Eight Days as Miss Saigon (part 2 of 2; or, why this is the most amazing country I've ever visited)

(From Part 1 of 2: Culture Shock in Vietnam)

Vietnam is by far the strangest place I've visited -- not strange "weird", but strange "unfamiliar" -- so much so that I would use the often-abused word "exotic" for it. It's farther from the world I know than anywhere else I've ever been -- making it captivating on one hand, and shocking on the other.

There's a whole lot that will leave you wide-eyed and drop-jawed with surprise -- just make sure you pack a sense of humor, so potential annoyances leave you fascinated rather than infuriated. After all, no tout or taxi driver, or polluted lake or number of motorbikes, will make me regret coming to this amazing, amazing country.

VIETNAM LIST NUMBER TWO: TEN REASONS WHY, DESPITE THE CRAZINESS, I WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN. Believe me, with everything I experienced within a span of eight days, it was a challenge narrowing this down to ten.

Reason # 1: That unbelievable Vietnamese food. One of my worries before leaving for Vietnam had been the food. I had never been a fan of Phobac, Pho Hua, Pho 24, or the now-closed Hue, so I could never figure out why Lonely Planet made such a big deal out of Vietnamese food, with a whole book about it for crying out loud. (I figured it was another of those Lonely Planet screwups, like saying in their Philippines guidebook that the Robinson's Ermita food court was a good place to eat.) But as early as my first bite in Vietnam -- a noodle soup snack at a plain little restaurant in Ho Chi Minh's domestic airport, while awaiting our flight to Hue -- I was hooked. It's not spicy like Thai food, it's not saucy or salty like Chinese food -- rather, think of the widest array of herbs you've ever imagined in a single dish, each one flooding your mouth with a surprising and delicate new flavor with each bite. Whether it was spring rolls (which we had for every meal during the first four days!), or stir-fried noodles, or noodle soup, or Hue's pork kebabs in rice paper, or Hoi An's fried wanton and white roses, or a baguette sandwich with herbs and vegetables and beef bought from a market stall, the food was an unprecedented experience. Chowking is to Shang Palace, as Phobac, Pho Hoa and the rest are to the real thing.

Worlds away from Pho Hoa: pork kebabs to be wrapped in rice paper and dipped in peanut sauce in Hue;
and freshly baked baguettes in the roadside market in Hoi An.

Reason # 2: More unbelievable food! Yes, the food was so good that it merits two entries. If reason # 1 was dedicated to the Vietnamese food, here's where I talk about all other kinds of food we enjoyed in Vietnam. How about the Paris Deli and Boulangerie (Boulangerie!) in Hanoi, where we stopped in to share a slice of cake, an eclair, and a couple of frappuccinos, while watching the city go by from the huge window? How about breakfast in Hue, where I must have eaten five baguettes in a Chinese-pavillion-turned-hotel-restaurant, whose huge windows opened right onto the street, right across from the centuries-old walls of the Imperial City? How about still more baguettes, freshly-baked and sitting in baskets at the market in Hoi An? How about a sandwich bar in Hanoi, that made huge sandwiches packed with meats and egg and vegetables and herbs and spices? How about the French bistro Cyclo Bar, where cyclos (something like rickshaws) were transformed into chairs for the diners, and I had a taste of real French onion soup, and the risotto was just so good that I had my first bite of rice in two years? And how about our first taste of haute cuisine at a Restaurant Bobby Chinn, where the prices ($15 per dish!), ambience (rose petals as early as the door step, and a menu that's fit for an English literature class!), and food (steak salad to share, lamb chops for James, a vegetarian platter with the best ever hummus for me, and mint tea and chocolate pudding a la mode to cap it off!) are enough to make you exclaim, sacre bleu, sacre bleu, sacre bleu!

Huge sandwiches at Little Hanoi, and chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream at Restaurant Bobby Chinn, also in Hanoi.

