I GET AROUND IN VIETNAM

TRANSPORTATION CYCLO-SHAWS, SCOOTERS AND TRAIN STREET

The history of Vietnam can be as complicated as crossing a street in Hanoi, where the traffic hurtles through intersections seemingly without regard to traffic signals or personal or pedestrian safety. Yet, the company we are traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) has made this trip easy. Though they touch on the darker periods of Vietnam they are not weighed down by the enormity of the past and instead focus on the warm embracing people who seem genuinely happy that we are visiting their country. 

Sampan along the Mekong

We are constantly thrust into the midst of the Vietnamese. We do not emerge from the hermetic seal of our tour bus only to pause long enough for a kodak moment before piling back onto the bus. No, we have been given several opportunities to engage and converse and understand Vietnam and her people.

At times these opportunities have been harrowing as we have gotten quite up close and personal with the aforementioned traffic with several novel modes of transportation arranged for us by OAT. Some of the travel can be superfluous, or deemed less efficient than a tour bus, but every single "chariot" listed here served to enhance our travels throughout the length of Vietnam. 

OVERSEAS ADVENTURE TRAVEL

HANOI

Cyclo-shaw

Think of a bicycle pushing a trough in which a passenger sits like an offering to the horsepower gods. Admittedly this is a very touristy mode of transportation, but the bus dropped us off where all the “rickshaw” type vehicles were waiting, and we tootled through the crammed frenetic streets of the old quarter of Hanoi to reach a restaurant for our welcoming dinner. Crossing the street had been an eye-opening experience, but the cyclo-shaws put us in the middle of traffic which at times were a mere few inches from our knees. Slower than the rest of the traffic, scooters, cars, trucks and buses swirled around us like we were standing still. Later, in Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage city, known for lanterns, the Japanese Bridge and rampant tourism, the cyclo-shaws barreled swiftly through the pedestrian traffic.   

A ferry

A big part of traveling with OAT is immersing us with the locals and on their “A Day In The Life” excursion in North Vietnam was to have us purchase goods at a local market and then take them to the village elder so they could prepare a lunch for us. Getting to the village meant we had to cross a river by ferry. No more than a sheet of metal propelled by a motor we clamored onto the craft along with a scooter or two to traverse the waterway.

Soviet-era motorcycles

At first, I was worried about getting on the back of a chortling motorcycle driven by students eager to practice their English on us. Nevertheless, I rallied and put on my ill-fitting helmet and tucked in behind my driver and cracked nervous jokes about losing my life. He laughed and said I was very funny.

Heck, I even paid for this as this was an extra excursion and cost us $70usd each. The motorcycles moved a lot quicker than the shaws and they took us all over Hanoi. At one point it started drizzling and we put on plastic ponchos that in the humid night caused the sweat to pour.

We caromed through the streets passing Uncle Ho’s mausoleum lit dramatically in the night. We barreled through dark alley ways that were difficult to negotiate on foot. We entered the forest that hedged the city and churned along the dirt roads dodging joggers, pedestrians and for a time trailed behind a Soviet-era jeep laden with tourists from another group.

Finally giving my butt a rest we stopped first at the Black Market, where all things were for sale, from electronics to machine parts to a market of all sorts of animals ready for the kitchen, including snakes and dogs. Then we stopped for a long time at the reason why we were so interested in this excursion: Railroad Street.

Railroad Street

After the reunification of the country Vietnam decided to reunite both halves by building a railroad connecting the two. The tracks go right through neighborhoods and the trains pass within inches of patrons willing to sit right at the edge. We had heard of Railroad Street before we arrived in Vietnam, and it was a number one priority for us. You don’t need to book a tour to visit this oddly perverse attraction, but logistics made this a better choice for us. Dinner was included.

HA LONG BAY

Junk boat

Another must do when visiting Vietnam is Ha Long Bay. This UNESCO World Heritage site is dotted with over 1,000 limestone islands rising dramatically out of the waters of the bay. After boarding a tender that brought us to our ship we weaved through the islands and we spent a glorious night on the water.

Ha Long Bay

At first glimpse the boat looked spartan, but our staterooms were comfortable. On the final morning Janet joined a class in Tai Chi, with the idyllic limestone cliffs rising beautifully all around the boat.

We were fortunate as sometimes weather prevents visitors into the bay.

HUE

Dragon Boat Ride on the Perfume River

We spent two days in this city that was the scene of vicious fighting during the Tet Offensive. Save for the Citadel that is still scarred from the fighting Hue is vibrant lively and youthful and the bars brim with revelers. We toured the Citadel that has slowly been renovated, but our only extra trip was a Dragon Boat ride on the Perfume River. 

