War and Peace in Saigon

Our final stop in Vietnam was in Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City. We also traveled there by bus - this one an overnight ride that arrived at 6 a.m. Not exactly luxurious, but when you're traveling for several months those $6 bus fares help stretch your budget considerably.

Saigon is a bigger, brasher version of Hanoi. There is an obvious cultural different between the North and South regions of Vietnam, which we could see as we traveled down the length of the country. The North is a more traditional, conservative culture when compared to the South. Saigon, you might say, is the New York of Vietnam - it's busier, it's more commercial, and the people are more direct.

Saigon is also a good place to learn more about the Vietnam War. It's not always pleasant, but it is interesting. One afternoon, we visited the War Remnants Museum. Apparently, it used to be called the Museum of American and Chinese War Crimes, but the name was toned down for the benefit of tourists. In addition to the basic displays of tanks and planes, there are numerous grisly pictures of victims of the war - dead soldiers, villagers being shot, people being thrown out of helicopters, and the deformed victims of the Agent Orange defoliation efforts. It's a one-sided display of the Vietnam War, for sure, but it certainly drives home the point that war is hell, no matter the cause. Very strange to be an American at that museum - especially when an armless victim of the war tries to sell you postcards and asks the question that all touts ask in this country, "Where you from?" How do you even answer?

Remarkably, though, there doesn't seem to be any animosity against the U.S. for the war, at least among the people we met. A large percentage of the Vietnamese population is under 30-years-old, so they have no memory of the war and they simply want to move forward rather than reflect on the past. People were quite friendly to us and not a single person ever expressed anything negative about America. Quite the opposite, in fact - most people were excited to meet foreigners in general, and Americans in particular.

Also while in Saigon, we took a half-day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels. These tunnels were dug in the jungle and used by Vietnamese soldiers during the war as a place to live and hide, and as a staging ground for attacks. They are pretty ingeniously designed and camouflaged. Here is a picture of a Vietnamese slipping into one of the tunnel entrances...



We had the chance to crawl through the tunnels for about 30 yards - the entrance was widened for Western tourists and we had to crouch or crawl through the dark passages. Very claustrophobic and we were happy to get back above ground.

On a less militaristic note -before leaving Saigon, we also spent time with some new Australian friends, Peter and Barbara Storey. We initially met them on the Halong Bay boat. Then, quite by accident, we ran into them almost a week later having drinks along the beach in Nha Trang. Even more remarkably, we then bumped into them on a street corner in Saigon - quite a feat in a city of several million people, since our hotels were a taxi ride away from each other. It's not uncommon to run into the same travelers here and there, since people frequent the same sites. But after all that serendipity, we had to have at least one planned meeting and so we met for dinner and drinks before leaving the country. Next stop for us - Cambodia.

Lisa buying jewelry on the beach...

Nha Trang

Leaving Hoi An, we stayed on the budget travel circuit and booked a $6, eight-hour bus ride to Nha Trang. It was billed as an air-conditioned, hop-on hop-off tourist bus. But since we were the only Westerners who booked a ticket for that day, the ride turned into a hop-on hop-off minibus for locals. And so we set off in a 24-seater with torn seats and sporadic air-conditioning, and spent the day in the company of Vietnamese who spoke no English. Our dismay dissipated quickly, however, when we passed a bus for those locals who couldn't afford even the $6 fare - the vehicle looked as if it were held together with duct tape, all the seats were filled and passengers were standing in the aisles, there were a dozen bikes tied to the roof, and everyone was seeking relief from the stifling humidity by fanning themselves through open windows. Suddenly, it seemed as if we were traveling in comparative luxury.

Once we arrived in Nha Trang, we found a $12 hotel room with air conditioning and satellite tv just one block from the beach. Then we hooked up with Elliott, who teaches English in Vietnam and is my sister Patty's brother-in-law. We spent several pleasant days in the town, which was a relaxing place to hang out. Lisa managed to get in a half-day dive, we hung out by the beach, and we also enjoyed going out several times for dinner and drinks with Elliott and his girlfriend...

Cooking in Hoi An

Lisa and Bob with San, the animated 20-year-old Hoi An woman who taught a cooking class and gave us a ride to our hotel on a motorbike...

Hoi An

After two peaceful days cruising Halong Bay, it was back into the bedlam of travel. We booked a 14-hour, overnight train ride that took us to the smaller town of Hoi An, a fishing village in central Vietnam that has ended up on the tourist circuit.

The journey wasn’t all that bad. O.K., so the train was noisy, the food was pretty bad (sticky white rice with lukewarm, scary-looking green vegetables for lunch), and the beds weren’t all that clean (we discovered in the morning that they simply re-folded and re-used the sheets), but we were at least prepared with our own sleeping liners and snacks. And we got some sleep. Moreover, the early morning views of rural Vietnam were priceless – people were up early in the morning, plowing the fields with oxen, wading through rice paddies, and pedaling bicycles on red-dirt roads or along the narrow lanes that separate the rice fields.

We found Hoi An to be an agreeable place to hang out for a few days. The town was a bit more touristy yet much more laid back than Hanoi. We spent time walking around the streets, shopping and taking pictures. Here is a photo from the local produce market...





