Good morning, Vietnam

Vietnam was Roberto, my son’s, idea. He constantly surfs the net. Intrigued by Anthony Bordain’s visit to the country, he suggested we go there. It’s a challenge to align his schedule with my other son, Benjamin’s, in International School, but we found six days, since Benj just started his vacation.

 DAY ONE: WELCOME TO HANOI

We stayed at the Metropole in downtown Hanoi — a hotel with a distinct old feel to it.  Beautiful greenery and very well appointed rooms. I loved the staff — from the doormen, to the restaurant people. They are all so nice — and sincerely so. Hotel Metropole is 100 years old. The original wing exudes a sense of history. It even has a bunker underneath where hotel guests, including American folk singer Joan Baez, would stay for eight hours while US bombing was going on. They discovered it in 2012 and have been able to retain the “bunker feel” to it. Going under, I felt how horrible those times must have been.

The first day was a city tour — and a street food tour. We were very ably handled by our guide, Thao. She was highly recommended by the deputy manager of the Metropole. I could understand why. She is intelligent with a keen sense of history.
I was introduced to “Sir Turtle” — the symbol of Happy Vietnam. He is so special, he is regarded as holy. He is a 300-year-old turtle that resides in the middle of the lake. The Vietnamese believe he is good luck: that he was key to their defeat of Chinese invaders in the 13th century. When he was sick, Sir Turtle made headlines every day. He had a whole team of topnotch doctors to make sure he would be okay. He shows up seven times a year, whenever they have something special.

I went to the Hoa Lo Prison, known as the “Hanoi Hilton” — the French built this prison to torture those opposed to colonialism. They installed interrogation rooms and lots of electrical wires. Later, the Viet Cong used it as a location to hold and torture American POWs.

Like the Philippines, Vietnam was heavily colonized. Upon hearing the stories told here, their fate seems worse. Once French and Japanese smuggled Vietnamese rice to their respective countries — and two million Vietnamese starved! I have an aversion to colonialism, and to cruelty — and certain aspects of colonial rule have a tinge of that.
I felt sadness about the land when I arrived. Of course, this was at 1:30 a.m. If you board a red-eye Cebu Pacific flight it only costs about $300 and in three hours you are in Vietnam There is no visa required for Filipinos. I stayed at the Metropole because I have an ACCOR card that offers a good discount; the hotel is pricier than the rest but my room in the new wing was so well appointed I was impressed. While walking around I saw a lot of decent-looking hotels for only $10 a night. And there’s lots of inexpensive food nearby.
Vietnamese men smoke so much! For one dollar they get a whole pack. They even have loose tobacco which they smoke in a big pipe. Clearly the educational campaign on the ills of smoking does not exist here. What is interesting is it is only the men who smoke.

The street food markets here gave me a lot of ideas for the esteros. Once we get the esteros clean — when even the water is clean and not smelly — a street food scenario might work. My sons loved this environment, eating in the streets. I think Thao might have been surprised at how much they ate, though. The roughness of the experience whetted their appetites.
On our first street food venture, we started with porridge prepared by this woman who is continuing a stall her mother started. Then we went to another street and ate quail. My taste in food is opposite from my sons: Benj got a kick out of gulping the head down. (Sigh...) But we have the same taste for hot, spicy food with a “punch.” I even had a whole bottle of Vietnamese beer! And I don’t normally drink. I was fine! After that we went to another place to eat chicken with pickle and beef barbecue. As if that wasn’t enough we went to still another place and had noodles. One could see whole bodies of ducks that had been skinned, hanging there.
After, we went to another place to eat bánh mi — a French baguette filled with liver, lettuce, tomatoes and other stuff. Thao was thinking my kids would just eat it later that night. Her eyes widened when she saw them swallow it down in the taxi!  Jokingly, I told Thao, “My sons are not normal.”
We were still looking for dessert. We went to this government-run ice cream place. There was a loud speaker blaring on and long lines of people eating ice cream.  I don’t like eating white sugar because it makes me tired but I decided to give in — just to experience Vietnamese ice cream. I took the raw rice ice cream; it was good.

My initial reaction was: this is communism? But it seems to allow for healthy free enterprise. We visited a mall where there were expensive shops: Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, etc. Admittedly, there weren’t many people buying. But the fact that these shops existed here was something.

