Impressions of Vietnam

Vietnam was never on my bucket list but when a planned trip to Kenya fell through, I said "what the heck, why not visit my friend's
courageous daughter Gabby in Vietnam. She had gone off to that country to teach English a year ago, although she never knew anyone in the region or a word of the Vietnamese language.

It was with some trepidation that I took the decision as I am quite a foodie and had often heard that they ate things that I would never consider digesting, like cats and dogs! "As I don't know the language, how will I know if I get my pets to eat?" I worried as I packed my bags with all sorts of junk food including barbecued pork rind!

Sadly, some beautiful scenery is barely visible because of the heavy pollution

I needn't have worried though, as when I finally expressed my fears to Gabby, she assured me that cats and dogs are delicacies there, so I would never get them to eat by mistake.

 I was even pleasantly surprised when during my visit I did notice that some people had pet dogs on leashes and even on their bikes, indicating that the trend to eat those animals was probably slowly, very slowly receding. During that same period when I was there, however, I only saw what could be considered, one pet cat, as it had a collar. I saw no stray cats.

The destination was far better than I expected in most ways but far worse in a few.

My biggest disappointment was the high level of pollution in the capital city, even following us to the beautiful countryside. One often hears about the terrible pollution in India and China but had never heard of it in Vietnam, so it came as quite a shock to see almost everyone wearing masks in Hanoi. I got one, but it didn't help much since the immediate effect was the severe stinging of my eyes.

I personally have never seen such a high level of pollution anywhere. It even blots out the sun completely many days. This is caused by the extremely highly developed manufacturing industry which apparently operates without any form of regulations.

My next shock was the absolute chaos in traffic in Hanoi.

That capital city has a population of some seven million people but it is rumored that there are six million motor scooters of all shapes and sizes.
(This of course makes it impossible to judge ones status or wealth by their mode of transportation as just about everyone in the city use bikes to get around.)

Many roads n the city have bike lanes, but very few riders use them. I have never seen such anarchy on the roads in my life. In fact, I would describe what I felt on the first few days as total culture shock as I saw riders, some even texting on their phones,  ride out in front of bikes, cars or trucks without appearing to look at all. It was not unusual either to see a bike with up to six persons on board, most being children and while the adults usually wore helmets, the children are never provided with any.

I must admit that after about three days, when I did drum up the courage to take a bike taxi with a Grab, rider (Grab is the Asian equivalent of UBER and they have both bike and car taxis,) I was pleasantly surprised to be supplied with a helmet.

The ride was not as scary I expected,  but on reaching my destination, my driver who was traveling behind a truck was nearly crushed as the truck driver stopped suddenly, then started reversing without checking if there was anyone behind him!

 My poor rider, he nearly had a heart attack.

What I found interesting too was the total absence of police or soldiers on the streets or anywhere, in a so-called communist state with an amazingly low crime rate.

This is a fairly clear sidewalk!

With the chaos on the roads,  I had expected to see regular, terrible accidents but amazingly, never saw one during the time I was there.  On one occasion, I did see one policeman trying to direct traffic during peak hour, (all day looks like rush hour anyway!) only to observe in amusement that the bike riders simply ignored him and did their thing while a few drivers obeyed his signals. However I hear that just about every car you see in the city, has a dent on the side and every rider has a muffler burn amusingly, dubbed the Hanoi kiss!

As to the treatment of pedestrians, Oh lord....they are of no value at all to those on wheels as no one pays any attention to any pedestrian crossing or traffic lights. In fact, I dare say, trying to cross a road in Hanoi appeared to me at first to be the ultimate challenge and almost like making a date with death! And where the sidewalks are in good shape  (not full of holes and broken slabs) they are captured by merchants or used as parking lots for the bikes.  So it's on to the streets for walkers.

Newlyweds pose in the street for photos

 I could not believe my eyes too when I saw sections of several sidewalks, both in and outside of Hanoi, with long beautifully decorated tents installed as reception halls for weddings. The Vietnamese seem to be great lovers as there are streets lined with nothing but flower shops and ever-present, are women with bicycles loaded with bunches of flowers which they sell on the streets and around the lakeside.

A dedicated bleacher!

 Although Vietnam describes itself as being socialist, it is among the most capitalist cities I have ever seen with every type of small business, especially food businesses. I am really surprised how slim everyone is!

And whereas one would expect a socialist society to be somewhat ordered, when it comes to town planning, the word that springs to mind immediately is anarchy. So it is not unusual to see the most fabulous building on the first few floors and literal shacks on their tops.

 Really weird.

Another practice I found culturally shocking was the widespread use of bleaching creams by Vietnamese women. It is as every woman there wants to be white.