Dragon Boat on the Perfume River

There are a lot of boats for hire and OAT arranged a ride for us. Our tour bus took us out to a historic pagoda on the outskirts of Hue and the double hulled boat plied the river on the way back to town.

HOI AN

Sunset cruise along the Thu Bon

During our next stop in this very touristed UNESCO World Heritage site, we would take taxis, and multi-passenger golf carts from our Silk Hotel location to the city center several times over three days for sight seeing and shopping. I had an Aloha shirt made for me, Janet bought some jewelry and some decorative lanterns. Whenever taking a taxi here make sure you negotiate the price before accepting the ride. Don't be afraid to haggle. 

Hoi An street scene

Hoi An was once a major maritime port for the Silk Road and a  commercial hub for European, Chinese and Japanese merchants, and these influences remain in the old city's buildings and structures like the Japanese bridge (which is the city's logo), her religious influences (there is a large Chinese temple in town) and her cuisine (be sure to order a sandwich at Bahn Mi Phu'o'ng). 

BREAD IN HOI AN

We also took a hotel shuttle to the Silk Hotel's private beach club to spend half the day swimming the East Sea (formerly called the South China Sea), but the transportation highlight of our stay in Hoi An was an extra cost excursion honchoed by our tour guide Mai. 

Our group cobbled together funds and hired a boat to glide along the Thu Bon River to capture the sunset and join a parade of festively lighted boats. The colorful lanterns and lights on the passing ships and on the shore made for one of the most serene, enchanting nights on our trip to Vietnam.

Hoi An

Near the end of our boat ride, we each were given floating candles to float on the river and to make a wish.

NHA TRANG

Scooters

On the outskirts of this very touristed beach town very popular with Russian and Chinese tourists is a community of formerly South Vietnamese who went through a reeducation school run by the victors of the “American War”. 

We were each partnered up with a member of that community so we could ride on their scooter to see how life is like in the southern version of “A Day In The Life” excursion run by OAT. The traffic was non-existent compared to Hanoi, and the scooters were roomier and more comfortable than the motorcycles we rode in Hanoi.

At one point we rode over a ramshackle wooden bridge with several loose planks, but it was all much less fearsome than the motorcycles. Still, I was glad the bus came for the return to Nha Trang.

DALAT

Tractor

Dalat flower farm

As part of our day-long excursion while staying at this city in the highlands of Vietnam we visited a flower farm and a coffee plantation that specializes in Weasel-shit coffee (yes that’s a highly prized cup of coffee) and the Banana Village populated by the hill tribe people of the area. At one point the bus dropped us off we all piled onto a tractor for a rough and tumble ride along the dirt tracks. Coffee plants and banana trees hedged the dusty road and we visited with the village elder, a Catholic church and we tried to crash a lively wedding.

The tractor was entirely superfluous as our bus later met us at the village and drove back along the same road, but the ride was fun. The excursion was an extra cost.

HO CHI MINH CITY

Junk boat and Sampan and TukTuk

Once called Saigon, with the name change coming after the reunification of the country. It used to be expressly taboo to refer to this very cosmopolitan city by its original name, but that “rule” has eased a lot since the United States lifted the trade embargo on Vietnam in 1994.

One day we traveled by bus to the Mekong River to board a junk and glide past fish traps and visit a farm, where our hosts treated us to fruit and Banana liquor. Next ,we were given classic conical hats to wear for a ride in a classic wooden Sampan. Riding low in the murky brown water we slipped past reeds before reaching a dock and a waiting TukTuk. 

This ride was a type of flatbed cab with a covering. The driver barreled around sharp turns on a narrow road that eventually took us to a coconut candy facility. To help us make purchases of the candy and several other crafts and artifacts offered for sale we we were given more Banana liquor.

We then rode the junk back to the waiting bus.

Cu Chi Tunnels  

Not quite extra transportation on our last day in Vietnam we were driven out to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. Once the end of the Ho Chi Minh Trail it is now a tourist attraction. Part of the tour was to climb down into the tunnels and see how the combatants lived. I had to crawl on my knees to make it in some places.

 

Vietnam is a long county and included in our trip were several domestic flights, none lasting little more than an hour. We first flew from Hanoi to Hue. From Danang we flew first to Saigon... oops Ho Chi Minh City and connected with a flight to Dalat. After our time in Dalat we flew back to Saigon ... oops Ho Chi Minh City for the last day of our trip to Vietnam.

