Interlude in Indochine
Biggles books, Tin-Tin, Rider Haggard, Graham Greene and Hemmingway – my parents discussing the problems the Portuguese had in Mozambique and Angola, the battles the Belgians were having hanging on to the Congo, the Cuban crisis, Aden, Suez and the insurrection the French were facing in Indochina. They all fuelled my childhood imagination and I yearned to visit all those romantic sounding places.
In the early seventies my romanticism had been replaced by fascination, and I would listen to the war reporters in the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent’s Club discussing events in Saigon, Hanoi and Phnom Penh. And I still yearned to go.
Nearly forty years later I finally got to visit Vietnam and Cambodia.
Part one. Vietnam “A country, not a war…”
Over the past few years we’ve been using a company called Explore to organise our trips – they specialise in travel aimed at those who have grown out of back-packing, but still crave the adventure.
We had a really excellent small group of fellow explorers – and our Vietnamese guide called Nam was one of the best we’ve had – charming, enthuastic and very, very knowledgeable.
Before setting off we watched again the Top Gear episode in Vietnam – believe me, the traffic really is that crazy there. One of the first things our guide and minder did was to take us out into the middle of the Hanoi traffic and teach us how to walk (without actually shitting ourselves) through the bedlam of bicycles, trishaws, scooters, mopeds, cars and small trucks.
I really hoped to see a few old classics on the streets – but sadly the only old cars were in museums.
Ho Chi Mihn’s Peugeot 404
This Austin is now a religious relic as it was used by a protesting monk to drive to Saigon before setting fire to himself.
I saw one Jeep on the streets – and I don’t think it was that old…
In the Reunification Palace in Saigon they had this lovely old Merc, with rather awful plastic wheel trims…
…this Proper old Jeep, and
this on the roof!
Hanoi is a great city – with both French and Chinese influence in the architecture and the cuisine. It is the old capital of North Vietnam and was heavily bombed by the Americans – The Vietnamese are very keen to put the war behind them, and have rebuilt much of the city. Only the odd signs of conflict remain – such as the wreckage of a b52 bomber in a small pond.
We stayed in a pleasant little hotel overlooking one of the city’s lakes. On the street below we could watch the traders bringing their wares to market on a variety of vehicles, and very surprisingly, among them two very new looking Bentleys cruised past..
Talking to the locals it is evident that for a socialist state, there is bugger all in the way of social services. They have to pay for health care and education, and the vulnerable have to rely heavily on family support to survive.
Since 1998 the country has undergone a major change, with reforms bringing in a pure market driven economy and yet still with a very closed and socially controlling government. Corruption is rife and there is a very wide gap between the have’s and the have-nots.
Despite this, one gets a strong impression that the people are extremely tough and resilient – they fought the French and won, they fought the Americans and won, they fought each other, and reached a reconciliation and they are determined to rebuild and go forward as a major Tiger economy.
Politics aside, the scenery from Ha Long Bay all the way down to the Mekong Delta is stunning. With mountains to the west and the South China Sea to the east, Vietnam is a long thin country, and has more rivers than I’ve ever seen in one country.
We took an overnight train from Hanoi to the ancient capital Hue – which was quite an experience and then drove from Hue to the pretty town of Hoi An, where I popped into Yaly Couture where the Top Gear team got their togs tailored and got myself measured for a Cashmere suit. In 24 hours they had made the suit and a blazer, and Stephanie had some shoes made.
Vietnamese tailors provide a VERY personal service
At China Beach, where the US soldiers used to R&R, the Flight of the Valkyries rather inappropriately came to mind…
US observation post in the mountains
Of course we had to do some rubble gazing – so visited the temple ruins at My Son, built by the Cham - an ancient indigenous race in central Vietnam. It was a surprise to see such a huge Hindu influence in the site and the artefacts in the Cham Cultural Museum.
From Hoi An we took an internal flight to Ho Chi Mihn city and drove down to the Mekong Delta – which was lovely.
Stephanie adopts the ‘Mekong Chic’
Annoyingly I developed an inflamed shoulder and spent a very painful couple of days roughing it under mosquito nets and hopping on and off small wooden boats. My good friend Nam insisted that a couple of glasses of snake wine would be an excellent pain-killer, It was actually rather good…
As soon as we got to Saigon I went the International SOS medical centre, and for US$400 I had a cortisone injection which dramatically reduced the pain and improved my mood no end.
Ho Chi Mhin city is great sprawling place, and I was delighted to discover that there were still large parts of old Saigon still surviving – including the Continental Hotel where Graham Greene stayed and wrote one of my favourite novels The Quiet American.
The only remnants of the war we saw in Saigon were in the museum;
Our last day in Vietnam was spent at the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Vietcong hid from the Americans.
going down the tunnel
Bat in the tunnel
For a few dollars one can buy a clip of live rounds and fire the notorious AK47 on a closed range – It went against all my principles But I still had to have a go.
Vietnam had been fun – but driving over the border into Cambodia was like driving from South Africa into Zimbabwe…we were very much back in the third world.