A brief tale of our travels in Vietnam and Cambodia

Why Vietnam?

I have always felt that I have somehow been inexplicably tied to Vietnam. I think the main reason for this is that I was born in 1968. Here are a few things that happened that year:

January 13 - Johnny Cash records “live at Folsom Prison,”
January 19 - Eartha Kitt denounces the Vietnam war.
January 21 - A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland discharging 4 nuclear bombs.
February 1 - Vietnam War: A Viet Cong officer is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan, a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The event is photographed by Eddie Adams (left)
February 8 - Civil Rights protests in South Carolina
February 24 - Tet Offensive in Vietnam.(South recaptures Hue)
March 7 - First Battle of Saigon begins
March 16 - My Lai massacre (American troops kill scores of civilians)
March 18 - Gold standard: The Congress of the United States repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back U.S. currency.
April 4 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel.
June 5 - U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy dies from his injuries the next day.
August 24 - France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.
October 8 - Vietnam War: Operation Sealords - United States and South Vietnamese forces launch a new operation in the Mekong Delta.
October 13th George Brand born
October 31 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in the Paris peace talks, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.
November 22 - The White Album is released by The Beatles.
November 26 - Vietnam War: United States Air Force First Lieutenant and Bell UH-1F helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire, earning a Medal of Honor for his bravery.
December 22 - Mao Zedong advocates educated youth in urban China to be re-educated in the country. It marks the start of the "Up to the mountains and down to the villages" movement.
December 24 - Apollo Program: U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole.
(All above information from Wikipedia)

I don’t of course remember any of this. I really grew up in the 80s, not the 60s, but I do still feel connected to the time. Before I start to tell of our adventures, I thought it would be a good place to start as these were the things I was thinking about when we landed in "Nam".

Kaori and I landed in Hanoi on September 9th. Our flight was delayed 6 hours due to a “scheduled maintenance” what every that means. It is the first of a number of problems we will have with Vietnam Air as you will soon learn.

The airport is almost comically military looking. As if I have landed in my own prefabricated 1968 memory. The walls are military green and there are 1950's fixtures . Not too much would have to be done to shoot a 60’s Vietnam era film there. Guards are wearing military uniforms and I wonder if I will get any special hassles as an American.

Customs was a breeze and we quickly meet our drive from the hotel who has picked us up at the airport. On the way from the airport, the first thing I noticed was the number of Japanese companies and Chinese characters (writing) around. We passed a Panasonic and Canon factory and then passed the “Meir Plaza Trade Market” which seemed to be a discount market with all different brands. Strange I thought, for a BJ’s type wholesale market in Communist Vietnam.

As we were six hours delayed, we arrived at the airport around 11:30pm and headed to the hotel at 12:00am. On the way, we passed motorcycle after motorcycle loaded with massive bundles of flowers. All riders were precariously balanced and in some instances the Mrs. was exhausted and passed out draping over the front handlebars as husband and the mountain of flowers headed into town. The next day, we did see some of the bikes selling some of the flowers, but they only held 1/10 of what they had the night before loaded onto one motorcycle.

We stayed at the Church Hotel which was in the center of town. The hotel was named after the French Cathedral at the end of the street.

The Church hotel was an upscale neighborhood which had an interesting mix of nice shops and local street vendors. Here are a few shots of some of the things in the hood near the hotel:




This is the street in front of the Church Hotel










A street vendor selling bananas. It seems cliché that she is wearing that hat, but so many people in Vietnam do wear them. I thought it was for the tourist at first, but when we got out into the countryside in Hue, everyone was wearing them there too.

The next day, Kaori and I decided to do the walk recommended in the “Lonely Planet” Vietnam guide. If you haven’t done much traveling I highly recommend the Lonely Planet. They always seem to give good advice and will lead one to interesting areas. They try to stay clear of the ultra tourist traps and are not so instructive it becomes a mechanical tour. There is a lot of room to get lost. (Especially with their poor maps)

Confucius overlooking Hoan Kiem lake.

The walking tour started out on around the Hoan Kiem lake. At the top of the lake was the bridge to Ngoc Son Temple.


From the temple we could see across the lake to the other end where the Thap Rue (Tortoise tower) was. Turtles are regarded with reverence and have great powers of longevity and wisdom. In the temple itself there was an enormous stuffed turtle that was apparently found in the lake dead (It had apparently died of old age and been found in the lake and stuffed, but I was a bit suspicious.)

Here's a picture taken from the temple looking out over the lake and Thap Rue
From the temple, we headed for P. Hang Dau street and past the Martyrs' Monument:

From the monument we headed up P. Hang Be st. (not to be confused with P.Hang dau st. which we had just come from.)

