Currency:
Vietnamese Dong

Highlights:
Cultural learning experience, meeting Mel & Mike, cheap food and accommodation, chili sauce

Our Adventure:

Good morning Vietnam!

We're going to break up our travels in Vietnam by city but just a few notes on the country in general:

• Vietnam has always held a special place in my heart after spending so much time with one of my best friends from varsity, Annie, and her family who are Vietnamese. Annie's parents moved to the US after the war and I have learnt so much from Annie and her family about the fascinating Vietnamese culture.
• Population = 84 million making it the 13th most populous country in the world.
• Religions - Tam Giao (combination of Confuciansim, Taoism, Buddhism, populat Chinese beliefs and ancient Vietnamese annimism), Catholicism and Caddaism (combination of secular and religious philosophies of the East and West)
• The history here particularly interested us as it just seems so relevant and recent.
• Vietnam war fatalities - 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.
• Even though there is a communist government, there are elements of capitalism that have recently been included in their economic program which has proven to have good results as Vietnam has had a 10% growth rate for the past few years.
• There is a level of censorship prevalent here (although not as extreme as China) - such as facebook has also been banned (although my genius IT husband managed to work out a way round it and has shared it with our fellow travellers which has made him a big hit!).
• People seem to work really hard here. Apparently a 7-day work week is not uncommon and the country has a 2% unemployment rate.
• Random fact - Vietnam is the 2nd biggest exporter of coffee after Brazil.

Our Adventure:

Ordered chaos!

The journey from the Ho Chi Minh airport into the backpacker part of town (Pham Ngu Lao) was terrifying! We had been warned by people and books about the roads in Ho Chi Minh but I don't think anything can prepare one for the spectacle of 4 million scooters in a city of 6 million people - and that's not even counting the cars, buses and trucks! But it's not just the sheer volume of scooters on the road but also just the way everyone drives here - basically hand on the hooter what seems like constantly, changing lanes by way of the game chicken, seeing just how close you really can get to your fellow scooters and cars and then never stopping to allow people to cross the road. Oh and throw in a few bicycles on top of that!

That all being said, once we had mastered the art of crossing the road (slowly, steadily and confidently whilst praying that the scooters will drive round you), we quite enjoyed this city. HCMC is often still referred to as Saigon (its name previous to 1975) and is the largest city in Vietnam. This is how Lonely Planet describes it:

"HCMC is a city on constant fast-forward with the volume cranked all the way up. Everything is quick here; people are quick to make a deal; quick to laugh and quick to let you know that this is the best place in Vietnam. Although it may appear like absolute chaos at first, Saigon works a slow magic on visitors that is in marked contrast to the pace of life. With all the comforts of home in a setting where just watching the street is more fascinating than any film, it's easy to fall in love with this city."

Day 1 - Arriving in Bangkok

We flew through Bangkok to HCMC and through a recommendation from V and Al, had sushi at Bangkok airport for lunch. Amazing!! By the time we arrived in HCMC it was time to head out and meet up with Clyde (a Saffa mate from London who is also travelling for a few months) for some beers and dinner. We had drinks at a bar called Allez Boo which is on the corner of a really busy street so makes for some very interesting background scenery (basically consistent near accidents) while having a 'relaxing' beer. It was great to catch up with Clyde again and he'd been in Vietnam for a few weeks already so could teach us some of the tricks of the trade. We had a delicious traditional Vietnamese dinner at the restaurant Vietnamese Aroma of dried pork skin rolls, 'pho' (beef noodle soup) and chicken with chilli and lemongrass at one of the many great restaurants that line the alley way streets in the backpacker section. There was some very interesting dinner entertainment also - a guy walking past started doing some fire tricks which were impressive but nothing like his last one which was pulling a thin green snake out of a basket and proceeding to open his mouth and let the snake crawl all the way down his throat until only the tail was left sticking out - and then pulling it out again. And oh, did I mention that the snake was alive?!

I think we also really appreciated at dinner for the first time how cheap everything here is as a good quality dinner costs USD 2 on average. Accommodation here is also really reasonable - USD 5 - 20 depending on how much you want to 'splurge'. One of the drawbacks though is that because everything is so reasonable, you feel this constant guilt that you should be giving money to everyone that approaches you on the street which makes it quite difficult as there are so many people either begging or selling something.

Shaun stayed out after dinner with Clyde for another few beers and had an interesting time getting back into the hotel as it was all locked up but luckily found a bell (after circling the block a few times!).

You can view our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=374337&id=713415257&l=1dda169fcf

Day 2 - Mekong Delta Tour

We were up bright and early for our tour of the Mekong Delta. We had received mixed reviews on this as some of our friends said it was not to be missed but others said that it was really boring. We found it to be really educational though as it was so interesting to learn about how all these people live on or just next to the water and how innovate they have become to work with it for their livelihood.

The Mekong River starts in Tibet and was the last part of modern-day Vietnam to be annexed and settled by the Vietnamese. It was about a 3 hour (scary) drive from HCMC and as soon as we left the city, the countryside came alive with buffalo-drawn ploughs, rice planting and people harvesting by hand. We used Sinh Cafe for our tour and this was our tour itinerary:

Pick up at your hotel in HCMC. Depart for Cai Be by bus. On arrival in Cai Be, set off by motor boat to visit the Cai Be floating market and watch the locals trading fruit and many other commodities on board their vessels. Then wander into the small villages to visit the orchard and fruit plantation and taste some of the local honey. Keep cruising to Vinh Long through a series of small canals to experience the charms of the Upper Mekong Delta. Visit a small family business to see how coconut candy and crispy rice popcorn are made. Arrive in Binh Hoa Phuoc village, the green pearl of Vinh Long town, where you can immerse yourself in nature. Enjoy a lunch of fresh river food served in the heart of the garden accompanied by traditional southern Vietnamese folk music. Meet the bus in Vinh Long and explore the market (we weren't a big fan of this as there was so much raw meat including pig heads and pig ears on display!). Stop for coffee (I tasted my first Vietnamese coffee which is basically really strong coffee that filters in front of you to which you add condensed milk). Return to HCMC.

