Vietnam – The Epilogue

We have kept in e-mail in touch with Hai Pham, our young enterprising Vietnamese guide from Hanoi. Hai, a twenty- something, recently married and bubbling with expectations for the future, is of the generation that will propel Vietnam into the 21^st century.

Following the rising tide of tourism, Hai studied at his university to be a tour guide. Always keen to share his local knowledge with his “guests” (not customers), Hai provides wonderful color commentary in his emerging English fluency. Hai accompanied us on our tour of Ha Long Bay. He made sure our concerns, questions and needs were satisfied.

Those seeking a wonderful view of Hanoi are recommended to contact Hai (sapatour29_2@yahoo.com). The picture is Hai Pham, his parents and more “guests” that he honored with his energy.

Other resources one might wish to explore in Vietnam whether seeking employment, teaching English, extending a helping hand or mingling with others that have gone before you are listed below.

Vietnamworks.com and Navigos.com are related job search sites.

Sunderland University (Email: sunderland.vietnam@gmail.com or recruitment@vus-etsc.edu.vn) are good starting places for those who wish to teach English to eager Vietnamese students.

The East Meet West Foundation (EMW) has for over 17 years been working with the people of Vietnam to build a peaceful and prosperous future.

The International Ladies of Vietnam of Ho Chi Minh City is an organization of expats living in Vietnam. Very similar to the Overseas Women’s Club in Bangalore, the ILV helps people navigate the many unknowns upon their arrival in Vietnam and provides a strong social circle.

And to all those we met and made our trip to Vietnam a wonderful adventure we say, “Cam un”….Thank you.

I’ve Seen Fire and I’ve Seen Rain

Toward the end our visit to Vietnam we reflected on our trip at the open air roof top restaurant at our hotel in HCM City. The hot humid air of the day had changed to a cooling evening breeze and let us pay some attention to what was going on around us. A pleasant young Vietnamese waitress explained, in English, how we could best use our complimentary coupons. A group of retirement aged Germans joked and conversed at the table next to us. The swimming pool had its share of activity. James Taylor and Beetle music gently played in the background. We wondered just what it would have been like if the US had won its long struggle in this country.

A few days earlier on our taxi ride from the airport to our hotel, our driver with a small but sufficient grasp of English asked us where we were from. When we answered, “The US”, he responded “Very good country, America.” As we walked the streets, we noticed that Coke and Pepsi, products that know no international boundaries, were widely available. HBO and CNN were beamed into hotel rooms. Without hesitation, American accented English was used with westerners. To our children, Vietnam is not the land of your mom and dad.

We found that a smile and a stumbling attempt at Vietnamese brought reciprocated smiles and a gracious forgiveness for the horrible mangling of the very tonal Vietnamese language. A camera brought about mugging and more smiles when the instantly digital image was shared.

The main streets teemed with motorbikes and commerce. Side streets, less congested with vehicular traffic, were filled with fruit and veggie sellers. We know of nowhere else where one can buy a grapefruit the size of your head. On those side streets, there were more pleasant exchanges in mangled language made clear though hand signs, facial expressions and the universal language of a smile and laughter.

Included here are some parting images we wish to share from our adventure of Being In Vietnam.

War Remnants Museum

The War Remnants Museum was opened in September 1975, four months after tank number 842 crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, ending the war. When it was first opened, it was called the Museum of American War Crimes. It was later renamed to the War Crimes Museum and finally, with the focus on tourism, renamed again as the War Remnants Museum. The museum, not surprisingly, captures a view of the American War from a victor’s point of view. Despite the absence of any mention of the threatening factor that the spread of communism had on the West during the Cold War and the shared responsibility for senseless brutality executed by all that were under arms, the War Remnants Museum coverage was generally cognizant of the sensibilities to all that may visit.

The museum has eight themed areas. One starts with a section called Historic Truths with photos ranging from American tanks supplied to the French to American G.I. landing in Danang in March 1965. The final themed area, called War and Peace, is a collection of children’s paintings.

Vestiges of War Crimes and Aftermaths was probably the most difficult display to view. A large color photograph of the Son My (My Lai) massacre held a prominent position on the wall. Also displayed were photos of the results on both the environment and people of the chemical defoliant called Agent Orange. One Agent Orange photo, indicating the extent of the defoliant’s reach, was one of an American mother whose soldier son was also a victim of exposure to Agent Orange. More difficult for Jay was to see the grenade launcher weapon he carried 35 years ago as a young Marine displayed in this area.

The Requiem section dedicated to the 134 journalists from 11 nations who died in the war provided a more universal view of the war. The gallantry of war is far less evident when looking into the faces of men bedraggled in combat uniforms with no country affiliation, with only cameras hung from their necks. It was a unique collection of photos of American G.I.’s we had seen in Time magazine, hung along side photos of North Vietnamese soldiers never seen in our western press.