Our highlight for Hoi An, though, came on the second day in town, when we took a cooking class at one of the restaurants that overlooks the riverfront. For just $4 we were able to select any three items on the menu and learn how to cook them. So we made (and ate) shrimp spring rolls, sour soup with pineapple and shrimp, and fish fillets sauteed in ginger and onion. We’ll see whether we can actually repeat the results back home. ;-)

Actually, an even better part of the experience was getting to know the instructor a bit. She was a 20-year-old Vietnamese woman (San) who spoke pretty good English. Her personality was infectious, and she was always laughing or even singing. We went back to the same restaurant for dinner and talked with her until the restaurant was closed. We were even more impressed by her personality when she told us that she worked from 8 am to 10 pm, seven days a week. And her wages for a 98-hour week? About $30 for the month, some of which she sent home to help support her family. As Lisa said, it kind of changes your perspective when you feel overworked and underpaid.

When the evening was over, she offered us a ride back to our hotel on her motorbike. We had initially vowed to stay off these things in Vietnam, as we had seen how the traffic patterns worked and the fact that no one ever wore a helmet. But she was so excited about giving us a ride that it was hard to turn her down. And it was only a mile or so to the hotel. So Lisa got on the back of San’s bike, and I got on a bike with another restaurant employee, and off we went - speeding through the streets of Southeast Asia without a helmet. Obviously, it was perfectly fine and we were back at our hotel safe and sound in no time, plotting the next stop on our Vietnamese journey.

Another view of Halong Bay

Halong Bay

While we were in Hanoi, we booked a two-day, one-night visit to Halong Bay, which is a World Heritage site off the northeastern coast of Vietnam, about a three-hour drive from Hanoi. The trip included an overnight stay on a boat.

There is no good way to truly describe how beautiful Halong Bay is. There are thousands of islands and sheer cliffs of limestone rising out of the water. It almost appears to be a forest of trees and stone growing out of the sea. And it is so quiet and tranquil. There were times when we could hear nothing but the lapping of water against the boat and the cry of nearby birds.

Here is a picture of Halong Bay. The wooden boats in the foreground are typical of the boat we were on for two days.



The first day,we left Hanoi at 8 a.m. and were on the boat and setting off by noon. We cruised the bay for a while, and then we stopped at a place called ‘Surprise Cave’ – it’s a huge cave in the middle of one of the limestone islands. There were stalagmites and stalactites galore, and all sorts of beautiful colors and shades of light inside. Later in the afternoon, we stopped at another island, where there was a steep climb up 480 steps or so to a pagoda and a viewing area. From there, the boat docked further out in the bay and we were able to jump off the side and go swimming in the sea. We were there as the sun set in a stunning blend of purples and oranges. Then we had dinner and sat out on the deck in the early evening with a bottle of wine.

Quite a nice experience. It was one of the highlights of our travels in Vietnam.

Hanoi, Vietnam

After leaving Australia, we arrived in Hanoi in late morning on Friday, June 3. This was our first visit to Asia in three years, so there was just a bit of trepidation as our plane descended into Hanoi. This was Vietnam, after all. It wasn’t all that long ago that soldiers were fighting and dying there, and it’s only been a decade since the U.S. and Vietnam normalized relations again. What we've found here, though, are very friendly people.

We’d booked a hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and so, after checking into our room, we ventured into Vietnam for the first time. The very first impression we had was of the heat. It was June and we knew it would be hot, but we fully weren’t prepared for the extent of the humidity. As soon as we walked outside, we were enveloped in moisture. It just clung to us, and at the end of the day it seemed as if every part of our body was sticky with sweat and humidity.

The second immediate impression was of the noise. Particularly the traffic noise, coming from the incessant honking of horns by motorbikes, taxis and buses. Drivers honk to tell others to get out of the way, they honk when they approach an intersection, and they honk as a warning to anyone who might not see them coming. They do this because vehicles rarely stop moving. The traffic in Hanoi, and throughout Vietnam, is quite incredible, especially since you have to fight every instinct you have about the proper way to cross a street.

In Vietnam, you see, you have to walk into oncoming traffic. Your mother’s voice may ring in your ears the whole way, saying “don’t ever walk into the street if there is traffic coming,” and yet that is what you have to do -- step off the sidewalk and straight into the teeth of 50 or more motorbikes that are heading straight towards you with no intention of stopping. There are few stop lights and the movement of traffic is constant, so there is really no other way to get to the other side.

What the locals do is to walk out a few steps, giving the oncoming traffic a little bit of distance to see you and to maneuver around you. Then you walk a few more steps, and a few more, until you are in the middle of the street and there are motorbikes and even a few taxis whizzing by on both sides. There is absolutely no turning back, and even to stop and hesitate can cause a disruption to the flow of traffic. There is a rhythm to the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, which the Vietnamese innately understand but which foreigners can easily disrupt. The trick, we’ve been told, is to keep moving slowly and just trust that the traffic will find ways to maneuver around you. So, far it’s worked.

This is a typical traffic scene in Hanoi. It's certainly a unique experience to cross a street by stepping in front of these motorbikes and letting them weave their way around you...




