Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City

On March 24th we took our plane from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We had a layover in Guangzhou, China, getting us into Vietnam around 11:00 pm. We didn’t plan too far ahead and hadn’t booked a place to stay our first night, so we were a bit nervous and went off of Will’s Lonely Planet book. We arrived late at a hotel recommended by Lonely Planet and were accepted with open arms. I had good feelings about Southeast Asia right away. We went to bed and slept in a little after our long day of traveling.

The next day we got up and wandered around our hotel a little bit getting our bearings. It was quite different being on our own again after having hosts for three weeks prior to our arrival in Vietnam. Due to the crowded nature of Ho Chi Minh, we were a little overwhelmed and didn’t get far before we were confronted by cyclo drivers who offered to take us around the city to different sights. We decided to go for it as it would familiarize us with where we were and we would get to sight see.

Riding in my cyclo

The first place the cyclo drivers took us was a pagoda in the middle of the city. Getting there was a bit frightening as we were on the front of the bikes that they would push into traffic. For the most part you ignore motorcycles with the thought process with the thought process that they’ll avoid you. Kind of crazy, but it works surprisingly well there. Didn’t see any accidents and the mopeds and motorcycles went at reasonable speeds. Anyway, when we got to the pagoda, it was pretty, but we’re definitely getting spoiled with how much we’ve gotten to see. At this point, pagodas and temples aren’t as appealing as they used to be with similar decorations and colors on a fair amount of the buildings throughout Asia. I wish I knew more about the history so I could pick out more differences between all of them.

From the pagoda we headed to a Chinese market. It was incredibly crowded and gave a whole new meaning to efficient use of space. Getting through some of the aisles was a squeeze and there were plenty of people grabbing Will and I saying, “Handsome man! Handsome man! This shirt is for you!” We got out of the main area of the market and grabbed some lunch at a small vendor on the first floor that had incredibly good food for the amount we paid. The cyclo drivers were waiting for us and charging us by the hour, so we decided to head out.

Finally the drivers took us to the Vietnam War Museum. It was incredibly interesting getting such a wildly different perspective on the war from the little I’ve heard about it in America. I’m not sure how I went through all of my high school and college education without learning very much about that war, but I definitely would not have been shown images of North Vietnamese soldiers being painted as patriots dying for their country with guns pointed to their heads by American soldiers. It’s sad to me how much money is spent on figuring out ways to harm other people.

After the war museum we called it a day and headed back to our hotel. Across the street there was a bar that had decent looking pizzas so we headed there for dinner as we’ve been craving cheese and something more familiar for a while. It hit the spot and several bartenders came over to practice their English with and get to know us.

The next day we signed up to take a Vietnamese cooking class nearby. We had some time to kill before heading to the class, so we went to a church nearby. It was interesting how they burned incense for Mary and their crucifix in a very similar manner to how incense is burned in front of Buddhas at temples and pagodas.

After the church, we went to our class at the Mai Home Saigon Culinary Art Center. There was one couple from the UK who joined us who wanted to learn how to cook pho, a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup dish. As a result we had to cough up a few more dollars for ingredients, but it was definitely worth it. If enough of you are interested, I’ll post the recipe on the blog. We paid about as much for the class and the food as we would’ve in Australia for just the meal. It’s really nice to be in Southeast Asia.

Will preparing spices for the Pho broth

The delicious banana flower salad we learned to make

Our last day in Saigon we were shown around by one of the waitresses from the bar we got pizza from. She took us to a large market in a warehouse that we hadn’t been to yet and insisted we see it. It was similar to the Chinese market in how crowded it was and how people would grab Will and I telling us we wanted something. There was plenty to buy and again I wished my bag was bigger. I’m still not willing to carry all of that on my back for the next three months.