It's hard to describe how colorful and alive Vietnam is. There is a constant rush of people and horns honking. As a matter of fact, this photo is rather deceiving in that in most places in Vietnam, crossing the road seems to be a near death experience. Most streets are clogged with honking motorcycles and cars. The traffic lights only seem to be suggestions and the only way to cross the street is to just walk straight into the traffic and hope for the best. People will actually see you and go around, but there are a LOT of close calls. This is probably a better picture of what crossing the street actually looks like this:

For me, the craziest things was the number of families you saw on these motorcycles. You would see two and three year olds sitting in the front holding on to the handlebars. I saw mothers holding infants in one arm and their husbands with the other. There were women ready-to-pop pregnant. They all sat sidesaddle on the back of the bike. No child seats here. Then again, there were no child seats when I was a kid either.




After walking for a bit along P.Hang Be, we decided we'd stop off at a great cafe' that looked like it hadn't changed much from the French occupation:


In "1928" we got great Lattes and delicious fresh squeezed orange juice. It began to rain hard outside and I suddenly felt like I was in that Vietnam era film again (name your favorite Vietnam era film here with the main character in the pouring rain in Hanoi at a cafe).





Here is a great picture that Kaori took of me at the cafe' taking a picture. There is a mural behind me of a small town.

This is the picture I took:

Here's another:

After the rain let up we continued down the street and through the markets in the Old Quarter and saw just about anything you could imagine for sale. (And some things you couldn't imagine.) A few examples: a bag of frogs, snails, chicken, suspicious meats, dogs, cats, (We think for pets) hundreds of kinds of flowers, lanterns, dresses, straw
hats, metals of all types, all kinds of art; you name it, it is sold on the streets in Hanoi. The markets were full of life and
everyone shouting and pushing their products on you.
The most surprising thing was how much food is
prepared on the ground.

It seems like so much of what
is made here, is made on a small straw mat on the
street. The scariest part was the meat that is cut and prepared on the ground. Meat for sales is not refrigerated and the sales women just wave a leaf over it to keep the many buzzing files off.

I even saw a woman selling something that looked like
tofu in a tub on the ground, but her feet were in the
tub as well! I didn't buy any.

The Markets seemed to go on and on. There was no end to what would seem the very center of any market. They just didn't let up. It seemed so ironic that here in the city where commrad Ho chi Min led his troops, was such a strong, capitalist culture. Here are a few photos of things for sale:

Fresh Flowers were everywhere

And of course a bit of music

Something for the kids

This shop sold candy and booze. Treats for the whole family.

Lots of hats. (Western Style)

Lots of hats (Eastern) We actually bought one of these

Art (West with a touch of east)

Very Vietnam. Not Western at all. We saw a lot of anti -US art. The shop keepers were all very nice and asked me where I was from . When I told them, they tried to sell me a peace tee-shirt.

And of course the one thing that can be found in all countries...
Comrade Barbie
(pink is the new red don't you know)

One thing that did strike me as we walked around was the number of statues and reminders of the "American war" that we saw around the city. There were always fresh flowers at the base of these memorials and they seemed to be a constant reminder of the recent past.

There were also some of the pre-war temples around. I had forgotten that prior to the French occupation, the Vietnamese had borrowed Chinese characters the way the Japanese had. The only difference was that a French scholar by the name of Alex de Rhodes landed in Vietnam in 1627 and decided that the Chinese characters were far too difficult to learn, so he taught everyone how to write with the phonetic symbols that are still used today.
Here is kaori and a sales woman in front of an old temple that still had the old Chinese characters:
The guy walking by was a bit suspicious about having his photo taken. There were also a few high end stores that seemed to be designed by people who have recently traveled abroad. These were stylish boutiques with high end prices. ($25 for a shirt. Unheard of in a country that sold most clothes for a few dollars.)

Kaori's Japanese magazine had a full spread of all the latest on shopping in Vietnam. Here's one of the shops we went into:


It's too bad I didn't actually get a shot of the shop. This is a view looking out of the window onto the street. There were four girls in the shop that all spoke English and would treat you like royalty.









The last thing we did in Hanoi was to go and see the man who still to this day had so much influence over all his people. Uncle Ho.



The mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh seemed very Vladimir Ilych Lenin in nature. Although I've never been to a Communist mausoleum before, it seemed to be everything I had imagined. The guards were very strict when we finally go to the entrance which took much longer than I thought. We had to go past a series of checkpoints and were not allowed to take bags or cameras. As we entered the tomb, we were surrounded by marble and the air was very cold. Armed guards sternly silenced anyone who was talking before we entered the center chamber. As we walked in, the center of the room had a glass case with the body of Ho Chi Minh. He lie on a bed of what looked like roses perfectly preserved. (He and the roses) Four armed guards stood around him in case anyone decided to take a closer look. The woman in front of me began to cry as we passed in front of him. I noticed there were others in the crowd who were teary as well. It was a strange feeling to walk in front of him. Here was a man who had defeated the US army and changed the 20th century.


