We cleared Immigration in Ho Chi Minh City, (formerly Saigon), then boarded a domestic flight to Hanoi. The airport at Ho Chi Minh is clean but tired looking. Our luggage was scanned three times as we made our way from the International Arrivals gate to the Domestic Departures gate.
I was struck by how quickly people would fill any perceived void in a queue. I used body language and my size advantage several times to prevent people from squeezing ahead of me in line. One young Vietnamese lady even tried to squeeze right between me and Maggie as we stood in line to present our boarding passes at the departure gate. Fortunately, it did not take much effort for me to hold my place in line as long as I was vigilant. After nine months in South-east Asia, I have lost most of the concern I once had over being perceived as a rude American.
In Hanoi, we used an ATM to get local currency. The exchange rate is 13,500 dong for 1 U.S. dollar. As in Cambodia, most businesses accept U.S. currency.
Maggie had arranged two guided tours for us through an on-line booking service with a local Vietnam company called Buffalo Tours. Our guide for both days was a somber young man named Hi - 26 year old Vietnamese guy. All tour guides must be trained and certified by the Vietnamese government. Hi said this is to ensure that we get accurate information about the country and the "regime".
Hi harbored a thinly-veiled bitterness about the fact that people in his country were not as wealthy as people in other countries. Just like many people in this region are, Hi seemed jealous of the prosperity that Singapore enjoys. He asked if if I thought that Singaporeans are genetically superior to Vietnamese. I laughed at such an absurd question, but he seemed to think it was relevant. I explained that Singapore is successful because the government is transparent and free from corruption. He acknowledged that Vietnam suffers from corrupt government officials, but did not seem to equate Communism with corruption. He seemed to think that corruption in the Vietnamese government happened in spite of the Communist regime. I did not share my thoughts on the subject.
Hi told us that Vietnam now enjoys a market-based economy and this has made things better for everyone. In fact, Intel is building a chip-manufacturing and testing facility in Vietnam to take advantage of the cheap labor and relaxed environmental laws.
Hi did not explain why the regime still calls itself "communist" when they have a market-based economy. I did not ask. I assume that would be admitting defeat. He used the word "regime" whenever he referred to the government, apparently not realizing that regime is a derogitory term in America.
[side note: Here in Singapore, the word "scheme" is neutral. You will often see banks advertising an investment "scheme". Funny how this word always means something bad in America. Comment from Maggie: same thing in South Africa - the word "scheme" refers to a schema or system - nothing negative at all. In America, no wonder I was met with a long, awkward silence when I asked a member of the Human Resources team to explain the "bonus scheme at Dell" during a fully packed meeting which included regional directors and managers]
Hi told me that he harbors no resentment against America for "the war" He is too young to have fought in the war, and America is just one of many countries to invade Vietnam over the centuries. Just as the Vietnamese successfully pushed the Mongols out of their country, they pushed out the Americans. The Chinese and the French seem to have had the most success occupying parts of Vietnam, and their influence can be seen in the food and the architecture.
Our first trip involved a visit to the Perfume Pagoda, and a hike to a shrine in a huge natural cavern. The only way to reach the pagoda at the base of the mountain was by renting a boat. Most boats were rowed by young Vietnamese ladies. I saw one lady rowing a boat with 13 people in it (see picture). One thing I found interesting is that the person rowing the boat pushes the oars through the water, thus propelling the boat forward. I find it much easier to pull the oars, but then you can't see where you're going.None of the boat-rowers seemed tired, and I never saw one break a sweat. The journey was about 45 minutes and nobody stopped to rest along the way. The lady rowing with 13 people in her boat kept pace with our boat. Our boat was rowed by a man and had a total of four people, including the guy rowing the boat.
Lunar New Year is an auspicious time to visit a pagoda and pray for good health and prosperity. There were thousands of people making the journey to the pagoda that day, and only about 10 of them appeared to be tourists like us.
Although Hi said it was OK to take pictures inside the pagodas, I felt uncomfortable snapping photos in a place that was packed with people making offerings and praying at the various shrines. Hi said that many of the people only come once a year to pray for prosperity. He said these people are not real Buddhists. (Sounds like some Americans who only go to church at Easter and Christmas. )
When you make an offering at a Buddhist temple, the stuff you place in front of the shrine is collected by the monks for their consumption. Most of the stuff is small bags of rice, fresh fruit, toothpaste and other practical items. Cash is also acceptable. When I noticed a can of beer at one shrine, I asked if monks are allowed to drink beer. (They are not). Hi said that some items are only left on the altar until they are blessed, then you can take it home and share it with your family, in case they couldn't make the pilgramage to the temple. I guess somebody shared that can of beer with his family.
[Side note: Here in Singapore, as in China, "Hungry Ghost Month" is a time when you leave offerings for your ancestors and other ghosts who roam the streets. Small offering tables are set up on the sidewalks, and items you want the ghosts to have in the afterlife are placed on the table. Money must be burned before the ghosts can use it. They sell special ghost money that you burn each night for the ghosts. I mention this because I once saw a can of Guiness on an offering table during Hungry Ghost Month here in Singapore. The ghosts come and take the "essence" of the offerings. In the morning, the trash collector takes the physical item and disposes of it. You never take the beer home to share with your family in this case.]
Buddhist monks are not allowed to kill another living being, so this makes them vegetarians by default. [Sort of.] When we were in Cambodia, our tour guide, (who always smelled of booze and garlic), told us that some monks get hungry for meat and will eat fresh meat if it died a "natural death". Monks will not slaughter a live animal, but if they walk past a market and see chickens in a cage, they will ask the vendor, "Any dead chickens?" The vendor will say, "Sorry, not right now". Later, when the monk walks by the same vendor, one chicken will be dead. The monk will purchase this chicken and take it home to eat. I guess all religions have their loopholes. For some reason, this makes me smile.
Hi also told us that "we the Vietnamese people are carnivores, we eat everything". Everything including dogs, cats and a ratty looking ferret animal called a cevit of which we saw carcases stringed up in local restaurants, complete with blood still streaming from their noses. I kept looking over at Maggie, trying to anticipate the exact minute she would start crying, but she kept a poker face. She quietly announced at lunch-time that she wasn't hungry at all. I didn't blame her. (see pictures of the food we ate, and didn't eat)
I was disappointed to find that the infamous hammer and sycle emblem is not prominent in Vietnam. I only saw it once in downtown Hanoi. I suspect that much like China and other Communist countries, the government of Vietnam finally realized that the educated "elite" are something to be valued, rather than scorned. [During the cultural revolution in China, everyone with a college degree was rounded up and killed or sent to a labor farm. Now, China grants an exeption to the "one child per couple" policy to people who have a PhD.]
Sorry, this is a long entry....
Our second tour involved a 3 hour drive from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. In Ha Long, there were dozens of boats waiting to take tourists to see the sights. We did not realize until we were on the boat that our $40 USD per person had bought us a three-hour drive from Hanoi, and our own personal chartered boat.
We wound up on a replica of a Chinese junk with a crew of three. They served lunch and warm beer on the boat. (In Vietnam and Thailand, "ice" is pronounced "eye". There was no "eye" on the boat). Hi said that only rich people could afford to charter a boat for two people. Most boats had 20 people on board. Maggie did not disclose that, when booking on-line, we had no idea that we would have a private boat.[side note: In Cambodia, our tour guide told us that Germans and Koreans are the most obnoxious tourists. They tend to ignore the rules and violate the temples. In Vietnam, Hi told us that Israelis are the worst tourists, because they demand "better" food, etc. than what they have paid for with their tour package.]
View our pictures here:
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