There’s more to write about while in Cambodia, but this article is getting too long already. Check back in later for another entry at Vacations From Home.

Love to all,

Janet and greg

© 2024 by Gregory Dunaj

A DAY IN THE LIFE in VIETNAM

THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAM 

Bulbul male

North and South Vietnam have been reunited since the 70s with the fall of Saigon, but though they share a common language and heritage, customs are different in either section of the country. Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) focuses on the people of Vietnam and not just her vistas and monuments. Interacting with the people of Vietnam has been the greatest joy for this humble scribe. O.A.T. calls their visits to experience the customs of Vietnamese people “A Day In The Life” and we have spent two separate days in both the North and the South seeing a bit of the daily life of the Vietnamese people. Depending on your mindset the nuances between the two were either miniscule or glaring.

NORTH VIETNAM

We visited a small village not far from Hanoi and met the chief and his family. To reach his village we had to take a short ferry ride across a river. The ferry was little more than metal sheeting being propelled by a motor.

He was a North Vietnamese war veteran which helped him get this government position, although he served mainly as a musician playing for morale. There was an ease about him as he talked about his ‘tasks’ as chief and he played for us several songs on various stringed instruments. One was a “lazy violin”, and he rested the one-string instrument to play. We had lunch with the family.

A Woman’s World

We also learned how to make rice paper while there. Rice paper is used to make spring rolls. After watching his daughter make several rice paper ovals and placing them on a bamboo rack, we had the opportunity to try. My attempt at this culinary staple was hideously deformed.

Before meeting the chief, we had stopped at a small local market to purchase food for offerings to the family altar which is ubiquitous in nearly every Vietnamese home. Pictures of deceased family members are sometimes displayed at the altar and incense is burned, blessing the offerings. They prepared lunch for us, using some of the ingredients we purchased at the market before we reached the ferry.

my rice paper

The visit to the market was the most remarkable part of the day. Mai, our guide, broke our larger group into small pairs of two couples and we were all given money and a shopping list of items in Vietnamese to buy.

Google translate helped identify what we needed thankfully.

We were supposed to ask for the item in Vietnamese and hand over the money and have the proprietor fill the bag. It was a great way to interact with the stall owners, many of whom were very happy that we paused at their stand.

what's on the 
menu?

In purchasing, we often would give back a couple of items, like a tomato or a few limes, to the shop owner as a way of "tipping" and they were extremely gracious with our generosity. I was even given a few hot peppers in return for my "gift". We got a extra points if we took a selfie with the owner afterwards.  

They do eat some odd things in Vietnam and some, like dog and snakes, both of which were on display in the market. Thankfully they were not on our shopping list. 

While looking for our grocery items two precious little girls, one around 8 and the other around five approached us from a store. They were eager to practice their English and the elder girl in a halting cadence told us she was very happy to see us, and she hoped we enjoyed visiting her country. Touched, I gave her a $2.00 USD which is considered a lucky charm in Vietnam, said our good-byes and we started walking away. We got around 50 feet when she caught up with us to give back the bill, saying her father didn’t want her to accept the money, which I guess is a proper thing to do. At first, I felt I had offended them, but in hindsight that was good parenting. 

SOUTH VIETNAM

We had focused on the woman’s role in Vietnamese society but for the South Vietnamese version of Day In The Life we experienced more of the man’s role in society. We were in Nha Trang, a beach resort halfway between Danang and Saigon. A long sandy beach edged by high rise hotels and apartments, Nha Trang is very popular with Chinese and Russian tourists. Lots of the menus are listed in these two languages as well as Korean and English.

Nha Trang

We did not visit markets in Nha Trang on this O.A.T. day trip excursion, and the only food product we learned to make was the Vietnamese version of a Mojito.

We also heard about life as the loser of a war though the eyes of the village chief.

Bird Watching Cafe

Not sure how the men make their living, though we’ve been told they work hard at several jobs to provide for their families. Yet, on this day trip to the South Vietnamese version of A Day In The Life we hopped on the back of scooters and the drivers weaved treacherously through the backstreet traffic of Nha Trang until we reached the Bird Watching Café. We would never have found this place if not for our guide, Mai. We stopped here at this very local place not only for Vietnamese coffee with sweet, condensed milk, but to watch and listen to the “girlfriends” of several men gathered there. 

Bird brains

The cafe was nothing more than an empty lot covered partially by suspended tarps and some corrugated metal sheeting. Several pipes were suspended in the middle and from them hung several birdcages. The “girlfriends”, which were actually male Bulbul birds, chatted with each other as the men sipped drinks and chatted softly. They were as intrigued with us as we were of this Vietnamese cultural practice.

