Vietnam - It's Complicated

Please enjoy my rundown on our time in the “H” cities of Vietnam. One thing to remember if you actually read this post (all 8-10 of you) is that for Americans and many others, the most common thing we associate with Vietnam is the Vietnam War. And while the Vietnam War as Americans know it (or the American War as people in Vietnam call it) ended in the reunification of Vietnam, it was preceded by an equally brutal war with the French from the 50s onward, occupation by the Japanese during WW2, another period as a colony of the French, and before that, countless incursions by the Chinese and other Southeast Asian neighbors. After the country unified, there were re-education camps and reprisals for Southern Vietnamese, a war with the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, a brief war with China on the Northern border, and internal insurgencies within Vietnam by ethnic minorities.

So visiting Vietnam as a tourist is essentially stepping into a country that until recently has been at war non-stop for decades and asking “Where’s the best banh mi???” Appreciating that this history happened and that repercussions are still being felt is important if you visit. You can still enjoy that banh mi (I certainly did) but also understand that the French baguette that it comes on didn’t just appear in Vietnam spontaneously (just like the various tanks and planes you’ll find displayed in front of buildings or in parks were not “donated” by the US Army and Air Force).

Hanoi

Any city that leaves a shot-down B-52 in the middle of a lake as a middle finger to Americans is pretty cool. As far as I know only Hanoi and Evansville, Indiana have that. We spent 7 days in Hanoi during our time in Vietnam, so got to know the touristy parts of it pretty well. If you like being run down by old ladies on scooters, Hanoi is the place for you.

The capital of North Vietnam (1946-1975) and before that, French Indochina (1902-1945), Hanoi became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976 after the war ended and the country unified. It was also the capital from 1010 to 1802. For me it had a very distinct atmosphere compared to other cities in Southeast Asia. The French influence is visible in the architecture, the weather is generally cooler (so I was told; it was like a blast furnace most of the time we were there), and the tourist quarter is so compact that exploring feels different from Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh. In those cities you would wander long distances to see different sights, only occasionally spotting a fellow sweaty foreigner and giving them a little nod as if to say “Yes, I agree we would be more comfortable in Oslo, but the food isn’t nearly as good there.” In Hanoi it seemed like every tourist was packed into a small radius of the Old Quarter, dodging scooters and lining up to see the glass encased table where Obama and Bourdain had dinner once.

Don’t miss Hanoi if you visit Vietnam, but also, get the hell out of Hanoi if you visit Vietnam. The country has a lot more to offer, and seeing the North, Center, and South is important if you want to get a feel for the country. Also, if you want to see Uncle Ho resting in state, plan your visit carefully. He’s only available on certain days and in the morning, so we missed out. Also if you’re into seeing embalmed world leaders, there are a lot more of them than I thought.

Ha Long Bay

It’s a big bay full of trash. A beautiful bay with strange protruding mountains shrouded in mist that make you feel like you’re in a fairytale, but with trash. This is a must-do for many visitors to Vietnam, so we did it too. I don’t regret it, but for anyone considering Ha Long Bay, just know it really is a natural wonder that is marred by the presence of humanity. It will also be the most expensive thing you do here, unless you just grab one of the larger pieces of trash and float out into the bay on your own. Entirely possible, but then you wouldn’t get the continental breakfast. Unless you eat some trash that floats by.

We booked two nights on a cruise called the Rosa. Once we arrived at the dock we were told we’d actually be on the Dora, which was just as good. In the end, we found ourselves on the M’Gloria. As we got out into the bay and saw the Dora and Rosa a few hundred feet away from us, we realized they were all basically the same. The deal with Ha Long Bay is that there are dozens of cruise ships that dock in two or three areas over the course of a few nights, and you can be on a budget cruise (bright lights and karaoke), a mid-range cruise (nice dinner and squid fishing) or a fancy cruise (presumably massages and champagne). We did the mid-range and had a good time.

The most notable thing for me on Ha Long Bay was the staff of the cruise boat. We met two people in particular who made an impression: Angie and James. These are fake names since they both hated their jobs, but they were very nice people. Angie gave us free water on the sly, got Laura to announce the evening activities on the loudspeaker, had Laura braid her hair, and told me all about her plans to marry her English boyfriend and get out of Vietnam. James knew a ton of the history of Ha Long Bay, which he was glad to share, then also went into very deep detail about his dating life (too deep at times), and the current state of Vietnam from his point of view. He was the first Vietnamese I met that seemed critical of the country/government and suggested that things might not be as lovely as the omnipresent propaganda posters plastered everywhere would indicate. My conversation with James lasted the rest of the trip, because I was still chewing over the various digs against Southern Vietnam that a previous guide in Hanoi had sprinkled throughout our trip to Ninh Binh.

I was fascinated that most of the country (to foreign visitors of course) presents an image of a place completely unified and harmonious after reunification. Where I grew up there are still Confederate flags flying in front of some homes (remember Connecticut, the state that attacked Fort Sumter?), so I find it hard to believe there aren’t lingering resentments in Vietnam less than 50 years after a brutal war between North and South. People like the tour guide taking jabs at Ho Chi Minh City (“Why would you go there?” “They’ll steal your camera immediately” “If you answer my trivia question wrong, I’m sending you to HCMC,” etc.) and James casually mentioning that people from the South (like himself) are generally darker and therefore undesirable for both romance and high-earning jobs left me wondering what the rest of the Vietnamese I met thought about their country and its history.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Ho Chi Minh, or Saigon if you’re feeling seditious, was a fun city. It definitely feels more Western than Hanoi, which is not surprising as it was the capital of South Vietnam up until 1975 when the North Vietnamese ended the war by taking the city. It was hot, you’ll be surprised to hear, but we stayed in a lovely place just outside the hustle and bustle and were able to explore quite a bit during three days.