 At first, when I saw women fully covered from head to foot as they rode their scooters, stupidly I thought they covered themselves up so if they fell, they would minimize the bruises. I was quickly disabused of this thought when it was explained to me that they remain fully clothed from head to foot in the boiling sun in temperatures in excess of 80 degrees because they fear the sun darkening their skin. It was uncanny, as uncanny as the habit of most young men growing the nails on their left hand to extraordinary lengths.

When I find out what's behind this practice, I will certainly let you know.

With bleaching being so prevelant, I should really not be surprised at the level of racism in the country, but I was, for this is 2018 and I had no idea racism could be so open in any country of the world still.

Shrine at Ho Chi Minh museum complex

Let me make it clear, I personally never experienced any form of racism and in fact, found everyone I encountered, extremely nice and helpful. But it is a well-known fact that visitors and residents never have the same experiences.

 I was really very appalled when my friend who works there, revealed that many employers will tell you up front that the salary scale for black people and whites are not the same. Blacks must, therefore, accept considerably less pay for doing the same job!

She also had the terrible experience of persons refusing to serve her in their establishments or telling her to leave because she is black. Yes in Hanoi in 2018.

Another shock I got, was the seeing the easy availability of all drugs, prescription and otherwise, by  simply going into the pharmacy and asking for it. I have no idea if Vietnam has a serious drug abuse problem, but I am sure the American druggists who are widely reported to be killing themselves with overdoses of prescription drugs, would have a ball in Vietnam where everything is so easily available!

Shrine at a local pagoda

As someone who loves to travel, I often find myself having to make it clear up front that when I write about a trek of mine, I pay more attention to the natural beauty of a country, rather than cultural practices or the type of government.

This is where I move from the negatives to the absolute beauty of what I saw in Vietnam.

 Despite being a communist country which long imposed on restrictions on religion, the government does not appear to prevent religious adherence, so pagodas (temples) with the most beautiful shrines are all over. I was really taken in by the way their elaborate shrines are cherished and protected.

Nowhere are they more cherished and on display than at the Bia Dinh Pagoda, in Ninh Binh province which was the ancient capital of Vietnam during the 10-11th century.

This sacred area which has both old and new temples, covers over 500 hectares in the mountains and forest, is a treasure trove of absolute beauty and great pride to the Vietnamese people.

(These photos cannot really depict the breathtaking beauty there but nevertheless, I must share them.)

Apart from the temples and pagodas, Vietnam has a proliferation of lakes which the government uses to establish fantastic recreation areas for the people. It is so pleasant to walk around these lakes and see people fishing or just hanging around with their kids.

Pollution in that country is really severe though and it affects the lakes as much as anything else. Unfortunately, therefore, while those lakes provide visual pleasure, I saw no one crazy enough to be swimming in any.

I am somewhat of a waterbird so always go on the tours involving the sea. Ha Long Bay was quite a hit for me.

This is  is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Gulf of Tangkia, which is approximately 175 km from Hanoi.

I found this area so beautiful that I dedicated an entire blog with photos to it elsewhere. (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2018/10/unforgettable-beautyha-long-bay.html)

Another spectacular UNESCO protected area just minutes from Bia Dinh is Trang An in the Red River Delta. This area is said to have provided shelter for humans for 32,000 years and it is  where one of the King Kong movies was filmed!

"Awesome" was the word which kept springing to mind as we wended our way slowly past huge kast formations and under fabulous caves, in a canoe propelled by a lady no less.

With the immense beauty of their land and their rich history,  the Vietnamese people have a lot to be proud of and this pride is on display in the three museums I had the opportunity to visit in Hanoi.  My favorite was, of course, the Woman's museum for very view nations revere their women to the extent that they dedicate an entire great museum to them.

The similarity to craft in Latin America is striking

Here we learnt a great deal about the 78 tribes that make up the population, naturally, quite a few being matriarchal.

 As I observed their dress and traditions, I could not but be struck by the similarities between women in this region to those in Latin America. This reinforced in my mind, the long-held theory that the so-called new world was populated by people from south-east Asia, long before Europeans even thought about world travel.

I think it is the high level of respect with which women in Vietnam are awarded, that accounts for their extremely low crime level!

Ho Chi Minh

Naturally, there is an elaborate museum dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, and deservedly so. He is greatly revered in the country as demonstrated by the hundreds of students you see studying his life and works there, all of which are on full display in the museum dedicated to him.

 He was indeed a great hero. 

The third museum I visited was the History Museum and that too proudly displays the history and achievements of the people.

 Another brief, informative and entertaining aspect of the story of Vietnam, is depicted through world-class dance, music, and art at the show, the Quintessence of Tonkin.

Uniformed students pour into the Ho Chi Minh museum

This show is staged close to Duong Lam village which has a history of over 1200 years. This was really world-class choreography and state of the art technology and is performed entirely by the local people from the village.

My first visit to Vietnam may have been brief and while I have highlighted some culturally offensive aspects of life there, that beautiful country is now high on my bucket list for more intensive exploration.
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