Reason # 3: Discovering the unfamiliar. I said in Part One of this entry that there's much in Vietnam to rock your boat and shock you silly. But then, isn't the beauty of travel to surprise yourself with places in the world you never imagined existed? Okay, it's not just the motorbikes, and the people's indifference, and the fledgling capitalists' uhm, entrepreneurial spirit. It's also the museums and the sights, where you learn about cultures and histories and heritages that you once didn't know about. A trip to the fine arts museum makes you see that Vietnam had its own distinct style of human realism in sculpture in the 17th century. The My Son archeological site tells you that Angkor isn't the only place you can see Hindu-influenced 10th century ruins. A water puppet show in Hanoi shows you this culture's inventiveness, and its live orchestra shows you the richness of the music that is all theirs. It's countries like these that deserve to have great tourism marketing campaigns... none of that "Malaysia Truly Asia" crap to overcompensate (unsuccessfully) for a boring heritage.

A whole new world: Angkor-esque ruins (only smaller) at My Son; a traditional Vietnamese orchestra at the water puppet show;
a couple taking wedding photos at the Temple of Literature.

Reason # 4: Soaking in Hue's royal atmosphere... on motorbike! Speaking of the unfamiliar, I wouldn't have found out about Hue in Central Vietnam if Lonely Planet hadn't marked it as a UNESCO World Heritage site and a Vietnam highlight. I'm so glad it did. The imperial capital during Vietnam's most important dynasty (Nguyen dynasty, mid-19th to mid-20th centruy), Hue features a walled imperial city (complete with palace), and a countryside dotted with sprawling emperors' tombs. It's nothing as grand as Angkor, or as ancient as the pyramids, but there's an air of majesty all about this provincial town. And the best part: we could have explored it by boat down the perfume river, or from the air conditioned comfort of a car -- but for some reason (or stroke of inspiration?) we chose to explore by motorbike. Ah, the life -- James and me on the backs of two motorbikes, in utter fear that transformed into utter enjoyment as the afternoon went by, zipping around the cool-aired, pine-dotted countryside.

In and around Hue:
at the entrance to the Imperial City;
motorbiking across the Perfume River;
view of Emperor Minh Mang's tomb.

Reason # 5: Losing yourself in Hoi An! And yet again, thanks to Lonely Planet for earmarking Hoi An as a must-see, and telling me it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a trading port town in the 16th - 17th centuries, like Melaka and Penang in Malaysia -- but unlike Melaka and Penang, Hoi An did not disappoint the least bit. It's a riverside maze of streets lined with Chinese shophouses, restaurants, museums, art galleries and temples, that you just love to wander around and get lost in. Pick up freshly baked baguettes from the market, on your way into town; spend the morning poking your head into shops and art galleries; avoid the noonday sun over a superb Vietnamese lunch, and the early afternoon heat in a museum or Chinese temple; grabe coffee in the afternoon; and as the sun sinks in the sky, hang out at the town's courtyard, near the river, watch the tourists and townsfolk go by -- maybe even make a friend.

In Hoi An: hanging out on a street corner (I think it's a playing field for a Vietnamese sport);
at the Japanese bridge, a symbol of the town's multicultural past as a port town.

Reason # 6: Realizing a place like Halong Bay could actually exist. My earliest memory of Halong Bay was the French film Indochine. Catherine Deneuve and Vincent Perez, fleeing from the French army during the First Indochina War, find themselves in a small boat, ill and weak; camera pulls out, dissolves to reveal an aerial shot that's the most poignant image of hopelessness I've ever seen -- the boat is but a tiny speck bobbing in a sparkling lagoon where, like the walls of a maze, majestic rock formations jut out towards the sky. I recognized the images from the guidebook, and told myself -- we have to go there. And so there James and I were, early on a cloudy morning, our boat along with several others heading across Halong bay towards row after row after row of rock formations silhouetted against the sun, and stretching across the horizon. Soon we were among the rocks, huge limestone formations sculpted by sun, wind and sea, with lush greens growing on them, and gentle waves lapping at them; and among the rocks, whole communities of houseboats, fruit vendors, and fishermen. Lunch was on the boat; and after lunch, a cruise among these rocks. A longer cruise would have been great, but just being there, even for just one afternoon, was enough.

Out towards the rocks on Halong Bay; fishermen among the formations.