Turns out men take their pet birds from home to the café to enjoy some peace and quiet away from their wives. Transported here in covered cages, which keeps the birds calm on the harrowing journey to the café, the cages hang from the handgrips of the scooters. The covers are removed after a while and the beloved birds all talk to each other. Periodically a cage would be moved to another end or side so the Bulbul birds can make some new conversations with a whole other set of birds. As we marveled over this joyful scene, we watched a man prepare to leave. He covered two cages and placed them on the ground near his scooter. After a time, he hung the cages on his hand grips and puttered away. 

History is written by the victors

We visited a Northern village, and now we had the opportunity to see life in a Southern village.

After the Americans left in 1973 the conflicts continued in Vietnam, but without the support of the United States Saigon and the South Vietnamese government fell in April 1975. The South Vietnamese felt abandoned by the U.S., and while some tried to flee the country, others had to endure a “reeducation camp” offered by the Communist victors to be indoctrinated fully in this new way of thinking in South Vietnam. Part of the process tasked these former enemies with rebuilding the infrastructure destroyed during the war before they finally were deemed properly indoctrinated. If you resisted indoctrination, you were invited to stay longer and longer.

We visited a village that was populated by nearly 2,000 people who had endured these reeducation sessions. The chief of the village had served with the South Vietnamese Airborne division as a Lieutenant and went to “school” for a year. Now 85 years old, he has served in this elected government position for the past 15 years, with elections held every 5 years. After he was first released, he worked as a farmer, mostly harvesting bamboo. The chief at that time had been appointed by Hanoi, but the villagers rejected an outsider, and he was elected to this current position.

White-haired and wiry, there was a spark in the man’s eye, despite the difficult past.  He was quite happy to help his village in this capacity. During our visit to his home, he fielded phone calls pertaining to village business. 

The chief also led us in making the Vietnamese version of a Mojito. All the ingredients are the same, but lemongrass is muddled as well. Our group drained a bottle of rum as we were offered shots after the concoction was finished. We had lunch with the chief and his wife and they served some odd foods too.

what's on the menu 2
duck embryo

On our way back to the bus we passed several women making chopsticks from bamboo. Three generations of women were working quickly and it was fascinating to watch how they carved and smoothed the bamboo to whittle them down to the appropriate shapes with very sharp instruments. We bought a bundle of chopsticks from them, happy to help with their economy.

making bamboo chopsticks

 

Thanks for reading

Love Janet and greg

© 2024 by Gregory Dunaj

WALKING IN VIETNAM

STICKY RICE and WHISPERS and HAPPY ROOMS

pineapple purchase

We’ve never gone on a group excursion before, fearful traveling in an ever-moving horde would be more of a slog than an adventure, but the Overseas Adventure Travel company (O.A.T.) keeps it small and intimate. There are just 14 travelers on our “Inside Vietnam” tour. Thankfully the traveling is slower paced. We are in Hanoi for 6 days, before moving on to the next destination.

This has allowed us to ease into the culture of Vietnam without having to sacrifice sleep or experiences. We’re always given the choice to opt out of different planned adventures, though so far, we’re happy to go along with everything O.A.T. has planned for us.

Our tour guide is Mai, from Saigon. Her informative walks brim with details and personal anecdotes about the complicated history of Vietnam that could not be culled from a guidebook. Her infectious laugh and gracious ways make the smallest moments great fun, and her catch phrases like “steps by step” and “sticky rice” conveyed to us through headsets she calls “whispers” make crossing the treacherous streets or finding a “happy room” much easier.

The first stop on our introductory walk was across the street from our hotel, the May De Ville Trendy Hotel, to enter the Old Quarter of Hanoi and to buy pineapples from a street vendor wearing a typical conical hat. Mai pointed out how the woman carved and sliced the pineapples for us with a special tool.

We basically walked around the block on this introductory trek in the Old Quarter, which is densely packed with shops, cafes, and restaurants. Along the way she pointed out a French Colonial mansion now broken up into several “homes” and Communist-era drab construction and air raid sirens leftover from the war. Space is a luxury in Vietnam and the cramped conditions in the Quarter reflect that.

After lunch we went to get Iced Coconut coffee and then given the choice to either return to the hotel or go to the Women’s Museum. We opted for the museum to learn about life in the hill country and women’s roles during the “American” War.

Later that evening we were embedded in the maniacal traffic of Hanoi and rode in cyclo-shaws, a bicycle version of a rickshaw to an opening dinner at a restaurant in town. With cars, trucks, scooters, pedestrians and buses converging from every direction with intersections especially frightening we surprisingly arrived at the restaurant after this white-knuckled ride unscathed.

