Homeward Bound

Like two bookends, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City marked the start and finish of our Vietnam adventure. In the space between, our journey wound its way through the many hues and textures of Vietnam's changing landscape and heritage.

At one extreme stood modern, developing Vietnam, no better represented than the showcase towers, shopping centres and hotels cropping up in all the big cities.  Even Danang and Nha Trang are getting in on the action.

At the other extreme stands little Bai Xep village on the central coast and the Hmong village of Cat Cat in the highlands.  Traditional, poor, but communities closely tied to the cycle of the seasons in a relatively simple lifestyle.

And in between, many variations on these themes.  The modern, western and market ways are touching not just the big cities but the villages too.   Mobile phones, flat screen TV's, motor bikes, white goods are present everywhere.  Based on our experience, Vietnam has better mobile and internet coverage than Australia, although the internet censors are blocking or interrupting sites like Facebook every day.

The Vietnamese people are nothing if not resilient.  They have fought over and over for their independence; they have some of their freedoms, but not all.  They are also very kind.  We will never forget the people who offered us food on the train and the village kids who bought presents along to Harper's birthday.

All this change and development is coming at a cost, just as it brings new opportunities.  The state of environmental damage is quite alarming.  This goes way beyond the Agent Orange story from the war with America.  Corruption is endemic - and ultimately favours the wealthy and powerful.   Children are being pulled away from finishing their education in order to earn money for their families - an old problem, but no longer really necessary.

Where all this ends up with the next generation, who knows. We felt lucky to see and experience this country at such a pivotal time in its history.  Vietnam will look very different in another 20 years.

On reflection, every part of our trip brought a different experience; no two parts were the same. Although each had its charm and appeal, our time in cosmopolitan Hoi An and Rosie and Huw's Haven guest house stood out as the most enjoyable.  As for personal highlights, we took a little straw poll to see what our 3 favourite things were:

Harper loved the paddle boats in Da Lat

Lisa loved the train ride to Nha Trang on the 'hard seats'

Philip loved his crazy bike ride around Westlakes in Hanoi.

For our last day in Ho Chi Minh City, we did some packing and then spent a few hours wandering the streets.  Lisa was making a gradual recovery and soldiering on.  Then lo and behold, who did we run into near the Hotel Continental but Chris and Gary from Adelaide (we had met them at Haven). What chance that in a place as big as HCM City?

We had to check out from our hotel at 2pm, although our flight wasn't until 10.30pm.  So we arranged to hang around the pool for a few hours and get freshened up before our transfer to the airport.

To our pleasant surprise, we discovered there is a modern part to HCM City airport, unlike the hokey, run-down place we encountered on the way through.  As we were going through immigration, Harper nearly gave us palpitations by declaring in front of the checking officer as she was looking at his passport: "That photo doesn't look anything like me!"  Either her English was poor, or she is very tolerant of angelic looking boys who speak their mind.

After some final bad airport food (same the world over), we boarded our plane homeward bound.  Happy to be going home, content to have had such a great holiday.   When we arrived in Canberra, Jim and Gai met us - which was truly magnificent of them - and the cycle of our journey and great adventure was complete.

Highs and Lows

Lisa woke to up to a bad case of stomach pains and cramps.  A Da Lat lunch catching up on her she reckons.  Some bad karma lingering on from that place.   She missed breakfast...and lunch...and tea.  Yeah, it was that bad.

We set her up with what medicine we still had and promised to go on a mission to get some more.   Studied up the phrase book for diarrhea, headache, fever, antibiotics...and then headed off with Harper for our morning adventure, leaving Lisa in bed and a 'we'll be back' goodbye.

Our destination was the Ben Thant market after a short foray in 29/3 Park where Harper could find some play equipment.  The market was pretty intense and BIG!  We bought some t-shirts for Harper to take home to his mates. Some fairly futile bargaining yielded no more than a 5,000 dong discount (50 c)!  Meanwhile every stall holder within cooee tried to get in on the act.  What a circus. 

As we wound our way though the very tight aisles, every second smallholder would reach out to touch Harper.  I guess they see a handsome young boy as good luck, because no one was reaching out to touch me! We tried to navigate our way through the prepared food sections but Harper couldn't cope with all the smells.  That's one thing he has in common with his mother. 

After the market we practiced our road crossings for a while - about 12 in succession in the space of less than a km.  Getting pretty good at this form of 'Vietnamese roulette'.  We eventually found our way to the Museum of Fine Arts, thinking we might be able to see some of Mr Vo's work (our great host in Da Lat).  No such luck.  Harper helped me scour the place checking every painting inscription and quizzing the attendants.  Maybe it was the Hanoi version of the museum (it's a bit like the Melb/Sydney rivalry thing, the two cities seem to have a copy of everything that has political or cultural significance).  Anyway, it was a good recap on a lot of things we'd been exposed to and a fair bit of modern stuff as well.  The socialist realism stuff is still overdone but this seems to be a bit less prevalent than 15 years ago.