During our time in Hanoi, we spent quite a bit of time just wandering around and soaking in the atmosphere. But among other things, we also:

- Went to the Water Puppet theater, where we watched a one-hour performance. Water puppetry is a specialty of north Vietnam. The pupeteers stand in waist-deep water behind a bamboo screen and maneuver puppets on long poles. The ‘stage’ is actually a pool of water, on which the puppets perform.

- Visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Very similar to the experience of seeing Mao’s preserved body in Beijing. The body of ‘Uncle Ho’ is preserved and displayed in a huge mausoleum. We were there on a Saturday morning, and thousands of Vietnamese were lined up to file past the body. We left our bags and cameras at a holding area and stood in line for 45 minutes, dripping wet in the humidity, before finally entering the air conditioned mausoleum and getting a glimpse of the body, bathed in light and encased in glass.

Opera House at sunset

and another picture...

Opera House at sunset

Lisa in front of the Harbour Bridge

Here is another picture from Sydney...

Lisa in front of the Harbour Bridge ...

The Journey Begins in Australia

Well, after a month of traveling, it's long past time to start putting some trip updates online, so here goes...

AUSTRALIA

Our international trip began in mid-May in Australia. We focused most of our efforts on two Australian destinations - the northeast coast near Cairns and then Sydney.

Although we initially had a goal of seeing more of the country, we scaled back our efforts for a couple of reasons. One, Australia was getting ready for winter when we arrived and so we'd earlier decided to stick to the warmer regions of the country, which ruled out such southern cities as Melbourne and Adelaide. Second, and most importantly, we were pretty tired after some long days and short nights spent packing up our house in Boston, then driving cross-country, and finally getting little sleep during the few days that we were in Tucson. So it seemed sensible to not overdue it at the start of our journey, especially with some harder travel ahead of us in Asia.

But the Australian experience that we did have was interesting and enjoyable. After a 31-hour trip from Tucson to Cairns, including an unexpected 7-hour layover in the Sydney airport due to a mechanical issue with the plane, we based ourselves in the small town of Palm Cove, one of the jumping-off points for trips to the Great Barrier Reef. We gave ourselves a week to rest and recharge. It’s funny, though, how our minds and bodies work – after being so busy for so long, it was difficult to relax at first. We found ourselves waking up at 6 a.m., tired but unable to shut down our minds.

Of course, maybe we were waking up early each morning just thinking about all the things that could kill us on those Australian beaches. I’ve never before been on a beach that warned people to beware of sharks, crocodiles AND deadly jellyfish. It was near the end of ‘stinger’ season in northeast Australia – for several months of each year the waters are inhabited by dangerous jellyfish, some of which merely inflict painful stings and others that can cause death fairly quickly. The first aid instructions posted along the shore reminded rescuers to ‘restrain’ the victim (because the pain is so bad) and then to ‘assess consciousness.’ Interestingly, halfway through our week there we were told that stinger season was over and that it was safe to go back in the water – but be sure to notify a lifeguard if you were stung by a stray jellyfish that still happened to be around. Hmmm. You know, suddenly the cold waters of the north Atlantic didn’t seem so uninviting.

Seriously, though, it wasn’t all that bad. The beach was gorgeous, and how often do we really swim in the ocean, after all? We were in the end able to spend some time relaxing and reading, and went for some walks on the beach. The down time was good for our bodies.

The thing to do in this part of Australia, as you might guess, is to explore the Great Barrier Reef, which we did. What I never realized before is that this marine park is actually numerous reefs that stretch over an area of water the size of the United Kingdom. We booked boat trips to the outer reefs, which are more than an hour offshore and on the edge of the continental shelf. Lisa got in some dives and I did some snorkeling (we were assured there were no jellyfish in this area!). The reefs and the fish were truly amazing. So many different colors and shapes and textures. It’s astounding to experience this entire other universe below the surface of the oceans.

From Cairns, we flew down to Sydney, which we found to be a great city. It’s similar to Boston in some ways, but with a much bigger and nicer waterfront. We stayed in the suburb of Glebe, just a 10-minute walk from Darling Harbour near the city center. It was a sort of bohemian place, with lots of ethnic restaurants, new age bookstores and the like.

We spent a day exploring the area around the Sydney Opera House, which is a truly unique building that sits on a small peninsula of land by the harbor. Shadowing the Opera House is the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where we climbed up the pylon lookout for quite a nice view over Sydney and the bay area. We also explored various city neighborhoods and spent an afternoon at the Aquarium, which has to be one of the best in the world. On another day, we took the ferry to Manly, a northern suburb of Sydney that offers a wonderful view of Sydney and its harbour area.

Here is the obligatory Kodak photo moment from Sydney ...

Bob and Lisa in front of the Sydney Opera House



There is certainly a lot more that we’d like to explore in Australia, so I suppose we’ll have to just plan another trip there some day in order to catch some of the cities and sights that we missed this time. We are glad that we got a taste of the country, though (and now we can also say we’ve been to six continents), but this trip was even more about experiencing other, more different parts of the world. And that began in our next stop – Vietnam.