Where the communist legacy is felt most is in the party system. There is only one party — and they don’t seem accountable to popular opinion. Meaning they are in power regardless. For governance answerable to the people, that might not be such a good thing. I saw long rows of houses — all empty. And buildings and buildings and buildings — all empty. And I saw a huge mountain of burned garbage.

Nevertheless, with its tree-lined streets, its beautiful people, its relatively clean air, and its very charming culture, I feel Vietnam has great promise.

 DAY TWO: BICYCLE TOUR

We biked through Vietnam’s streets. I loved being active, going through downtown on two wheels. Oh, my goodness! The last time I went to Vietnam what I noted was bicycles and people in old-fashioned Vietnamese costumes. That was 15 years ago. Now I see lots and lots of motorbikes! It definitely is Vietnam’s main transportation.

I was impressed with the feeling of community — the children playing in the park, the people playing badminton and volleyball in the easements. It’s because the air is clean — well, relatively, compared to Manila. You really won’t feel like playing if the air is polluted.
We biked through paddies, cities, temples, kept on stopping intermittently to drink sugar cane juice. A bit of history here and there. We did a total of 32 kilometers including the stops, the lunch, the resting — all in all, it took us eight hours. It was great exercise. By the end, I felt I was getting really good at it. In the beginning I would lose my balance; I hadn’t biked in ages. By the end of the trip, I had greater control of the bike.

(You may see video of our bicycle city tour on YouTube if you type in “Biking in Vietnam.”)

We got home around 5 p.m. I was so tired. I wanted to meditate during solstice. At the insistence of my kids I joined them for another bánh mi. My son was looking for this bánh mi place in Vietnam where the sandwich will, quote, “change your life”! Huh? Well, that’s what the Internet said. Unfortunately, it is in Hôi An, not Hanoi. So we ended up with a bánh mi seafood fish and then followed it with ice cream. Plus my son made a date with the doorman to bring him a seafood dish at 6:30 in the morning and to ride behind him in the scooter. He got up early the next day… to search for more food places.
I can remember my father and grandfather who would chart their international travels around the restaurants they wanted to eat in. My dad loved to eat in these “hole in the wall” places. Well, something of that gene was definitely passed on to my sons.
DAY THREE: CRUISING HALONG BAY

We went to Halong Bay. We stopped at a place where we could eat and shop. It was great shopping for jewelry, Vietnamese clothes and other goodies. They are not much into health stuff. Almost all of their food has white sugar. But I like their coffee and beer.
Halong Bay is one of the wonders of the world. It really is spectacular, with more than 3,000 islands, rock formations jutting out from the sea. No one lives on these islands. It is breathtaking. We were on a boat — just me, the kids and a really good tour guide.

(You may see video of the cruise on YouTube if you type in “Vietnam’s Halong Bay.”)

To understand Vietnam better Kien suggested that we watch Indochine — an Oscar-winning film starring Catherine Deneuve. It did give me a better feel of the place.

DAY FOUR — GOODBYE, VIETNAM

Earlier, the kids had been watching the World Cup so I let them sleep it off in the morning. We ate lunch in a very pretty restaurant, with decently priced cuisine, lots of variety and clearly doing good business. In the afternoon we went to Thirty Six Streets — where each street has a particular feel to it: the Blacksmiths Street, The Pottery Street, etc. In terms of business, I think it is a good idea.
We had street food again and that was it.Five days and four nights. We loved it. I came to realize that the way to make international travel interesting is to make it active. We biked, kayaked, ate street food and walked. It’s a great way to interact with the energy of the land. Museums or temples don’t cut it with my kids.
Vietnam. I love the country. I love the feel of the place. I especially love the people. Imagine: they were able to withstand the Chinese invasion, the French invasion and the American invasion. This tiny country with small people — that says something about their spirit. I like their strength of character. There is a purity that appeals to me.

If you are planning a trip there, you may contact my tour guides: Thao’s number is (+84)902226366 and her e-mail is sophia76ng@gmail.com. Contact her ahead of time to arrange special tours. Kien’s number is (+84)989339200. He was great for Halong Bay. The gentleman that brought us around on bikes is Dan. He rents out bikes and has more than 10 offbeat bike tours. I highly recommend it. You can get his number from Thao.
Vietnam is just a few hours away from the Philippines, and not an expensive destination. I highly recommend it.

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I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.