Nothing to fear during trek to Vietnam

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.

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