KYQ4: Vietnam: Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh

Our visit to Vietnam began on the day after the typhoon had devastated the Philippines. The typhoon crossed the South China Sea with an expectation that it would wreak havoc in our next destination, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Our flight from Hong Kong was delayed, Aileen and other passengers were nervous having seen on TV the flood prevention measures being put in place in Hanoi. But by a simple twist of fate, the typhoon veered eastwards and left Hanoi largely unscathed. We arrived shaken and stirred but we were pleasantly surprised at the modern airport and efficient customs and luggage retrieval.

We drove into the centre of Hanoi by a circuitous route in order to cross the wide and slow-flowing Red River. Once inside the city, we were assailed by massed ranks of motorcycles that filled the wide roads and crisscrossed the intersections without any need for traffic lights. The collective sangfroid of the cyclists allowed the traffic to flow like water, filling all the gaps with the motorcycles acting as ball bearings for the far smaller number of vehicles. Crossing the wide congested roads seemed a major hazard but a couple of weeks later we were walking across roads as if they were the Red Sea - keep walking, don't run was the secret.

We arrived near the centre of Hanoi to a modern well-managed hotel and went to the nearest ATM to draw money. I could not get my head around the 33,000 Dong to the £, and studiously avoided drawing out a million dong, it seemed a lot more than £30. I got into the habit later in the trip after hearing a fellow traveller describe his partner as "looking a million dong" as she sauntered into a restaurant wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

Hanoi was frantic in parts but retained its relaxed French Quarter where the majority of the hotels are located. There are several busy parks and lakes in the centre of the city including Hoan Kiem Lake, the lake of the restored sword that is an exercise hot spot for the older citizens. Despite the perpetual traffic, the wide pavements allowed a busy street life and most locals seemed to be eating on the streets in small roadside cafes. Although the street lighting was well-dimmed, the streets at night felt safe as we began to explore the food on offer. There was an unerring courtesy from all the people we met and we were told that, after centuries of being an occupied and terrified country, there was a sense that there was a lot of living to catch up on.

We spent the next day visiting the sights including Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, to which we were dispatched in small platoons accompanied by solemn marching music blaring from loudspeakers. We visited his modest living accommodation in the grounds and learnt about his life as the revered father of an independent Vietnam. He had returned from twenty years of travelling and studying in Europe in 1941 and made it his mission to campaign for independence through the Viet Minh. He delivered the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945 in the hope that American allies who had helped rid the Japanese occupation and the former French Imperial colonialists who had fled in 1940 would respect and support the creation of a free country with equal rights to be Happy and Free. Just like France and the USA. It took 30 years and 7 million lives, not to mention the end of French Colonialism and the besmirched reputation of the United States before this was achieved.

What was evident from other visits to Hanoi was the long-established culture of knowledge and artistic achievements as witnessed in the pagoda of the Temple of Literature - Hanoi's first University. Hanoi was set in the vast plain of the Red River and was richly endowed with fertile land and mineral resources that had been subjected to exploitation by imperial powers throughout the past millennium. As we learnt from our guide and again from many others, the predominantly young population in the 11th most populous country in the world wanted to look forward rather than relive the suffering of the previous generations.

The next day we travelled out of the city to Hoa Lu the ancient capital of Vietnam on a site which could be protected from invasion by the Karst topography amidst the rice fields. We took a trip on a sampan along the Thung Nang Valley, rowed by one of the local village women. After negotiating low-roofed caves by walking on the roof she explained the rich birdlife and the types of fishing taking place. There are three rice crops a year and this was one of the short spells when rice was not being cultivated. She gave us a massage before selling us a tablecloth that she had made illustrating that the Vietnamese are well ahead of the curve when it comes to flexible working and multi occupations.

We returned and spent an afternoon exploring the old town with its streets specialising in goods like silk and silver. There were many shops going under the banner of Made in Vietnam. They were selling designer-labelled clothes, bags and shoes that are made in Vietnam but at prices less than 25% of what you pay in airports or on the High Street in Europe. We needed to replace a pair of sunglasses that had broken and paid 350,000 dongs or about £10.50 for a pair of RayBan's that we saw on the way home in Dubai airport for £130.

We had only scratched the surface of Hanoi but it seemed a city which, despite growing rapidly to 3 million people, had retained its inherent charm. Unlike the vastly bloated Saigon in the south of the country that has become another global corporate city. It has been retitled Ho Chi Minh City, presumably as an act of retribution for being the bastion of French and American occupation forces prior to independence.