The thing I remember most about Ho Chi Minh was the War Remnants Museum. The War Remnants Museum is just that, a museum focusing on the war with the Americans (excluding the French, which came before). As an American visiting Vietnam, I never felt unwelcome at all, and I think it’s entirely possible to visit Vietnam as an American (or French, Australian, South Korean, Thai, Chinese or any number of other nations that have tried and failed to defeat the Vietnamese) and feel no impact from the war(s) whatsoever. That would be an exercise in wilful ignorance, but it’s possible.

However, I think that’s probably not the best way to travel. Go to the War Remnants Museum if you visit Ho Chi Minh, whatever your nationality, and be prepared to see some truly disturbing images and learn the stories behind them. I knew about some of the war crimes the USA committed during the war (the My Lai Massacre being the most commonly taught in American classrooms) as well as the effects of Agent Orange, but seeing an entire room filled with different stories of brutality and anguish reminds you that these events happened only about 50 years ago. That’s not very long at all and I wouldn’t blame Vietnam for holding a very serious grudge against Americans, the French, and anyone else involved in the decades of violence the country endured in the 20th century. It’s to their credit that the vast majority of people I met were kind, caring, and never had a bad word to say to me or Laura (in English at least).

Incidentally we just missed the celebration of the event Americans know as “The Fall of Saigon” but to Vietnamese in Vietnam is known as “Reunification Day” or the “Liberation of Saigon,” and to many overseas Vietnamese known as “Black April.” It’s complicated. Suffice to say there were oodles of Vietnamese flags festooned about the major streets. I’m glad we missed it because I hate loud parties.

Hoi An

A UNESCO World Heritage site suffering from an onslaught of tourists. For all that, it’s still a very nice place to visit. I was fully in my “It’s too hot to live” stage by now so we took advantage of a nice beach that was a bike ride away and mostly just sat there for a few days while going into the city at night to eat and explore. This was our first foray into Central Vietnam, and it definitely has a different vibe from both the North and the South. A bit more laid back, perhaps a byproduct of existing between two massive cities to the North and the South. Central Vietnam was also the site of a lot of military activity during the war, since the DMZ was here as well as large American military bases, particularly in Da Nang. Several Vietnamese we met here had relatives living in the USA, which we hadn’t encountered before.

Anyway, we relaxed and enjoyed the Old Town, and I had a personal mental breakdown where I ate pizza three days in a row. As much as Vietnamese food is amazing, there is a personal limit I possess which must be balanced by cheese and dough every 15-20 days. I regret nothing, but that does bring me to our final destination…

Hue

We only spent a few days in Hue, and since my body had already disintegrated into a pool of sentient sweat I was ready to leave Vietnam for Japan, a place where the temperature occasionally drops below 95 degrees. Despite the heat and the “intestinal distress” I experienced at the very end of our stay in Hue (nothing to do with the pizza, pizza is perfect) the city made a good impression. It was once the capital of Imperial Vietnam, and the old imperial city is still in good condition and impressive to visit. The imperial city (as well as the surrounding areas) was also the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War, so there’s recent history here as well.

We stayed at a truly remarkable place called Tam Tinh Vien Homestay. It’s a group of cabins and rooms that is attached to an orphanage, both run by a couple who use the funds from the homestay to pay for the orphanage. If you’re cheap bastards like us, you can opt to eat dinner for free with the orphans, which we did for two nights. Disclaimer - my stomach problems were almost certainly from drinking some unsafe water at some point, not from the lovely free food provided by the homestay. Especially since Laura ate the same stuff and was totally fine. And it definitely had nothing to do with the pizza.

These kids were cool. They seemed to enjoy the company of two random foreigners, and despite the language barrier we were able to communicate through playing catch (they would try to hit me in the crotch with the ball when I wasn’t paying attention, I’d block it, totally normal behavior), holding puppies, and making fun of my long hair. One kid repeatedly told me in English while pulling my hair, “You’re girlfriend!!!” Actually, maybe they didn’t like me very much.

Getting to know some kids and staying in a place that was doing good for the local community was fun, and the Imperial City was a great place to see. Highly recommend Hue, just be sure to drink bottled water.

That’s it, that’s Vietnam. To sum it up, it was difficult and rewarding at the same time. The people were lovely but in some ways inscrutable, with flashes of insight provided if you paid attention. The history of the country is evident everywhere you look, as is the natural beauty, and as everybody says, the food is amazing. It’s a place I’m glad I visited, but I will never ever again go in April, which is one of the hottest months. It was so hot.

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Suggested reading: the epic novel Saigon by Anthony Grey -- a larger than life family saga of characters who find themselves at the heart of all the major historical events between 1925 and 1975!

Suggested viewing: the action film Furie starring Veronica Ngo and directed by Le-Van Kiet -- focuses on a mother's desperate attempt to rescue her daughter from kidnappers in Saigon's seedy underbelly.