SAIGON, HOI AN, AND HANOI, VIETNAM: Guest Post by Gretchen Woelfle

Bicycle vendor, Hanoi, Vietnam

My friend and fellow children's book writer Gretchen Woelfle recently returned from an exciting 18 day trip to Vietnam. Here is the second of three installments about her trip.  Note: Although Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 at the end of the Vietnam War, it is still commonly referred to as Saigon.

 

My cycling tour of Vietnam [see post for 4/4/16] included free days in several cities. I arrived early and stayed a few extra days to see a bit more of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi.

Saigon traffic--what pedestrians face

Saigon

My first impression of Saigon was of a swarm of wasps furiously buzzing and zipping through the streets.  For wasps, read scooters and motorbikes.  Just as wasps would, these buzzers ignored all traffic conventions – traffic lights, stop signs, even traffic lanes.  Crosswalks were worse than useless, for they gave you a false sense of security. The only way to cross the street was walk purposefully across without stopping, letting the wasps zip around you. By the end of the trip I was striding forth almost confidently.

Safely landing on the sidewalks we discovered that they are not walkways, but parking lots for aforesaid scooters and motorbikes, so we often ended up walking (carefully) in the road. Sidewalks were also home to vendors of all sorts, making walking even more difficult.

Street vendor making a call on the job

Maps, even an iPhone GPS didn’t prevent us from getting hopelessly lost. Trying to walk from the Fine Arts Museum to our hotel in the humid heat, and passing the same roundabout not once, but twice, we finally gave up, and jumped in a cab. The driver headed in the opposite direction from where we had been walking.

On Saturday night one of the wide boulevards (lined with upmarket stores) was closed to traffic and filled with crowds of all ages.  Musicians set up here and there, performing hip hop, pop, karaoke, and traditional Vietnamese music. At the end of the long avenue a bronze Uncle Ho stood overlooking the whole scene.  What on earth was he thinking?

Guardian dragons at a Hoi An temple

Hoi An

Midway through our cycling trip, we had a free day in Hoi An. This beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site contains many old buildings that reflect its 500-year-old history as an international trading port. Both sides agreed not to bomb Hoi An during the war. Museums, temples, and workshops displaying fine crafts (beyond the usual tourist tat,) kept us walking and shopping all day long.

Tea set for sale in Hoi an

Hanoi

We reached Hanoi via a twelve-hour overnight train from Hue: 5 pm to 5 am. (I actually slept better than I thought I would.) First thing to notice – many more cars than in Saigon. Crossing the streets required even more courage, dodging cars and buses, as well as motorbikes.

Saturday night in Hanoi

We stayed in the Old Quarter, a maze of narrow streets with small shops and street vendors selling all sorts of produce and street food, interspersed with tourist shops. Our guide told us that northerners are much more conservative than southerners, and Hanoi youth who want unconventional partners move to Saigon. But on Saturday night we saw restaurants and clubs full of hip young people, spilling out onto the streets and alleys.

Dragon dancers, Hanoi

The Museum of Ethnology offers a view of another Vietnam: the dozens of tribal peoples who live in remote rural areas. Clothing, musical instruments, tools, and other artifacts are displayed inside the museum. Their traditional houses and compounds are recreated on the grounds. A performance of water puppets, with music and narration, gave a glimpse of a charming folk art performed primarily for tourists. Groups of schoolchildren bypassed it altogether.

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi

Sunday dawned foggy and full of atmosphere: a perfect day to stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake. Families joined us in enjoying the buskers and artists plying their trades. A spring equinox festival with raucous colorful dragon dancers filled a park near the lake. We found a delicious retro café in the French Quarter to savor our last day in Vietnam.

Park cleaner at Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi

Having filled my suitcases to bursting with various arts, crafts, and silk scarves (all remarkably cheap,) I gave myself one last indulgence at our hotel:  a three hour body scrub, massage, and facial, all (including tip) for $47.

I chose to go to Vietnam, rather than another Asian country, because of the war that loomed so large in the lives of my generation.  Next week I’ll cover some of the remnants of the war I saw on my journey.

See http://www.exodustravels.com/usa/vietnam-holidays/cycling/cycling-vietnam/mov-94296 for details of our itinerary.

Bibliography

Pham, Andrew, Catfish and Mandala. NY, FSG: 1999. Vietnamese-American who fled as a child, returns to cycle through Vietnam in his 20s, with flashbacks to his history. Excellent book.

Dinh, Linh, Love Like Hate. NY, Seven Stories Press: 2010. Multi-generation family novel, from 1960s to the present.  Good look at life in postwar Saigon.