Our next destination was the lotus inspired Bitexco Financial Tower. At 69 stories, it is the highest building in HCM City, although not for long looking at other construction on the skyline. It features a 360 degree Skydeck observation area on Level 49. On the lower levels are retail and a theatre complex. Harper was hankering to see the kids movie 'Croods', but as it turned out we had to settle for 'Zambezi' and come back later in the day - which we did. The theatre had an incredibly good sound system, just a bit LOUD! It was pretty hilarious watching all the pre-entertainment shorts, especially the ones trying to educate Vietnamese about what was acceptable behaviour in the cinema (no smoking, gum, phones, outside food, etc).

When the movie finished, we bought tickets to the Skydeck and spent time ogling the HCM City skyline and distant districts. By now it was getting near dusk and the city's lights were emerging. The Mekong river and traffic flows stood out along with some of the neon lit buildings. We could see our hotel and lots of the landmarks we had visited. it was sobering to think all this will look very different in 5 years time when the undeveloped area on the east side of the Mekong becomes the new CBD.

Meanwhile, back in the hotel, Lisa suffered on but slowly started to recover. We got her some more medication and some dry bickies. Things were looking up for our last day in Vietnam tomorrow and travel homeward.

Presidential Palace

We caught a cab early this morning to the Tao Dan Park to see the morning exercise frenzy and try to beat the heat of the day.  Unfortunately, our version of early doesn't cut it and only the occasional person was left exercising by the time we arrived.  Not to worry.  The park is very beautiful, photogenic and cooler than the surrounding urban mass.  So it was quite pleasant to hang about for an hour or so, even as the heat and humidity built.  Harper played on some kids equipment for a while and then we wandered about taking snaps and exploring some of the quirky features of the park.  Like the faux Cham towers and topiary elephants!

But our main target today was the nearby Presidential Palace where the final act of the American-Vietnam War played out with the tanks crashing through the palace gates and President Minh surrendering to the Vietcong forces.  They actually call this the Reunification Palace although it was originally built by the French in the mid 19th century and called the Norodom Palace, before being renamed the Independence Palace in the 1950's when the South Vietnamese were trying to proclaim their democratic and nationalist claims against the communist north. The current palace building was only constructed in the arly 60s after the old wooden one was bombed (by a turncoat Vietnamese airforce pilot).

We had a great time exploring this place, especially the basement area which is still preserved as a command post-come bomb shelter from the war era.   The 'Security' room with nothing in it...a place for torture and interrogation, no doubt.  The radio comms rooms, map rooms, crypto rooms, firing range, etc. All the signs said 'don't touch the objects', which was the ignored by many a foreigner.  In one room, a Chinese tourist lay sprawled across an operator's desk between the multiple telephones.  Who remembers that, by the way?  When you had two or more phones on the same desk - a sign of great status!

After this excitement, we headed back past Notre Dame and on to the Diamond Store complex for a spot of retail therapy and some ten-pin bowling.  One other enduring mark of the American presence!  Harper and I also spent some time in a games parlour but soon discovered its not much fun when you can't interpret the games.

Most of the rest of the day was spent swimming and resting. We ate in after Lisa declared herself not feeling well and got ourselves geared up for a big tomorrow.

HCM Day 1

This is our last transition before heading home.  Another early start, pack our case and get an early breakfast.  The hotel buffet was in a venue across the road - the gorgeously restored French era  'Cafe de la  Poste'.   Unfortunately, neither the buffet nor their service was a match for the surrounds.  A bit soul-less, it must be said.

We saw an Aussie cycling tour group loading up on breakfast - and thought of Meg's trip last year.  Great stuff!  It's only the third group we've seen in a month of traveling.

Then our transfer bus arrived to go to the airport.  It's quite some drive - a good 45 minutes or so.  Firstly on a very narrow, steep and windy downhill, then a freeway like run along a wide flat valley to a very modern, airy airport.  Felt a bit like the new Canberra airport!  And after 25 minutes in the air, we landed in Ho Chi Minh City - home to 7.8 million residents.  Appalled to see the disregard by some Vietnamese to wearing seat belts, including a mum with a babe in arms!

We had mixed feelings about coming to HCM City.  Not really looking forward to all the traffic madness and heat, but ready for a bit more western comfort and cosmopolitan feel. As the trip from the airport unfolded, we got more excited as we went and started to feel very positive about the next few days.

Checked into the Renaissance Riverside - you guessed it, by the Saigon River - a new and stylish hotel in the shadow of Tran Hung Dao, the Vietnamese general who beat back the Mongol invader Kublai Khan in the 13th century.  We had got to know of Trung's exploits at the Vietnamese Museum of History in Hanoi.

For the rest of the day we were intent on freshening up after 3 days of travel and just getting our bearings.     So, after a bit of a rest, we sought out the roof-top pool.  Although the sun was really hot, it was great to relax in...Harper's swimming has improved out of a sight after three week's solid practice.