Here is a picture of comrade Brand standing in front of Uncle Ho's tomb. There was a large military square in front of the tomb where family members could take pictures to bring home to the family to show they had visited the fearless leader.




Here is a photo of the peace mural on the side of the waiting room at the complex.



After Hanoi we were off to Hue. Before we left for Hue, we asked the clerk at the front desk to reconfirm our flight. "Reconfirm?" she asked, "Oh, we don't do that here in Vietnam. It's not necessary. Every time I call, they just have a recording saying to go to the airport an hour early. Trust me. Just show up at the airport an hour or so early and you will be fine."

"Oh. So that's how it works here." We went to the airport the next day and flew to Hue. (This will come back to haunt us on the way back)

Hue was very different from Hanoi. It is about an hour south by air and is a bit further out in the countryside. From the air, you see the beach and Citadel and land at a tiny airport in the middle of what looks like a third world city.

From the airport to the center of town, we passed a lot of cinder block buildings with tin roofs. Poverty is everywhere, but you can tell that the economy in Vietnam is on the rise and can feel the energy of the country in the air. We passed a number of new hotels being built, although one did boast of a grand opening in 2006 and didn't seem but a quarter of the way finished.

The city of Hue is divided by the Song Huong (perfume river) On one side is a more modern city with newer restaurants and a proper downtown where you can get a nice latte should you tire of Pho noodles and tea.


On the other side of the river is the massive Citadel which houses the Tahi Hoa Palace, the Ngo Mon Gate and the Flag Tower.

The flag tower is a 37 m high flagpole that is a
sits in front of the Citadel. It was the scene of fierce fighting in 1968 when the VC occupied the Citadel for 31/2 weeks before being overrun by the US and South Vietnamese forces.

This picture is take from the Ngo Mon gate, the entrance to the Citadel. This is where the Emperor stood and looked over his troops in the square in front.








Here is a photo taken looking to the right standing on the center top of the gate:











And a photo taken to the left

And finally a photo taken into the palace side

Once inside the inner palace wall, was a completely different atmosphere. Here are a few pictures from inside the palace:

I found the best part of the palace was the open spaces of green.

Men's Gate (Above)

Women's gate with Kaori and our tour guide
Door to the main hall

Fish head gutter in the main hall

The details were amazing.

There was an art gallery also inside the palace.

After the palace, we went, to a great restaurant in the middle of nowhere that Kaori's guide book recommended. As soon as we got there, it started to pour rain. The restaurant had no walls on once side, (fortunately it had a roof) and the waiter had to move our table back a bit.

You can't really tell from this photo, but there was garden that was very quickly filling up with water behind us. The frogs were even getting a bit waterlogged and loads of them (very small frogs) started to come into the restaurant. They would hang out a bit and then hop back into the garden when the rain let up.

The next day we went on the big boat tour of the kings tombs. The kings of Hue loved to build these massive tombs that they could also use as summer homes where they could bring their wives and hundred or so concubines. (I suppose you have to take them all out once in a while if you are the king)

We started out on a river boat with about twenty other people. The below picture is some of the poorer areas we passed along the river.

There were a lot of people living out of their boats in the river and would just jump in with a bar of soap to wash up. I'm not sure they came out of the river any cleaner.

We visited 5 palaces in our tour. This is #1 the "Chaua Thien Mu."(below) The pagoda once had a large golden Buddha at the top, however, the guide told us it was stolen during the war. The pagoda was founded in 1601 by Nguyen Hoang who was told to build it by a fairy woman Thien Mu.

This was one of the guards to the temple. It somehow reminds me of my friend Bill Covert as he also would be a great defender of the Buddha and has similar facial hair.

The below women are actually Vietnamese tourist. Apparently it is quite fashionable to dress up and bring one's parasol when out touring.

In the back of this temple, there was a beautiful lotus pond which was just in bloom. They also had the Chevy that was owned by Thich Quang Duc, one of the famous Vietnamese Buddhist monks who light himself on fire in 1963 in protest of the persecution of Buddhism by South Vietnam's Ngô Đình Diệm administration.

Below Kaori in front of the tomb

A picture of George looking more like a tourist than the Vietnamese girls above.

We then hopped back into the boat and were on our way to the next temple/tomb/summer house, when the driver decided to take a detour to drop off a motorcycle at a friend's house. The friend's water buffalo came out to greet us.



