Vietnam Redux-Part One
In 2008 my late husband and I toured Vietnam and Cambodia by bike using a company called VBT. This fall I returned with my traveling buddy, Jan Hazard, for a more luxurious active vacation courtesy of Backroads. Jan and I jokingly called ourselves “The Merry Widows on Wheels” as we had both lost our husbands earlier in the year. Having previously cycled as caregivers-in-need-of-a-break, we decided to continue the tradition despite our sadness. Jan chose the trip and I was delighted to revisit both Southeast Asian countries plus discover a new one thanks to a stopover in Singapore on our way home.
As expected with any country undergoing rapid economic expansion, especially in the urban centers, I discovered many changes in Vietnam but less so in Cambodia. For this travel post, which will be divided in several installments, I enlisted the help of some of my fellow Backroads travelers. I asked them to share their impressions about the two countries in order to offer a different perspective.
A snapshot of Vietnam
Let’s begin with Vietnam where we also started our journey. To set the stage, here is a quick portrait of the country.
Vietnam is S-shaped extending along the Indochinese peninsula bordering China, Laos and Cambodia. Approximately 128,000 square miles in size, it has lush green mountains in the north and fertile flood plains in the south. It also possesses a coastline with scenic beaches stretching over 2,000 miles from the South China Sea to the Gulf of Tonkin. It takes 52 hours to drive from the top of the country to the bottom. We spent a week cycling halfway down from Hanoi to Hoi An with a plane trip thrown in to cover a long distance quickly.
Vietnam’s long history is dominated by 1,000 years of Chinese occupation plus an invasion by the French in the 19th century. Both foreign dominations left their mark on the cuisine and urban architecture. The country’s robust coffee culture is specifically thanks to the French. The impact of the more recent “American War”—which we call the “Vietnam War”—will be discussed later.
The country is home to 54 ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Viet or Kihn, which represents 86% of its current population of almost 97 million. Modern Vietnam embraces a mixture of faiths including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Add to that a heavy dose of ancestor worship something we witnessed daily.
Communism with an open-door business policy
The country is a one-party communist state ruled by the Democratic Republic Party of Vietnam or DRV. Twenty years ago, after a decade of hard times and isolation, the DRV followed China’s model with its own reform plan called doi moi. Its goal was to encourage international relations and foreign investment in addition to reducing state-owned businesses. The DRV also returned land to millions of farmers giving them the right to sell or transfer their property.
Today, Vietnam is one of the world’s fastest growing market-based economies. While agriculture (rice, coffee and tea) is its most important sector, clothing manufacturing, electronics, telecommunications and tourism are rapidly increasing as key industries.
Hanoi, a city on the move
Our cycling trip began in Hanoi, the country’s capital. Jan and I arrived a day in advance on a Sunday to rest, explore a little plus acclimate a bit to the 12-hour time difference. Before dinner we took a brisk walk outside our hotel, the Sofitel Legend Metropole. We discovered a sea of locals enjoying their city with a multitude of relaxing weekend pleasures. Several side streets, closed for pedestrian traffic, were jammed with adorable little children zipping around in neon colored toy cars lit up with flashing lights like Christmas trees. Initially I marveled at the tiny tots’ ease of maneuvering their mini vehicles. Then I discovered the cars were remote-controlled by their parents.
Goodbye to native costumes
We witnessed a group of teenage girls fashionably dressed in white posing for a group photo in front of a Patek Philippe store. Guessing it might have been the equivalent of prom night, Jan and I watched them vamp before the camera wearing the same vapid facial expression of a high fashion model. What a change from my first visit. Not only were there no highend stores with foreign brands but few people wear western attire. Back then, most young women still dressed in the conservative Ao Dai, a tight fillting long tunic with a mandarin collar slit up the sides to the waist and worn over loose pants.
Jan and I observed a multitude of young people dressed like us in causal attire meandering around the streets taking selfies with their cell phones while sipping cool drinks. Street performers wearing ripped black jeans and hoodies entertained the crowd doing a hip-hop routine with attitude. Couples with their children enjoyed grilled squid, fried spring rolls and banh xeo (a crispy crêpe stuffed with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, and fresh herbs) prepared by one of many street food vendors squatting on their haunches like closed clam shells. Informal pop-up restaurants were everywhere with throngs of people sitting on Lilliputian-sized plastic stools on the sidewalk enjoying their food.
