Vietnam

ANCIENT KINGDOMS OF ASIA,

Chapter III; VIETNAM with TEE

Day 10, November 12, 2013

We flew Vietnam Airlines from Vientiane to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, where we were met by our Vietnamese Local Guide. "Tee" smiles often and exudes ebullience. We stayed at the Asian Ruby Hotel, a quality hotel with balcony overlooking a beautiful park in the city centre.

Saigon, renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976, is bustling and energetic. Motor scooters are a popular form of transportation. Accidents are rare, amazingly.

Some of our adventuring friends ventured out on the scooters.

We came across a group of young ladies advertising their motorbikes.

Vietnam is a nation of determined optimists who have weathered war upon war, colonialism, a closed society and Communist rule. The country is welcoming to tourists now and, of course, tourist dollars. The present economy is “selectively capitalist”.  Here are a few examples of their entrepreneurial spirit.

The majestic Post Office was built in 1880, colonial times, and features two large murals of Vietnam as it was decades ago. 

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception has obvious similarities to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. French and Catholic influences are evident. 

The population is friendly. Garb varies from modern western-style to traditional Vietnamese, i.e., clingy pajama-like clothing. School girls on bicycles are dressed in traditional white “ao dai”, their school uniform. This close-fitting silk gown has slits to the waist and is worn over matching pajama-like pants.

We witnessed many weddings normally held this time of year. We are told spectators such as ourselves, are common and expected to enjoy the lovely ceremony.

Day 11, November 13, 2013

Of course, we remember the era of The Vietnam War, here called The American War. Suffice it to say that the Vietnamese People survived the war and the social disruptions that followed. The population, a large portion born after the war, seem now more focused on ongoing and future economic development than dwelling on that history. We were not aware of any anti-American sentiment. Nevertheless, we felt it appropriate to contemplate upon events of that era, decades ago now.

We visited Cu Chi Tunnels, a 200 mile long underground maze where thousands hid and fought French and later Americans. Viet Cong built this vast network of tunnels in and around the district of Cu Chi, and expanded the multilevel network over 25 years.  These tunnels were dug with a small trowel and a basket.

 The tunnels include fighting stations, traps, barracks, kitchens, mess halls, operating rooms, and ammunition stores that allowed the Viet Cong to control large areas around Saigon.  

These tunnels were actually much smaller in their original state, enlarged here for tourists.








In this re-enactment, Catherine can be seen administering “open-drop ether” in one of the underground surgeries.

 Judy demonstrates one of many concealing tunnel entrances

They were quite innovative in many ways.

A visit to the War Remnants Museum is a painful reminder that “War is Hell”. Recorded among the photographic displays are brave acts, survival, death and brutality. Why must history continue to repeat itself?

That evening we rode cyclo-rickshaws to the famous Vietnamese water puppet show, “Mua Roi Muoc”, which uses water for the stage and depicts humorous tales from Vietnamese folklore.

After the show we visited Mae Home Saigon Culinary Art Center for a hands-on cooking demonstration/lesson with Peter volunteering to learn about the culinary “mincing”.  The fruits of our labour became parts of a pleasant dinner.

Peter was instructed in proper mincing technique.  No fingers lost!

Let me know if you would like the recipe





Day 12, November 14, 2013

The next morning we took a bus for several “learning and discovery” activities. First, we joined in making rice paper (like crepes).  We will all have a better appreciation of the labour involved in making rice crepes from now on.

We learned at a Rubber Tree Farm the process of harvesting natural rubber. We learned the labour-intensive steps of rice cultivation, harvest and processing, and participated in unloading a brick kiln fired with chaff from processing rice.

Along rural highways there are numerous “hammock-cafes”, much appreciated by long distance travelers. The hammocks were comfortable, and we sampled the highly-prized “weasel espresso”.

 Weasels are said to eat the coffee beans, but do not digest them fully. The bean-filled weasel “deposits” are collected by farmers to clean and process into coffee. Not sure we believe all that.

At the cafe, we were treated to a demonstration “cock-fight”. These cocks were wearing spur guards, but the neck feathers were in the fight posture.

Then we visited the Brick Factory that Grand Circle helps to support for another L&D activity.

We enjoyed one of the most popular noodle shops for lunch.

Later we were introduced to the newest of Asian religions: Dai, which combines aspects of all religions into one.

That evening we walked to the banks of the Mekong River for a beautiful sunset amid hundreds of Saigon residents enjoying the riverfront park where the catfish is central theme.

We visited the t'ai chi at Chao Anouvong Waterfront Park and watched a class of young people practicing.

From a street vendor we learned about and tasted a variety of foods including lotus seeds.

The cool night is a popular time to walk and see the fish market with frogs, mud sliders, and huge oysters among a few of the seafood items. We were not allowed to take photos because the mud sliders eyes are supposedly damaged with “flash” photos.

Then we enjoyed a delicious home-hosted meal.

Day 13, November 13, 2013

This morning we bused out of Saigon, rode a ferry across the Mekong River, and boarded a small boat for a local tour along the River. The river is full of activity of all kinds. 

We had another learning and discovery event at the fish farm where the farmers live, farm and produce the pellets to feed catfish.

We said good-bye to Tee before boarding a fast-boat to travel up the Mekong River to Phenom Penh, Cambodia. Of course, Peter once again had his turn at the helm.

In conclusion, the country of Viet Nam is beautiful and diverse, the Vietnamese people are delightful and without obvious animosity toward North Americans.  We recommend traveling there.

"To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power." --George MacDonald, Scottish writer.

Catherine and Peter