Good Morning Vietnam!

Hi everyone,

We've once again taken our time between posts, but it's hard to get a good feel for a country when you've only seen half of it, so we thought we'd wait to write about Vietnam until we'd seen both the South and the North. That, and we were both hit by stomach illness after leaving Cambodia - Nadia in particular, who was feeling it for about the entire first week here in Vietnam. Our journey started in Ho Chi Minh City, or "HCMC" (formerly known as Saigon), where we quickly had to adapt to the biggest challenge - getting across the street. There are motorcycles EVERYWHERE (apparently 3 million in HCMC alone), and you just have to walk slowly across the and hope that people react and swerve around you. It's a technique that one needs to master pretty quickly - if you run, you're toast, and if you stop, you're also toast. Here's a short video I took in downtown HCMC at night, that gives you an idea of the number of motorcycles one has to deal with:

In HCMC, we went to see the Reunification Palace, made famous by the takeover in 1975 by North Viatnamese troops that crashed through the gates with tanks, causing an end to the Vietnam war. It was amazing the way they've preserved the palace, as they seemingly haven't touched a thing since 1975, including the gambling room, theatre room, and even the underground maze below the palace, intended as an emergency shelter and communications center. Here are some pictures:

We also checked out the war museum, which used to be called "The Museum of American Atrocities". It was VERY graphic, and parts were difficult to take. Outside, they had lots of U.S. millitary equipment that had been seized at the end of the war. Here are some pictures, including one of the so-called "Tiger Cages" used on POW's:HCMC has an interesting colonial past, and lots of beautiful buildings. Here are some pictures around town, including our hotel, as well as a couple of Ho Chi Minh himself, whose likeness is hard to escape in HCMC:

After HCMC, our "plan" was to make our way to Nha Trang for a relaxing beach stop. Unfortunately, the weather was not particularly co-operative (cooler than expected, overcast, rainy, and windy), and the waves at the beach were too imposing to swim. Apparently there are drownings there quite regularly. So, when the weather got crappy, we decided to do a little sightseeing around town and surrounding areas. Here are some pictures, which actually make the weather look pretty good (which it wasn't):
We were also blessed with a great hotel room in Nha Trang, and since Nadia was still recovering from a stomach illness at this time, our place had a great sitting area overlooking the beach and the town which we made good use of. Here are some shots:

After Nha Trang, we continued our trek northwards to the small town of Hoi An. This is one town in North Vietnam that was completely untouched by U.S. bombing runs during the Vietnam war. As a result, the history of this town is well preserved in its buildings, houses, temples, etc. and made for a very quaint setting to spend a few days. Here are some shots and a brief night time video:

More importantly (to Nadia), Hoi An is known for its tailoring trade. In a town of 75,000 people, there are over 800 tailor shops in this town, and they can make virtually any clothes or shoes custom made. This was truly "Nadia's dream" as you can see from the following photo: She even got her own custom made sneakers done, complete with her name stitched on them:

I have to admit, I was guilty of indulging as well as I got two custom-tailored suits, and a pair of handmade shoes...

We also checked out a cultural performance in Hoi An, and took a boat trip along the Hoi An river to take in a slice of rural life. This was the first time that we felt like we were seeing the real Vietnam that you only see in movies - rice paddies, fishing villages, etc. Here are some shots and a brief video from both the show and the boat :

We spent a morning going to see the site of "My Son", which is a Cham ruin site located up in the mountains. The site was less than spectactular after being to Angkor; however, I think it was also spoilt somewhat by the bad weather as it was pouring rain and muddy the whole time. Here are a couple of shots:
After Hoi An, our bags were getting rather heavy and cumbersome, so we were left with two choices: Upgrade to business class and increase our weight allowances for flights or send a bag of stuff home. We elected to do both, and god-willing, a bag full of our souvenirs and summer clothes is somewhere in the Pacific right now on its way back to Toronto - no joke, ETA is early April for its Toronto arrival. Here's a couple of shots of us enjoying our time unencumbered by luggage allowances and short legroom: Our final stop in Vietnam is here in Hanoi, the capital city. Much like HCMC, there are a zillion motorcycles here. However, the place has a different feel to it - one has to be a little more on guard here as people are more direct and in your face than in HCMC. At the same time, it's more trendy and there are some really cool spots, like this cafe Nadia and I were at the other night called "La Place", complete with military propaganda posters from the war: Oddly enough, one of the attractions that Hanoi is known for, is its water puppet theatre, so we couldn't miss out on that. Here are a few shots: We also hit the Museum of Ethnology, where Nadia was able to try on one of the dresses of Vietnam's 54 recognized minority groups:There were also a few surprising sights at the museum...I was shocked, really, as you'll see:
It's rained nearly the entire time we've been here, and being that this is one of the dirtier cities we've visited in Southeast Asia, it's kind of nasty walking through dirty puddles of garbage runoff. The city's also difficult enough to walk around when it's dry since the "sidewalks" are full of parked scooters and diners at street food stalls. With the rain, it makes it even more difficult, and Nadia and I are getting used to walking single file on the side of the road hoping not to get nailed by oncoming motorcyclists. We're still trying to make the most of things, but hoping that the weather improves soon.

Vietnam is a place that has obviously suffered extensively from the war. We were surprised just how many people we saw on the streets who were amputees, dwarved, or with facial disfigurations likely from the war. In many cases, these may be the sons and daughters of those affected by things like agent orange, so at times, it can be a little disturbing. Vietnam is still working towards coming into its own, and is more lacking in infrastrucure such as transportation, sidewalks, sanitation, etc. from some of its Asean neighbours. However, we've had a good time here and will take away many memories from this interesting place. This place has had a lasting affect on us - Nadia in particular, as you can see, has quickly assimilated into the culture:

We'll soon be off to Taiwan for our second last stop before heading off to Japan for our final leg of the trip. Hope to tell you about more great travels ahead...

Mike and Nadia