Another section of the museum that touched on the “international support for the Vietnamese people in their Resistance War” was not very candid, revealing that the “support” was mainly opposition to the war. The famous photo of a student kneeling over the body of another student killed at Kent State was displayed. It was a difficult time for everyone.

Outside, there were displays of American military artillery, tanks and Huey helicopters. All this equipment seemed so modern during the war, but now the tools of that war are literally museum pieces.

Our unguided tour lasted one hour. We were pleased to move on with our visit and lives, as we think most people are who are touched by this museum.

First Look at Ho Chi Minh City

We started our four day stay in HCM City, formerly Saigon, with a tour of the old President’s Palace, now called the Reunification Palace. Built on the site of the old French governor general's home, the building was the seat of power for the government of South Vietnam. President Johnson met with President Nguyen Van Thieu in this building. It was also at this site, on April 30, 1975 tanks lead by number 843 crashed through the front gates marking the end of a very long war.

The building has been preserved much the way it looked on that spring day in 1975. Time has had a hand, however, in how the building is seen today. With a nod to the distance traveled since the war days, the front of the building was not draped with red banners of hammers and sickles. Rather, multistory banners advertising Cannon cameras hung from the front façade. Replicas of the tanks that burst onto the compound stood silently beneath shady trees.

We took a one hour tour of the building with an English-speaking young Vietnamese guide. We visited spacious hallways and rooms that were well appointed, but lacked warmth. The building has been described from “modern” to “tacky”, but was a marvel of its time when it was designed by Paris-trained Vietnamese architect Ngo Viet Thu. We visited diplomatic reception rooms, conference rooms, the first lady’s salon, the game/gambling room, the president’s private movie salon and the top floor open air dance room, which was right next to the rooftop helicopter landing pad. Once we headed to the basement and saw the bomb shelters, map rooms and communication center, the image of this building’s place in history became apparent.

Frozen in time are maps indicating areas of operations for various military units. Dozens of teletype machines once noisily communicating information in a pre-Internet era sat silently in their own room.

We ended our tour with a short English narrated film on the history of the “American War” and the eventual victory of the People’s Liberation Army. It was a little tough to take the repeated reference in the film to “American imperialism,” but overall the tone at theReunification Palace was subdued. After all, when we walked through the very gates that the now quiet tanks smashed through over 30 years ago, we were greeted with waving banners of western capitalist consumerism from Canon camera. The world does indeed get turned upside down every once in awhile.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Vinh Ha Long, or Bay of the Descending Dragon, lies in the northeastern part of Vietnam and is 165 km from Hanoi. It is often touted by proud Vietnamese as the world's Eighth wonder and is a UNESCO world heritage site. One of the main attractions of Ha Long is the bay's calm water and the approximately 3,000 limestone mountains dotting the seascape.

Upon arriving in Ha Long at noon, we boarded a junk and set sail with eight other people in addition to each party’s Vietnamese tour guide. Our boat mates were from Singapore, France, Australia, and the US. Our junk slowly motored around the bay for several hours, allowing us to take in the natural beauty of all the limestone formations and enjoy the peaceful water. From time to time local people would pull along side our junk and try to sell us bottled drinks and cookies, or sea shells and coral. Our junk eventually moored at a rather large formation and we could see people half way up the side, in front of a large cave opening.

Our guide, Hai, lead us though a huge cave inside, consisting of three large rooms. When the government began to allow tourists to visit Vietnam in the 1990’s, lights and footpaths were added. It was quite impressive. Unfortunately, most of the individual stalagmites and stalactites have been broken off by tourists or locals wanting to sell them to tourists. Astonishingly, the cave had no water in it that we could see.

After leaving the cave and returning to the junk, we slowly motored to a small sandy beach where those who wanted to swim could do so. By the time it started to get dark we all got back on the junk and headed a short distance away to anchor for the night.

We enjoyed the delicious meals that were prepared for us, which always consisted of several kinds of seafood (fish, jumbo shrimp, crabs) and rice, even for breakfast!

By the time noon rolled around again on the second day, we were docked at the harbor where we had climbed aboard. The next group of eager tourists was waiting their turn as we debarked.

On the 3 ½ hour long drive to and from Ha Long, we stopped at the obligatory emporium. This one is half way between Hanoi and Ha Long and is quite large and impressive. Visitors could wander through the work shops, watching workers sew both pictures and clothes, make jewelry and create laquerware. We saw a number of workers in wheel chairs, making the emporium an “equal opportunity employer.” Since we are in a “no new stuff” mode, we looked at the pretty handiwork, took pictures, sat long enough to enjoy a cup of the local tea and the ambiance, then moved on.