We also met some interesting people on the tour - 3 American guys who regaled us with their tales of eating snakes (which apparently involves taking out the heart and eating that first and after eating the snake, eating snake faeces) and motorbike accidents in Vietnam (they had the fresh roasties to prove it and had met other accident-victims at the hospital). But our favourite couple was Mike and Mel from Canada who we ended up spending a lot of time with in Vietnam. They're travelling for a year around the world and just got engaged at Machu Piccu. They have followed a very similar itinerary to ours so it has been great trading stories.

The 5 of us (Mel, Mike, Clyde, Shaun and me) found another great spot for dinner that night - La Margerita - and couldn't resist the temptation of the pizzas on the menu (most of the menus here are so much bigger than what we are used to - offering everything from local food to Italian to Mexican etc.). We had a good few laughs - a lot of them stemming from Mike's rendition of his 'beer journal'. He is basically sampling as many beers across the world as possible and then 'documenting' them by taking photos of the count and collecting the labels. Very entertaining!

You can check out our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=374343&id=713415257&l=25b888e251

Day 3 - War Remnants Museum

We met with our personal tour guide, aka Clyde, for breakfast and then negotiated the walk to the War Remnants Museum (crossing several roads - quite the test!). This was an experience that is extremely hard to put into words as it was really hectic seeing some of these images and thinking about the brutality of the war. It consists of several displays - halls full of gruesome photographs, a simulated "tiger cage" prison and jars of deformed fetuses blamed on Agent Orange.

I think what makes it so effective is their use of so much imagery as you can see captured in the photos from the day (beware - sensitive photos).

Some of the stories we found most disturbing were:
○ The different types of torture methods used such as disembodying prisoners' teeth and holding prisoners in 'tiger cages'.
○ Story of ex-US senator Bob Kerrey who apparently led a group of Seal Rangers where they killed several civilians and disembowelled a young child.
○ Agent Orange which was the code name for the herbicidal warfare conducted by the US. According to the post-war Vietnamese government, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. There are several lawsuits claiming retribution still going on today lodged from Vietnam and citizens of other countries that fought on the US side against the American government and the chemical companies and apparently over USD 180 million has been paid out to the claimants so far.
○ All the journalists that risked their lives to make the story public to the rest of the world.
○ All the protestors across the world that fought so ardently for the war to be stopped - including 3 American young males and several Buddhist monks who set themselves alight in protest.

Of course every side does have two stories and the museum is obviously a biased perspective from the viewpoint of the current Vietnamese government especially considering it was formerly known as the of Exhibition House of American War Crimes and was opened in such a hurry (less than five months after the fall of the South). There are also no "records" of any unpleasant deeds having been committed by the North Vietnamese Army.

At the same time, I think the most sour taster we had left on our mouths as we left the museum was how similar some of the circumstances seem to the Iraq War (Americans chasing a natural resource, the initial strike following a false threat, so much of the American population not supporting the war). And it's not just the US - I think we're all, governments and people alike - guilty of allowing history repeat itself.

For those interested, this is the summary of the war we gleaned in a brief synopsis:
1945 - Vietnam was granted independence from French rule.
1946 - the French try to regain their control over Vietnam and the Americans assist them. This is known as the French or First Indochino War.
1954 - War ended after French surrender and the Geneva Conference made a provisional division of Vietnam with control of the north given to the Viet Minh as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, and the south becoming the State of Vietnam under Emperor Bao Dai, in order to prevent Ho Chi Minh from gaining control of the entire country.
1956 - Bảo Đại was deposed by his prime minister, Ngo Dinh Diem creating the Republic of Vietnam. Diem's refusal to enter into negotiations with North Vietnam about holding nationwide elections in 1956, as had been stipulated by the Geneva Conference, would eventually lead to war breaking out again in South Vietnam in 1959 - the Second Indochino War or the Vietnam / American War. Diem was also supported by the American government and was accused of being a 'puppet' for them.
1959 - The Vietnam war broke out between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. Some sources say the US entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment but the communist government maintains that the US was just chasing their natural resources of tin and tungsten.
1961 - 1968 - American troop numbers continued to increase.
1969 - Nixon introduced 'Vietnamization' which involved the gradual removal of US forces after training the South Vietnamese troops to take over completely.
1973 - American involvement officially ended under the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
1975 - The North invaded the South and quickly consolidated the country under its control. Saigon fell on April 30, 1975.
1976 - North Vietnam united North and South Vietnam on July 2, 1976 to form the "Socialist Republic of Vietnam". Hundreds of supporters of the South Vietnamese government were executed, thousands more were imprisoned. Saigon was immediately re-named to "Ho Chi Minh City", in honour of the former president of North Vietnam. Communist rule continues in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the present day.

Please be warned that some of the photos are very graphic and you can view our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=374353&id=713415257&l=a8d7558eee

Next stop: Hoi An, Vietnam.

Cheers,

Lara + Leise