Hanoi

My final location in Vietnam was Hanoi. The furthest north of my three stops, its the capital and has a different feel to both Hue and Ho Chi Minh. Hue is quite small and relaxed, HCM is like most bustling far eastern capitals (but is not capitol), Hanoi is somewhere in between. Obviously its busy and the streets demonstrate the same chaos seen in HCM, but it seems to have more history, more space (probably down to a number of parks and lakes) and a bit more to it.

I spent my first afternoon just getting a general feel for the place, and then took a full day tour on the second day. Whilst i had been slightly surprised with how modern some of the historical Hue sights had been, this was different - the oldest unversity formed in 1076 and other sites that went back further. Tour also combined the modern side, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which was built in the 1970's. Now i have seen a few tombs on this trip, which have all had the body enclosed and not open to anyone immediately after completed. So slightly surpised to see the old man lying there, body preserved in a cool room and appearing just to be in a deep sleep. Given you are ushered around quite quickly (there are no shortage of national guard in the place) did not get a great look but seemed slightly unusual.

Pictures are here and here

East v West ........different cultures

One of the things that surprised me when i was travelling around Europe, was the obdience that pedestrians showed to traffic lights. There seemed to be an amercian approach to "jaywalking", ie you only cross the road when the green man says you can. I was often amazed when all age groups would stand at the lights waiting to cross, when you had a clear view for miles of the lack of oncoming traffic. Maybe there is a new EU directive which has yet to reach the UK, but i adopted my usual approach - ie dont walk on red when there are old people or kids about, but at other times just be sensible.

Now i recognise that i actually have more in common with far eastern culture. To be fair its the motorbikes which take the view that green/red lights are purely advisory (and therefore discretionary), and if there is a gap, or a half gap, or a quarter gap, or there might be a gap...... they just move forward. As a pedestrian i have decided that waiting for the green man in the far east is probably a fairly sensible approach, but when he turns up you just walk........dont look,,,,,,,,try to ignore the hooting...........remember you have right of way............... and just walk (ideally at an even pace) and remarkably they will MISS YOU.

Of course when i get to Australia then i will probably need to be a bit more careful. Now i am not saying that Australian drivers are dangerous (although some states do have strange rules about being able to turn right even if its a red light) but they can spot a Pom a mile off and if they are not going to win the cricket then they might get their retaliation in early.

Hue

Hue is in the central belt of Vietnam, and was for a period in the 19th /20th century the capital. A lot smaller than Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, it has a relaxed and cultured feel to it. Badly effected by war, it is going through a significant and long term ("50 year") restoration process for many of the historical areas. This was boosted by Unesco "World Heritage Site" listing in 1993 and much of the renovation is being sponsored by overseas support.

The city is dominated by the Perfume River and the Citadel that sits on its banks. This is one of the areas that is receiving greatest attention and as i walked round there were a number of workman in action. It seems to be undertaken in a unrushed and considered way. The Citadel is a vast area and consisted of living , religious and administrative areas for the Emperor- started at the beginning of 19th century. Pictures are here.

Outside of Hue are a number of historical sites - pagodas, temples and mausoleums. I spent a day on a guided tour which covered the four most popular sites. All are impressive in their individual way and certainly a peaceful change to the noise of Ho Chi Minh City. What slightly surprised me was the age of some of the buildings, i had not expected to be walking around sites constructed in the early 20th century - they all had a much more historical feel to them. If you think that the war with America was 40 years or so later, it just seems slightly strange. Pictures here.

Sometimes there is a downside in staying in nice hotels......

The Intercontinental Ashiana in Ho Chi Minh City was very impressive. Good size room, decent wireless connection, spa/pool/gym, pleasant and attentive staff, varied TV channels (as demonstrated by previous post), good restaurant and of course...........bar.

The bar was called Purple Jade and was announcing the "musical talents of famous Canadian singer Karen Manion. Now I have nothing personally against Karen. Her style is cabaret/lounge/X Factor which appeals to some people (but i am in Simon Cowell's camp on this one) and she stuck to that style regardless of song.

Her rendition of James Blunt "Beautiful" was "interesting" (you are right it was the radio 2 version excluding the one F word)....................

her rendition of Wonderwall was a bit bizarre (although there are not many who could get anywhere close to the British Lions live 1997 version)..............

but when she went onto Amy Winehouse "Rehab" not only was i the one saying "no, no, no" but i had to check 1) whether i was the only one laughing and 2) whether she could see me (thankfully the bar had lots of dark cubicles).

And then at the end i heard the applause!!

Ho Chi Minh City

A long flight to Singapore, scheduled 5 hour wait for connecting flight and 1 1/2 hour flight to HCM left me feeling slightly tired on arrival. That said large Asian towns dont do quiet/relaxed so the drive from the airport did the job of waking me up.

Motorbikes are the vehicle of choice and the driving technique common for Asia (go forward, hoot, go forward hoot, hopefully miss, go forward). But it somehow seems to work as whilst there is a lot of traffic it seems to move (eventually).

I only had one full day here, so decided on the standard half day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and then to walk around the centre (given hotel is right in heart) PM. The tunnels are interesting and whilst the Vietnamese frame is smaller than its European equivalent, it must still have been a claustrophobic environment. That said they only stayed there when the French and then the US were searching in the area so this was probably days rather than weeks at a time. Still, will not have been the most pleasant area to spend much time in.

Slightly effected by torrential rain in the afternoon but managed to get round the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. The Museum is the sort of place that you have to visit and whilst shocking and painful in some areas, very worthwhile.


Pictures here.

p.s. - writing this whilst watching recording of Ebbsfleet Town v Wimbledon on Star Sports. Must make a note to add this to my Sky Sports and ESPN subscriptions.