From the market we asked the waitress to take us to a Vietnamese restaurant she considered good. We went to a pancake restaurant where the pancakes were thin, crispy, and filled with shrimp, potatoes, and bean sprouts. We were instructed to break apart the large pancake and wrap it in lettuce before dipping it in fish sauce. Quite different from anything I’ve tasted, especially considering the shrimp shells were left on inside the pancakes. Despite that it was a really enjoyable meal!

Hue

That night we took the overnight train to Hue. We got in at about 3:30 pm and took a cab to the Green Bamboo Hotel, another Lonely Planet suggestion. We got settled and then went out for noodle soup, which ended up making me sick for the first time on the trip. It was a pretty good run so far though! It could’ve been a result of drinking all of the broth so quickly because I was famished. Needless to say, that night ended pretty early.

The next day we got up earlier and walked to see the Imperial City in Hue. As a large festival was being held there for the New Year in April there was a fair amount of construction going on, setting up stages and getting other things ready. The last emperor of Vietnam lived inside the Imperial City before transferring power to the Vietnam Liberation Party. It has taken a significant amount of damage from the French and American wars that is clearly visible further inside the Imperial City, but they’re currently renovating it and hope to fully repair it in the next decade.

A courtyard nside the citadel

After the Imperial City we went to the river to find out how much a boat ride would cost. We were planning on going on a boat in Halong Bay anyway, so we didn’t end up hiring one for a river tour of Hue. Instead we sat on a bench and people watched for a while, being approached occasionally by people trying to sell us things. Eventually a Vietnamese guy about our age came up and started speaking in broken English to us, telling us he wanted to practice speaking. He was taking classes and asked us for tips on how to improve his English. We talked for about an hour before he pulled out post cards and told us he sold them to help pay for his education. I asked him how much he wanted for one and when he said, “pay what you want,” I wanted to help him at least a little. Usually we’ve been told prices right away! We exchanged contact information and parted ways.

On the 30th we got up early to go on a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) tour. Our tour guide was a South Vietnam war veteran who had been captured as a POW by the North 6 months before the end of the war. He was a little difficult to understand so it was more sightseeing and picking up little things here and there than I’d hoped, but it was incredible to see nonetheless.

Me with our DMZ tour guide on a bridge connecting the former North and South Vietnam

Our first stop on the tour was the Horrible Highway. From what I understood, a standoff occurred on the Horrible Highway between the Viet Cong and South Vietnamese troops, but there were many innocent civilians present who lost their lives as well. After the war, the Vietnam government built a monument to pay respect to those who died.

Our next stop was a bullet riddled church further inside the DMZ. I didn’t understand our guide at all at this point, but it was incredible to see how much damage the church had taken in a battle. When we got there a cow was standing inside looking out as the land is now used for farming, which was an interesting juxtaposition. Inside there was still an “INRI” plaque where a crucifix must have hung underneath.

Our final stop on the tour was a visit to clay tunnels dug by a village over a seven year time span. The tunnels were three levels deep, the deepest being 23 m for protection from bombings. There were 15 different entrances all covered by bamboo to shield them from the sky, some of which went out to the South China Sea. Gorgeous view. It was impressive how small the tunnels were considering people would have to rush down during an air raid. The tunnels have never collapsed and now there are areas that tourists can walk through.

Bamboo covered entrance to the tunnels

Our last full day in Hue we spent catching up with emails and figuring out Hanoi. We discovered a few days before that two friends from St. Olaf, Ted and Kate Hagen, were also traveling through Southeast Asia and were arriving in Hanoi on April 3, so we coordinated with them a bit. Small world! We let them know where we were staying and then hopped on our night train to Hanoi.

Hanoi

At 11:00 am we arrived in Hanoi and were picked up by our hotel. We’d done some research and discovered that a big scam in Hanoi is fake hotels having fake taxis to take you there, so we arranged before our arrival to be taken there. We got into the hotel and I checked my email to discover that Ted and Kate had gotten the same online deal we did and were staying in the same hotel. We waited a few minutes for them to arrive and then went to get lunch.

