Vietnam Voyage

Vietnam Voyage

Liem, a chirpy young lady was the driver of the Mercedes car we hired from the airport to the hotel in Ho chi Minh city.

During the forty minutes of drive through the city, we stopped at a dozen traffic signals. At these junctions Liem was trying to strike a conversation with my daughter. A bit shy, may be because of her broken English but extremely friendly person.  She kept saying to Sunidhi that she has beautiful eyes. On reaching the hotel,she gave her card and said we can call her anytime for our travel needs. Meeting the first Vietnamese on our weeklong visit to Vietnam turned out to be a pleasant interaction.

           Some more pleasantries were exchanged during our check in at Sofitel hotel. This magnificent hotel is situated in the heart of the city. The front desk staff were cheerful and efficient. From  our room in the sixteenth floor the view of the city was amazing. The first thing we noticed was endless line of scooters and mopeds. On a straight road they looked quite a disciplined riders , but at the crossroads the scene appeared quite chaotic. Just then it started drizzling.  The scooters started to edge towards the road and stopped,pulled out a rain cape,most of them yellow,as if by a convention,and they rode on. Apparently it is a very common thing here and nothing seems  slow down or stop because of rains.

          

      Ho chi Minh city is named after the legendary Vietnamese leader Mr Ho chi Minh. It is the biggest city in Vietnam. For decades Vietnam was the battle field between communist in the North,supported by China and Soviet and in the South supported by America and France. Ravaged,splintered and demolished by the futile ideologies the native Vietnamese died in millions. Even Americans lost more than 58 thousands of its soldiers and civilians.  The whole misadventure looks such egocentric,barbaric act now in the hindsight.

     The Ho chi Minh city looks now, that it has put behind all that ghastly memories and marching ahead to prosperity. The infrastructure is of world-class. Economy is based on abundance of off shore oil, traditional wood industries, rice,coffee and small and medium industries.

  It is one of the most tourist friendly nation,not withstanding the limitations of language people are friendly. The stay and travel is cheaper compared to other southeast Asian countries. Women are visible in all activities of commerce. The famous Ben Than market is entirely managed by women. It is  a sight to behold , the colours on display, the variety of items on sale. The outer ring of shops are owned by the government departments. The handicrafts and textiles are the major commodities here. There is no bargaining here.  The inner ring of shops are owned by private traders. If you are good with bargaining skills,then only deal with them.

  The national dish is 'pho' which is essentially noodle soup with ones choice of anything under the sun....veggies, seafood, chicken and the works. It is served scalding hot and eaten anytime of the day.

  The drive around the countryside is even more beautiful. People in their signature headgear called ‘Noon la'..a conical shaped hat is ubiquitous all across Vietnam. The sight of farmers wearing such hats working in lush green Paddy fields is straight out of a huge canvas.

  Mekong River which originates in Bhutan plateau and flows through six countries covering nearly 4800 kms, joins South China Sea in the southern most part of Vietnam which is just about two hours drive from the city. The drive and the subsequent boat rides are memorable experiences.

  There are some tiny inhabited islands in the Delta region which are a big draw with the tourist population. Fish farms,crocadile farms,honey bee farms and with a huge floating market all connected by the boats only,does a roaring business,mostly managed by the women folk. Just half an boat ride, one reaches Cambodia from here.

  During intense fighting with the American forces, the Guerilla arm of Vietnamese built a huge, complicated network of underground tunnels to hide during the day and come out at night to fight,to tend to their farms or to replenish their supplies. These legendary tunnels are now a big tourist attractions. Hidden very cleverly in lush jungles,these tunnels catered for rest, recuperation, plan the next attack, train the young ones. Even weddings were conducted in these hideouts!

  America's desperation reached its nadir because of these tunnels. They were simply clueless. The strategic B- 52 bombers were deployed to smoke out the fighters but without avail. No wonder this war is known as the only war that America lost.

  The guide who was conducting a group of American tourists was making extra effort to rub it on to them with a mischievous glee on his face!

  Since our travel was confined to southern part of the Vietnam, in and around the beautiful city of HCMC, what we experienced was just a part of what it holds in abundance to keen travellers.