An obsession with morning exercise
The following morning before breakfast Jan and I took a long walk and found ourselves slipping and sliding over the grease-covered sidewalks where the food vendors had been the night before. We headed to Hoan Kiem Lake and its city park. Here we were overwhelmed by the mass of people practicing different forms of physical activities: Tai Chi; ballroom dancing; group aerobics set to modern music; badminton played on sidewalks; and group back massaging. We learned later that Hanoi is famous for its ability to maintain its historic charm and rush into the future while at the same time respect its healthy work/life balance which we witnessed firsthand.
Laughter as the antidote to anxiety and modern life
A young American with a mini video camera attached to his vest caught up with us. He leaned in and asked, “Have you seen the people doing the laughter yoga yet? I want to feature them in my travel vlog.” Jan and I looked at each other quizzically and explained we hadn’t encountered them yet not knowing exactly what to look for. Eventually we found them. Twenty women of all ages lined up to follow an instructor guiding them through a routine of yoga interspersed with pauses of laughter. At the conclusion everyone playfully broke down into fits of voluntary laughter for a good minute. We later found out that this form of yoga, also called “Hasyayoga,” is based on the belief that forced laughter provides the same physiological and psychological benefits as natural, spontaneous laughter. We’ve all heard the old saying: “Laughter is a one of the best medicines.” And it’s true because it produces endorphins which reduce stress, anxiety and chronic pain.
On our way back to the hotel, we detoured to check out a lively street market scene. We found vendors either on bicycles with their goods loaded in their baskets or squatting on the sidewalks. They were selling everything from fresh produce, to used clothing, and whole chickens with their feet still attached. We discovered a cornucopia of exotic, fresh fruits: durians, mangosteens, pomelos, rambutans, coconuts and tiny bananas. The vegetables were a sea of bright green including cilantro, mint, lemon grass, coriander, Thai basil and chapoo, a fresh herb totally new to us.
From calm to chaos
By the time we reached our hotel, we noticed that traffic had abruptly exploded. The people we had observed calming doing their morning exercise routines were now speeding to work. And 90 % of them appeared to be on motor bikes. Suddenly the morning calm had turned into a continuous tide of traffic. An invasion of motor scooters descended on the inner city like locus getting ready to take procession of their surroundings. And yet, there was also the semblance of choreographed chaos. Unlike our gridlock back home, traffic in Vietnam’s urban areas is more like measured mayhem. With few traffic lights, people seem to know how to scoot their way across intersections sometimes even doing so by going in the wrong direction. We figured out quickly the best way to cross a sidewalk was to use a local pedstrian as interference from the oncoming surge of traffic.
Motorbikes, cyclos, bicycles and carts
While there is a growing number of small cars in Vietnam, most people we encountered were on wheels powered by their own steam., gasoline or oxen. Our group noticed that some motor bikes could even accommodate three people. Our local guide, Dragon, explained that manufacturers of motor bikes make extra-long seats for this market. This means a family of three can happily get around on the same machine. We learned that helmets were only recently made mandatory but only for people over the age of six! “There are 35 million scooters for a population of 97 million in my country,” Dragon told us to our amazement. You do the math. One in three Vietnamese owns one!
Like other third world countries, Vietnam struggles with pollution caused by increased traffic with so many motorbikes, low vehicle emission standards and the burning of fields by farmers. Luckily, during our fall visit, the air quality was relatively clean. As such, none of us needed to wear masks when we rode our bikes. Most locals, however, did wear them many with fanciful designs including Louis Vuitton logos.
A spotless country
One of the first impressions we all noticed was how spotless the country was despite its questionable issue with pollution. Wherever we went, we saw people sweeping the sidewalks and gutters with twig brooms. In the less prosperous countryside, the Vietnamese maintained the same order and cleanliness around their humble homes even if their front yards were merely of packed dirt.
This travel post will continue next week. Stay tuned and see you then!