Red River Delta Water Puppets

Among the must-see sights in Hanoi is the Water Puppet (Mua Roi Nuoc) show at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. Water puppet theater has been providing entertainment from its origins in the Red River delta in northern Vietnam for nearly a thousand years. With so much “rehearsal time,” the presentation of short vignettes such as rural life, the dragon dance, rearing ducks, catching foxes, on a buffalo with a flute, and catching frogs is performed with a practiced elegance.

A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. Further enhancing the experience of seeing three foot high puppets frolicking about in the water are singers of Cheo (a form of opera), singing the story being performed by the puppets.

The staging of the performance is rather simple. Puppets made of water resistant fig wood are fixed to bamboo poles approximately four feet long and operated by puppeteers standing in hip-deep water. The puppeteers are hidden by a bamboo curtain running the length of the back of the water stage. Each of the 17 vignettes we enjoyed lasted about 2 – 3 minutes.

Admission was moderately priced between 20,000 to 40,000 dong with another 10,000 dong required for use of the camera. Pre-show introductions on the background of the performance were provided in English. When our puppet narrator or Chu Teu emerged, not surprisingly, Vietnamese was the language of the show.

Our written program in Vietnamese, English and French offered some insight into the theme and significance of the short performances. Our program explained that The Harvest Festival was the depiction of a new graduate’s return to his village and his desire to express his gratitude to his ancestors. We recognized the depiction of the Restored Sword legend as a tortoise puppet took from Le Loi the magical sword he used to route Chinese overloads. The tortoise then disappeared beneath the water thus returning the sword to its divine owners.

We know we missed many of the underlying social and cultural elements of the performances. Imagine Vietnamese watching a performance of Okalahoma trying to figure out why a surrey with the fringe on the top is such a big deal. We need more cultural exchange programs!

At the conclusion of the performance, the puppeteers emerged from behind the bamboo curtain to receive much deserved applause and recognition. The orchestra received their recognition as well.

The crowd, mainly tourists, then rose and milled about the theater souvenir stand before climbing back onto tour buses. We ambled the short distance from the theatre back to our hotel. A stop at a cyber café (3,000 dong/ hour:20 cents) gave us a chance to check e-mail. As we continued to the hotel, we marveled at all the displays of flowers, candies, paper lanterns and other goodies in small street shops, providing gifts to celebrate National Women’s Day. Another reason for more cultural exchange programs.

Outside Hanoi

We got an early start on our day tour outside Hanoi that took us to the pottery village of Bat Trang, the But Thap Buddhist Pagoda, the home of a local artist in Dong Ho and finally to a furniture village. Our driver and guide arrived promptly at 8:00 AM and we were on our way.

Bat Trang is popular stop on the tourist trek. A whole street of pottery/ceramic shops display wares from playful pooches to tortoise-shaped planters. We stopped at the Minh Hai Ceramic Company and had an interesting tour of the pottery process. We saw the mixing of the slip (the base material for the pottery), to the pouring, cleaning, firing and painting of the pottery. The staff was quite accustomed to visitors and welcomed Jay to try his hand in shaping a bowl.

After some additional cleaning, the pottery is hand painted. Working with finely pointed brushes, a small staff of young artists moved with ease adorning the plain white pottery with goldfish, dragon flies and floral designs.

It was on the streets of Bat Trang that we first noticed how bicycles have been converted via the extension of two suspended platforms into mini trucks. A long pole attached to the handle bar allowed the “driver” to steer the cargo. A simple invention of great utility.

Next was the But Thap Buddist Pagoda, located on the bank of the Duong River, about 30 kilometers northeast of Hanoi. Originally built in the 13th century by the Tran dynasty, it has been rebuilt and restored several times. The last restoration was completed with the help of Germany in the 1990’s.

As one walks along the entranceway to the pagoda, a sense of serenity and peacefulness is felt. Inside, the smell of incense fills the air. The temple complex contains 10 buildings, long hallways and cozy courtyards. Our grasp of Buddhism is weak so we relied on our guide to gather fragmentary understandings. We learned that symbolic offerings of money to the gods include the burning of photocopies of $100 bills. More evidence of war-time healing.

Our next stop was at the home of a local artist. The home was upscale by any standard. We saw block printing and hand painting being done. We purchased scroll paintings depicting the four seasons, wrote a few comments in the guest log and we were off to the furniture village.

The last stop was anti-climactic. Rather than seeing furniture being crafted from exotic woods, we visited a furniture show room where some young gals were polishing furniture for display. They, along with our guide, were an energetic bunch ready to ham it up for the camera.

Once back to the hotel, our guide helped us purchase tickets for the Water Puppet show later that day. It was a great day of adventure.