For lunch, we found a place called Zan Z Bar for some pâté with red currant jam, gherkin and quail egg, wanton noodles, cassoulet and Cote du Rhone red wine. Sensational start!

By now we needed to do some serious walking which took us up the hip Dong Khoi strip past some really interesting shops to the stunning architecture round the famous Continental Hotel, former Hotel de Ville and old Opera House (the South turned this into the National Assembly in the 50s and 60s - bad move).

For dinner we found a Middle East influenced restaurant (Skewers) after a bit of a scary experience trying to navigate the streets in the evening traffic.  It goes up another gear into a frenzy of wall to wall motorbikes, taxis and big vehicles.  This was a bit too much for Harper, so we gave up and jumped in a taxi even though we were only going a few streets away.  Anyway, it all ended up okay.  One bonus - we found a bottle of Margaret River Wise Cab Sav 2007 on the menu which seemed just perfect for the occasion and went well with the saganaki.  'Cheers and big ears', as Harper would say!

The Southern Highlands

Phil woke just after 5am to get the sunrise over Nha Trang.  From our balcony, the South China Sea looked vast.  A substantial swell rippled across the sea in line after line of waves.  The early dawn back-lit some clouds on the horizon, while below me on the beachfront was alraeady a frenzy of human activity.

I took some quick snaps, changed into my running gear (by now, a little tighter than normal) and took the elevator the 12 levels down to the street.  The air was already warm and humid.  Everywhere around me people were exercising, talking, stretching, doing tai chi, joining in group aerobics, playing soccer, swimming....  it's bloody 5 o'clock in the morning!  So I joined the maddening throng and wove my way on a jog southward, then in a reverse direction and into my exercises....sweating like a pig again.

Back to a shower, quick pack and buffet breakfast (Harper's favourite) and, as luck would have it, our driver was there ready to hit the road at 8.00.

It is barely 120 kms from Nha Trang to Dalat in the Southern Highlands, but it is a slow, steep drive. Nevertheless, we made the trip within 3 hours and had none of the hair raising experiences we had been warned about.  It was very scenic, but ended with the worst piece of road in Vietnam (my guess) over the last 15 kms.  Huge potholes slowed us to about 10 km/hr...so unlike anything else we have experienced here.

Dalat is renowned for its chateaux like residences built by the French colonialists as summer retreats. Our hotel 'Dalat du Parc' was one of these, full of charm and old world character, including an iron gated lift, but wholly impractical at almost every other level.  Wifi struggled to work in the room, the bathroom was fairly ugly, the  fold out bed was broken, staff lacked any service culture, etc.

After freshening up, we went for a wander into the Dalat market and centre of town about 1.5 kms away.  The townscape itself is also very charming and quite picturesque in its own way, but beneath the surface this place is not very satisfying to the western tourist.  It caters largely to Vietnamese tourists, especially Those on romantix getaways or wedding parties.  Most people struggle with English and the service was poor in many places.

Case in point: we went into a lakeside cafe which 'looked' very appealing with its outdoor setting and garden/river views.  Our waiter could barely communicate and was totally disinterested in us or our order.  When I finally got a beer and virtually restrained him from putting ice in it, he chucked a rusty, decrepit bottle opener on the table - leaving me to the unopened bottle and wondering which rubbish tip the implement had been rescued from.  The wifi didn't work despite repeated attempts with various staff to hold them to their claim of having such a thing.  And so on it went.

We toddled off soon enough looking for better things.  By the lake we found some old fashioned swan paddle boats and spent a happy hour in the beautiful sunny weather, 'swanning' about.  Harper loved it.

As for shopping, the market had little appeal (we've done our dash by now), but we did find a few things of interest elsewhere.  We spotted a musical instrument store and decided to explore that. Phil's fancy was taken by some mandolins which potentially were small enough to carry home. After some playing and checking their make quality (cheap copies), he bought one for less than $50.  Since had some serious playing back in the hotel...has a nice sound and pretty good action which is all I need for the joy of being able to play one of these again.

But the big highlight of our day was yet to come.  Lisa did some careful research and organized us to go to the 'New Art Cafe' in town.  This is run by an idiosyncratic artist (possibly an oxymoron on my part) who runs an even more idiosyncratic restaurant.  Vo Trinh Bien is a unique modernist painter whose work has been recognised in the Vietnam Fine Art Museum.  His paintings and installations adorn the restaurant along with some musical instruments and decor that creates various illusions.  He personally greets you, takes your order, tends your needs and makes good conversation.  His warmth is infectious on his staff and patrons.  Then as the 'piece de resistance' for the evening, he draws a 'finger style' painting at your table as a gift to take away with you (no charge).  Oh...and did I mention, the food and wine was spectacular!  What a fabulous evening! What fabulous and unexpected service.