river does an obstacle in it's path. And it works! Mostly.
All driving rules in Vietnam are fluid except this; do not take your eyes off the road in front of you. This is the only way you will avoid hitting something. Therefore, the only way to know if something is beside or behind you is if they let you know they are there, by honking their horn. This generally applies to everything; bicycles, cyclos, motos, cars, trucks and busses. If you want to go around something, you honk at it. If you don't want them to go around you, you honk at it. If you want to say hi to someone you see on the street, you honk at it. There is actually a very fine art to driving here but I think generally, the idea is to keep moving ahead and not hit anything. The only way to really understand it is to get in the middle of it, so I did. The first day we took a walk around the area, then took cyclos in the evening (a bench type chair with a bicycle behind). On day two I tried a cab and then a moto (a scooter). By far, moto is the way to go and we spent one night hopping on and off them to check out the bar scene.
Our cyclo tour dropped us off at the theatre where we saw a traditional water puppets show. I am glad I saw it, and think it's a must see during a visit to Vietnam. If I understand it correctly, the water puppet shows were used as a tool to teach moral values as well as history. My favorite act was called "Fishing" or don't smoke dope or you will go hungry. We had dinner in the old quarter of the city and strolled around. The coolest part was when we came across an shop with a collection of propaganda posters from the war. Really fascinating! The slogans were about beafing up production of food and natural resources, successes during the war and political philosophy. It was really very cool.
On my "free day" I stayed in bed until 1pm trying to recover from the cold that settled into to my head at the home stay. Over the past few days I have run out of my stock of dayquil so first on my list was drugs. Apparently, you can get any drug you want here from the pharmacies, you just have to know what to ask for. Sadly, pseudophedrine and dextromathorphine (spelling?) are not internationally recognized drug names. A lot of pantomiming and giggling later, I have cold meds. Hooray!
As a group we met for dinner in the old quarter and then stopped in at Finnegan's Irish pub for "a" drink. Several rounds later, the police dropped in to kick us all out. Sadly, not because we were dancing on the bar or anything, simply because the bars close down at midnight here. It didn't take long to find more trouble though, we hopped on moto taxis, said the words "more beer" and were delivered on the steps of the 1/2 Man 1/2 Noodle bar. The sign outside read, "Drink here...or we shoot the puppy." Ha! About an hour later the cops stopped by again but this time we were told just to go outside for 5 minutes and then we could come back in. We closed the bar down at 3am. By any standard we have a big night out. A three course meal follwed by bar hopping, 8 or 10 rounds of drinks and two moto taxi rides...$50. Excellent!
On Monday afternoon I visited the Hanoi Hilton, the former prison come prisoner or war camp where John McCain was held during the war. This morning we visited the Ho Chi Minh complex. Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho as he is referred to, is calmy resting on ice in the north part of the city. It is hard to put into words all the things I have learned about the Vietnamese perspective on Uncle Ho, the french colonization and the American War. Perhaps I will try at another time, but for now I will leave it. One guide put it into perspective this way: he said the Vietnamese don't harbor any ill feelings towards the French or the Americans. They have won every battle they have ever fought; they have removed out every foreign body that has ever tried to occupy their country. This makes them a generally happy and welcoming country. I can't say if this is true everywhere, but the hospitality of everyone we have encountered has been great and they have been excited to know that there is an American in the group.
Tonight, we are off to Hue (promounced hway) via overnight train. This is the former capital of the country. It was recently declared a UNESCO site and there are now efforts to restore the palaces and temples that were destroyed during the war. We are told the only way to get a feel for teh city is via motorbike so we have an all day tour in store for us!
After checking in at our hotel we headed out onto the streets for our first lesson in walking. Andy has a policy that she won't allow her passengers out of her sight until she has taught them how to walk across the street here. The trick is to find a break in the edge of traffic and then calmy step into the road and start walking. Walk, NEVER RUN, across the street and watch the traffic flow around you the way a river does an obstacle in it's path. And it works! Mostly.
All driving rules in Vietnam are fluid except this; do not take your eyes off the road in front of you. This is the only way you will avoid hitting something. Therefore, the only way to know if something is beside or behind you is if they let you know they are there, by honking their horn. This generally applies to everything; bicycles, cyclos, motos, cars, trucks and busses. If you want to go around something, you honk at it. If you don't want them to go around you, you honk at it. If you want to say hi to someone you see on the street, you honk at it. There is actually a very fine art to driving here but I think generally, the idea is to keep moving ahead and not hit anything. The only way to really understand it is to get in the middle of it, so I did. The first day we took a walk around the area, then took cyclos in the evening (a bench type chair with a bicycle behind). On day two I tried a cab and then a moto (a scooter). By far, moto is the way to go and we spent one night hopping on and off them to check out the bar scene.
Our cyclo tour dropped us off at the theatre where we saw a traditional water puppets show. I am glad I saw it, and think it's a must see during a visit to Vietnam. If I understand it correctly, the water puppet shows were used as a tool to teach moral values as well as history. My favorite act was called "Fishing" or don't smoke dope or you will go hungry. We had dinner in the old quarter of the city and strolled around. The coolest part was when we came across an shop with a collection of propaganda posters from the war. Really fascinating! The slogans were about beafing up production of food and natural resources, successes during the war and political philosophy. It was really very cool.
On my "free day" I stayed in bed until 1pm trying to recover from the cold that settled into to my head at the home stay. Over the past few days I have run out of my stock of dayquil so first on my list was drugs. Apparently, you can get any drug you want here from the pharmacies, you just have to know what to ask for. Sadly, pseudophedrine and dextromathorphine (spelling?) are not internationally recognized drug names. A lot of pantomiming and giggling later, I have cold meds. Hooray!
As a group we met for dinner in the old quarter and then stopped in at Finnegan's Irish pub for "a" drink. Several rounds later, the police dropped in to kick us all out. Sadly, not because we were dancing on the bar or anything, simply because the bars close down at midnight here. It didn't take long to find more trouble though, we hopped on moto taxis, said the words "more beer" and were delivered on the steps of the 1/2 Man 1/2 Noodle bar. The sign outside read, "Drink here...or we shoot the puppy." Ha! About an hour later the cops stopped by again but this time we were told just to go outside for 5 minutes and then we could come back in. We closed the bar down at 3am. By any standard we have a big night out. A three course meal follwed by bar hopping, 8 or 10 rounds of drinks and two moto taxi rides...$50. Excellent!
On Monday afternoon I visited the Hanoi Hilton, the former prison come prisoner or war camp where John McCain was held during the war. This morning we visited the Ho Chi Minh complex. Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho as he is referred to, is calmy resting on ice in the north part of the city. It is hard to put into words all the things I have learned about the Vietnamese perspective on Uncle Ho, the french colonization and the American War. Perhaps I will try at another time, but for now I will leave it. One guide put it into perspective this way: he said the Vietnamese don't harbor any ill feelings towards the French or the Americans. They have won every battle they have ever fought; they have removed out every foreign body that has ever tried to occupy their country. This makes them a generally happy and welcoming country. I can't say if this is true everywhere, but the hospitality of everyone we have encountered has been great and they have been excited to know that there is an American in the group.
Tonight, we are off to Hue (promounced hway) via overnight train. This is the former capital of the country. It was recently declared a UNESCO site and there are now efforts to restore the palaces and temples that were destroyed during the war. We are told the only way to get a feel for teh city is via motorbike so we have an all day tour in store for us!
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