UNDER GROUND AND OVER LAND IN VIETNAM
Why ‘walk slowly’ is the best advice a tourist can get when crossing chaotic city streets
Dodging motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City, cycling through monsoon rains in Hue and eating crickets in Mai Chau may not sound like a typical holiday — but who wants that?
Travelling in Vietnam is never dull. Take the route from Ho Chi Minh City north to the capital Hanoi — stopping a few places in between — and you’ll discover amazing food, incredible ruins and plenty of friendly, resilient people along the way.
For me, the fun began the moment I stepped onto the chaotic streets of Ho Chi Minh City — where there are no rules of the road and the onslaught of motorbikes is endless.
At last count, there were 7.43 million of them in a city of eight million people. Yet there’s often two to four people (including toddlers) per motorbike and, more often than not, they’re also carrying heavy, wide loads.
Crossing the street can be a death-defying act. “Walk slowly” is the common advice doled out to tourists. And while it may seem counter-intuitive to tiptoe through an onslaught of traffic, it works.
And that’s how I slowly made it to the War Remnants Museum. The harrowing exhibits of weapons, the Agent Orange aftermath and photos set the groundwork for understanding what the Vietnamese call the American War.
It was also good to reflect on what the country has been through before I met the others joining me for the hike, bike and kayak tour organized by Toronto-based G Adventures.
TUNNEL VISION
The next day we all explored the Cu Chi tunnels (46 kilometres north of the city), where about 16,000 locals lived underground during the roughly 20-year conflict, which came to an end when Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) fell to the Communists in April 1975.
The 250 kilometres that make up the honeycomb network of tunnels in this area are a testament to the ingenuity of the Viet Cong, who were able to take on the armed might of the Americans by disappearing down camouflaged holes — each one about the size of a laptop — and into the tunnels.
Crawling through a portion of the tunnel was a tight squeeze — even though it’s been enlarged for tourists. But that wasn’t nearly as disturbing as hearing rounds of AK-47s going off at the site’s shooting range.
That really made me wonder what the former jungle must have been like in 1972 when nine-yearold Kim Phuc (now a Canadian) was severely burned here and depicted in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, which showed her running away from a napalm attack.
It all seemed like a world away when we were cycling between the city and the tunnels — passing rubber trees, rice paddies and beautiful countryside.
For the most part, the friendly Vietnamese I met didn’t shy away from speaking about the past, or their hopes for the future.
The country’s population more than doubled since the war ended. Today about 41 per cent of the country’s 95 million people are under the age of 25 and 45 per cent are between the ages of 25 and 54.
Most of them live in the 10 per cent of the land that’s urban, which explains the thriving and cacophonous cities. But it also means there’s a great respite once you venture outside of the centres.
FOURTH- CENTURY RUINS
My Son is just such a place. The oldest ruins in Southeast Asia, these Hindu temples were built between the 4th and 14th centuries.
Although only 20 of the original 68 structures survived (the land is pockmarked by bomb craters), there’s a tranquillity and beauty in the valley, which is nestled between two mountain ranges.
It’s well worth arriving when the site opens at 6 a.m. to fully appreciate the setting. My group of five, plus our guide Thach, were among the first to get to My Son, which is about an hour’s drive from Hoi An. There were only three other people there at the same time.
Wandering through the brick and stone temples decorated with sandstone bas-reliefs and along paths in the lush valley, with the Thu Bon River gently flowing past, was a magical start to the day.
It’s easy to see why the Cham people, who came from India in the 2nd century, chose this area as a site for their kings and why it’s one of Vietnam’s eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The ancient town of Hoi An is another. The Japanese merchant houses and the Chinese temples in the coastal town are charming — especially at night when lanterns adorn the buildings and little boats carrying candles float along the Thu Bon River.
The town, once a major shipping area, is now a major shopping area.
Talented and versatile tailors do a brisk trade, quickly making anything you want out of silk or linen or your choice of fabric.
And, of course, there’s a selection of lanterns, fans and the like available in the touristic and slightly kitsch town’s many shops.
Hue, about 145 kilometres north, reveals more of the country’s storied past. Mountain biking along dirt trails, through massive, muddy puddles and the monsoon rains of summer was oddly exhilarating.
Incidentally, this was the only day we really got caught out with a downpour. And while there were a couple of hot days, the weather was generally fine.
We took a break from cycling to see the Citadel, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was home to the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 to 1945.
They were the last royals to rule the country and 13 Nguyen em- perors and their numerous concubines lived in the vast complex.
About five kilometres south of the city is the tomb of the fourth emperor, Tu Doc. It’s perched on top of Van Nien Hill in Duong Xuan Thuong village.
Built between 1864 and 1867, the royal mausoleums offer another example of monuments of the day and a panoramic view of the countryside. The sombre and remote setting makes it both majestic and moving.
ASTONISHING BEAUTY
My next stop was Poom Coong village in Mai Chau — an idyllic, pastoral area about 150 kilometres west of Hanoi, which has been developed into an ecotourism spot by the White Thai people who live there.
Lodgings are all in homestays — in houses built on stilts. Traditionally roosters, chickens and cows lived below the living quarters and some of the homes still operate that way. I woke up to a chorus of roosters, followed by cows mooing.
The food here — and throughout the country — is fresh and flavourful. Vietnam’s cuisine mixes native gastronomy with Chinese, Indian, French and Japanese influences and uses locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.
At the start of the trip, our main guide — Dang Trung (a.k.a. Zoom, Zoom for the way he speedily showed us his country) — warned me that in Vietnam they eat anything that moves. Raised during hard times, he assured me he ate rats as a child.
He also said you could eat a snake’s still-beating heart in a specialty resto in Hanoi. And I couldn’t help noticing we stopped at a few roadside cafés throughout the country with bottled reptiles.
Fortunately, these items were never on our menu (as far as I could ascertain).
However, after a shot of happy water, our homestay hosts produced a bowl full of crispy, fried crickets — and, erm, it would have been churlish not to try at least one.
As luck would have it, the rest of the food was made up of more typical fare — rice, spring rolls and curries — all of which were delicious and gave me plenty of sustenance.
The scenery in Mai Chau is stunning with forested limestone mountains surrounding rice paddies. And it would be wonderful to spend a few days exploring the area by bike, and/or on foot.
Short on time, we did a casual day hike before making our way to Halong Bay.
PICTURESQUE BAY
This, too, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More than 1,600 limestone pillars jut out of the Gulf of Tonkin creating a stunning karst landscape.
Kayaking is relaxing here and there are numerous spots to explore — whether you want to go into some of the caves to admire the stalagmites and stalactites, or just rock up on to a little beach to go for a dip in the warm but refreshing water.
Again, I could happily spend a number of days exploring the bay — which offers unlimited paddling, climbing and snorkelling — just to name a few activities.
But I had one last day left to see a bit more of Hanoi.
There’s a crazy-busy market, with all sorts of wares, a number of interesting museums to visit and the pretty Hoan Kiem Lake in the centre of the Old Quarter.
Having mastered the art of walking through traffic, it was easy to explore the area on foot.
In the evening, the quarter really comes to life, with multitudes sitting on tiny stools by tables in outdoor restos, cruising the night market, with gazillions of items for sale, and listening to street musicians.
The capital city — with a banana plantation, its own Notre Dame Cathedral and water puppet shows — doesn’t disappoint. It’s every bit as diverse and full of surprises as the rest of the country.