Reason # 7: Unbeatable prices! Singapore and Hong Kong have great food, and lots to buy, and lots to see and do. But one can't help but convert the prices in their heads (or their cellphone calculators), and cringe at how much each meal or each purchase is setting them back. No such thing in Vietnam, where everything is as cheap as it gets. A meal of four heavenly dishes, including drinks, costs around 100,000 Vietnamese Dong -- or $6.25, or Php281. Delicious baguettes in the market sell for 2,000 VND, or $0.13, or Php6. Souvenirs in Hoi An or Hanoi's Old Quarter have an irresistible combination of charm and affordability -- Vietnamese conical hats at 20,000 VND ($1.25, or Php56), dancing apsara sculptures at 25,000 VND ($1.56, or P70), or oil paintings at $12. Our all-afternoon motorbike tour was $7 per person (P315), including tour guide; decent hotels can be had for $20 per night; and our Halong Bay tour, including the 3 1/2 hour bus rides from Hanoi to Halong City and back, the cruise around the bay, and lunch on the ship was a steal at $30.

Conical hats for only 20,000 VND ($1.25, or Php56); at a music store in Hanoi.

Reason # 8: Making new friends! Two days before our trip, Fr Jett Villarin SJ said during his homily at two friends' wedding: "Travel together. But when you travel, don't just look at each other the whole time -- meet other people." I took this advice to heart, because during the trip, I talked to as many people as I could, and loved it. Chika with travel agents and shopkeepers, who gave us stories and laughs in addition to the tours and souvenirs we purchased. War stories from a veteran of the American War, who took us up to a hill above Hue's Perfume River, for a look at American bunkers and a view of battlegrounds 40 years ago. Wordless games with children, and James struggling to remember his Chinese to talk to an old man in the Hoi An courtyard where we passed hours people-watching. Lighthearted banter with fellow tourists, like the American couple in the Hoi An shop where you could have shoes custom-made for $20, or the trio of English girls who asked for an encore when I played songs from Les Miserables on the piano in Cyclo Bar in Hanoi. And, new friends acting like old friends on our Halong Bay cruise -- Vanh and Ley, sister and brother from Laos; Quyin from Saigon, who had finished a business trip in Hanoi; and Cu, who was of Vietnamese descent but grew up in France. We exchanged e-mails at the end of the day, and invitations to see each other again in our home cities. Who knows? Maybe we'll visit each other again some day.

James with new friends Quyin, Vanh and Ley outside a cave in Halong Bay;
and looking out on the Perfume River in Hue with war veteran turned guide Mr Anh.

Reason # 9: Getting around and seeing so much. I've never been one to stay in just one city when I travel to other countries. With so much of the world to see, how can you just stay put? And that was especially true with this Vietnam trip -- thank God for the scenic bus routes, affordable domestic flights, trusty taxis and car rentals, and even those crazy motorbikes that let us to see so much of this country.

A 30-minute stopover at Lang Co beach, during the 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Hue to Hoi An;
about to board our propeller plane from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue.

Reason # 10: Coming face to face with the people. And lastly, as much as I was shocked by the their lack of etiquette and the hunger for tourist dollars, I also couldn't help but admire the virtues of the Vietnamese people. Where else can you balance three huge baskets of flowers on the back of your bicycle? And who would imagine little old ladies would still have the strength, or the drive, to walk around town selling fruits and corn and whatever else from baskets hanging on a pole balanced across their shoulders? Who can imagine the queue outside Uncle Ho's mausoleum, snaking around three blocks just to be able to see their hero? It's incredible that these people what these people have gone through -- two wars, the bombardment of four armies, the depreciation of their currency, isolation from the outside world -- and how far they've come. And as long as they remain true to the nationalism and pride of the father of their nation's independence; have the strength to bear heavy loads on their shoulders; and find ways to balance impossible loads on their bicycles, then there's no telling where this country, rich in history and heritage and amazing people, will be in the next few years.

A fisherman with his catch, right out of the moat around Hue's Imperial City
(I stepped up behind the guy just when he reeled in the fish --
which flew up and backwards and almost smacked me in the face!);
fruit vendors on Halong Bay;
a family touring the Presidential Palace in Hanoi;
the queue outside Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum in Hanoi;
and ladies eking out a living in Hoi An.