The next stop was king Lang Tu Duc and Empress Le Thien's mausoleum. Lang Tu Duc had the longest reign of any Nguyen monarch (1848-1883). When he died, he had his treasures and his ashes buried not at the massive mausoleum that had taken so many years to build, but they were secretly buried somewhere else by 200 servants who were then beheaded so they couldn't tell where the loot was buried. The treasure and site where he is really buried is still unknown.

This place was much bigger than the previous mausoleum. There were a number of lotus ponds and houses to view them from.

Kaori and I in front of the pond. Photo taken by a nice Lithuanian woman we met on the tour.
This is the entrance to Empress Le Thien's tomb.
Details of the above picture
King Lang Tu Duc's tomb. There is a massive stone with Chinese words of wisdom and tales of his great deeds under the arch. There was a bit of graffiti too. The king would not be pleased.

The next two photos are the only two I took at the Dien Hon Chen temple.

The temple was on a hill overlooking the Perfume river.

Next was the Lang Khai Dinh mausoleum. Lang Khai Dinh ruled from 1916 to 1925. This was a pretty spectacular mix of east and west. He was a modern day king who was very much influenced by the west. This tomb was very different feeling from any of the others we visited.

To get to the mausoleum, we had to ride on the back of a motorcycle for ten minutes or so and we just hoped that our drivers would still be there after we looked around to take us back to the boat. No helmets of course. Some on the tour didn't go to this tomb as they were afraid there insurance wouldn't cover any motorcycle accidents. (Crazy I thought at first. Not so crazy after getting off the motorcycle)

Below the serpent staircase up to the tomb.

Kaori and the serpent

A lot of the mausoleums had these cement mandarin guards.

The smart kings even thought about transportation in the next world.

Below is a crazy look'en dragon painted on the ceiling . It seemed more like a comedian dragon than a scary dragon. I can just hear him say,
" The Moose mingled ... did very well ... scored" (Woody Allen)
This is an almost too realistic statue of Lang Khai Dinh.

Here he is again. You can't begin to imagine how huge this room was and how beautifully tiled the walls were. There were paintings, mosaics and calligraphy everywhere.

This is taken from the bow of the boat headed into the storm. In yellow is one of the two dragon heads on our boat. Never could figure out why there was a plant on the bow.

The final tomb we went to was built for Lang Minh Mang who ruled from 1820 to 1840. It was one of the most beautiful of all the tombs. The picture below was of the pond that opened up as you entered.

Here I am taking guarding lessons in case I want to work guarding kings. I'm not sure I have the had positioning or the foot stance right.

One entrance to part of the tomb.

Working on my dragon snarling skills.

Another entrance

The first main temple

I thought that the above temple was the whole tomb, but as I went around back, it continued on. This is just a small courtyard next to the temple.

As I went around to the back, it seemed to continue on.

and on ...

and on.

and on. Until finally, we reached the end. (or a locked door anyway)

After all of the tomb sightseeing, we were pretty beat. Then next day we rented a couple of bicycles and toured around inside the citadel. We found this way cool disco/coffee shop in the middle of nowhere. Kaori ordered a ice tea and I got a great fresh squeezed orange juice.


Well, I know you probably expected this to be a bit longer (Ha Ha) This is the end of our Vietnam adventure. Next we jumped on a plane and headed to Cambodia. (or I wish it had been that easy) Actually, we arrived at the airport and hour early and was told that our flight had been rescheduled an hour early. It was just taking off. "Didn't you reconfirm?!" we were asked. (See above comments from the Church hotel that told us that we didn't need to reconfirm) Missing this flight also meant missing our connecting flight to Cambodia of which there was only one a day. The airline was nice enough to pay for a taxi back to town, a hotel for the five hour wait until the next flight to Hanoi (we didn't stay in the hotel long as there were a few creepy crawly friends there to greet us), a taxi back to the airport and finally to the Hanoi hotel where we stayed for the night, all meals, and finally a taxi to the airport for our flight the next morning to Cambodia. We were still pretty upset about the change of flight time one hour early as we missed out on a day of Cambodia.

We were pretty happy when we finally made it to Cambodia. Behind me in the picture below is the airport in Sim Reap. It was pretty cool. It looked like a resort hotel. Vietnam was great and we had a great time there.

Cambodia was mind blowing. Tune in a few weeks from now and I will write all about our Cambodian adventure and our Khmer encounters. Our wild tomb explorations and exotic tales of ancient serpents, demons and gods waring in a sea of milk which churns out dazzling celestial dancers.

Until then... Tam Biet! (Bye)