After lunch we walked around checking out the Old Quarter, where we were staying in Hanoi. We decided that we wanted to see the Ethnography Museum where there were many authentic homes built by different groups of people living in Vietnam. It was fascinating to see how many people lived and continue to do so even now.

While at the museum we saw a water puppet show. We made it in perfect time to catch the full act that involved incredibly intricate puppets that moved in all sorts of ways and fireworks. Whoever first thought it was very clever.

One of the many intricate water puppets

After the museum we headed back to town and tried to find bia hoi, or fresh beer. It’s a beer made with rice and as a result it goes bad quickly and is made daily. We heard that it was a Vietnam staple and we had to try it. We asked some locals about it and they pointed in the direction to go. After wandering around the streets for a bit, we found a small outdoor “bar” on a street corner with small plastic chairs and tables and sat down. The size of the place very much added to the experience, forcing us to converse with the people sitting at the table next to us as so many people wanting bia hoi. Each glass of bia hoi was sold for 5,000 dong or about $0.25. No wonder it’s so popular! We ended up meeting a couple from Alaska that had been traveling in Vietnam for three or four months with their two year old son. I have to find some job that lets me do something similar!

A few days later we went to see Ho Chi Minh’s corpse in the mausoleum in Hanoi. It was impressive how organized they make people walk through the mausoleum and everyone walks through in silence to respect Ho Chi Minh. After the mausoleum you walk through his former palace and the house on stilts he preferred to the palace. The fact that he chose to live in a two room home instead of the palace made him well liked by the people as they viewed him as one of them rather than just a ruler.

After walking around the city for a significant portion of the day, we couldn’t resist the urge to go back to get a refreshing bia hoi and sit. It was a blast because we ended up sitting with different groups and talking with locals, trying our best to communicate with the people. They were all very friendly and one man I was talking to was getting married at the end of the week so he was out with his friends for the night. When I was about to start asking him about his wedding, two motorcycles flew down the street blasting their horns which got everyone’s attention immediately. I saw a police truck following the motorcycles and it stopped in front of our bia hoi restaurant. I know I looked confused as the man getting married shouted in my ear, “Grab your chair and run!” which I saw many people doing, so I picked up my chair and ran with a crowd into an alley. I found some foreigners who explained to me that the place we were at wasn’t legally allowed to serve food even though countless similar shops do, so occasionally the police will come and either extort the restaurants for money or take their equipment. Such a different world.

Halong Bay

The next day the four of us headed to Halong Bay for a two day, one night stay on a boat. On our arrival on our boat we got settled in our rooms and were then served lunch. The boat took us into Halong Bay during the meal and I think any trip to Vietnam is incomplete without seeing it, regardless of how touristy it is. The views were incredible and as usual it’s impossible to do them justice with pictures. The fog made it even more surreal with these large rocks slowly forming in the distance and clearing up as we got closer.

That day we went to see the Amazing Cave that was much larger than I’d expected. Our guide from the boat took us through the caves and told us stories of the discovery of the caves and pointed out the names of different rock formations. After the Amazing Cave we went to a floating village to get kayaks to get closer to the isles of Halong and look in an unlit cave.

The next day we got up early for breakfast and then were taken on a rowboat through a floating village. We saw their school and homes up close that were both fascinating. I can’t imagine growing up in a floating village and that being all I knew, but I would like to try living in one for a little while just to see what it was like.

A floating village we passed by on our boat

On the 6th we left for Luang Prabang, Laos, deciding to join Ted and Kate there. Going there wasn’t even in our initial plans when we left the states, but as we knew people were going and it was recommended to us, we bought some plane tickets to avoid the hassle of crossing the boarder by land. When we were leaving Vietnam it was the first time I’ve felt sad to leave a country since we started the trip. I had a phenomenal time meeting people, seeing as much as we could see during our stay and meeting up with some Oles…again!

Oles in Vietnam! Kate Hagen, Will, Ted Hagen, and I