Great experiences.

Love Janet and greg

© 2024 by Gregory Dunaj

Cyclo-shaw rides are not for the 
faint of heart

VIETNAM TRAVELS - ARRIVAL

REUNIFICATION DAY

We arrived in Vietnam in the middle of a five-day holiday stretch of time off given for April 30^th’s Reunification Day celebration and the May 1^st International Workers Day. In 1976, North and South Vietnam were reunited after 30 years of conflict with the fall of Saigon.

For travelers this is considered a fortunate time to visit as the streets are less crowded and crossing the street is plausible. This is normally a dangerous profession with scooters weaving in and around cars and pedestrians and traffic lights are merely suggestions. We were told when attempting to cross a street to just slowly keep moving and allow the engines of destruction to weave around you. On a slower day like this first Sunday in the holiday stretch we crossed several streets unscathed.

We finally checked into our hotel, the May De Ville Trendy Hotel, around midnight Saturday. We had first left Philadelphia on a 6 am flight to Minneapolis. After a 4-hour layover it was a 14-hour flight to Inchon, South Korea and after another 4-hour layover another 4-hour flight to Hanoi. Do the math, it was long. 

Hoan Kiem Lake w/Thap Rua

We slept in, got a late breakfast at the hotel, and then headed out to walk along Hoan Kiem Lake, usually considered by many guides lists as the number one activity while visiting Hanoi.

Because of the long holiday many streets around the lake were closed to traffic and pedestrians milled about. Many local families and their children, some riding little electric vehicles fashioned to look like cars or tanks and controlled by their parents, ambled along.

We watched a wedding being set up lakeside using the Thap Rua or Turtle Tower, a pagoda on a small island in the middle of the lake, for a backdrop. Here and there elderly men did calisthenics. Because of the holiday historical displays and wreathes were displayed near the lake. 

The kiosks selling ice creams and drinks were busy with customers and aggressive vendors tried to sell us things like fans and conical hats. Locals and tourists posed for pictures with the lake as their background. We dodged walking tour groups pointing out the sights in a multitude of languages. We made our way around to the The Huc Bridge or the Welcoming the Morning Sun bridge and after buying admission entered the Ngoc Son Temple. 

We would learn later that food placed at the altar with incense is to honor the departed. When the incense is burned the food is blessed and okay to eat. In Njoc Son we watched a younger couple pray and take some of the food to a side room to eat.

Welcoming the Morning Sun Bridge

MOT HAI BA!

Sweating profusely from the humidity and temperatures soaring near to 100°F we somehow managed to find our way back to the hotel, but we had little to relax as we were going to a cooking class with the chef at Rose Kitchen. The cost was $90 for the two of us.

They picked us up in a mini-van and we drove around Hanoi for about an hour picking up other participants until we had twelve. We were the first pick up and it was a great quick way to see the city. 

ROSE KITCHEN HANOI

The beauty of traveling is immersing yourself in the culture of your destination and this cooking class did just that. Our first stop was a market to buy our ingredients. Gracie was our guide and chef, and she tasked each group with not only buying a specific ingredient, but to communicate with the owner of the stand. 

We were just hours into our visit to Vietnam and we were mingling with the locals! She gave us a couple of phrases to utter like: Xin chào (Hello) and Bao nhiêu (How much?) and Cảm ơn (Thank you). At the time they were tongue twisters, but the appreciation from the stand owners was very apparent, not only for the business, but for being honored by a visit from foreigners.

Janet had to buy coconut rice crackers.

Our menu at Rose Kitchen included Banana Flower Salad, which is made from the purple-colored tip of a banana tree, Spring Rolls, which we rolled ourselves in rice paper after chopping up and mixing the ingredients, and the ubiquitous Vietnamese dish, Pho, which is a noodle soup. The Spring rolls where deep-fired before serving. For dessert we Mangosteen, a surprisingly sweet fruit we had never seen before and Egg Coffee, which was technically an egg-cream infused with very strong coffee. 

Throughout the meal we were served copious amounts of rice wine infused with mulberry moonshine. Of course we had to give the toast in Vietnamese: MOT HA BA! YO! (one, two, three... followed by a vociferous YO!)

It was a long first day. 

Thanks for reading and your patience with entries as every day here in Vietnam brims with adventures and brand-new experiences. It is very difficult to find time to write.  

Yêu tât cả cac bạn, Janet and greg 

© 2024 Gregory Dunaj