Colours Of Vietnam And Cambodia

Bill Taylor

JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 2013, VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA

Vietnam is a wonderfully bio-diverse country rich in wildlife, monsoon forests, endless beaches and well worth a visit. Its next-door neighbor, Cambodia, has one of the most breath-taking archaeological sites in South-West Asia, Angkor Wat, in the northern province of Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a very short flight from Saigon. I added Ho Chi Minh City to my itinerary.

Is Vietnam really worth a visit? In 2012, seven million foreign tourist thought so. A country half the size of Manitoba, with a population of 90 million, tourism is the major industry and source of foreign currency. It’s a shopper’s paradise, at prices starting in the basement range! Most tourists are attracted to the spectacularly scenic beauty and the diversity of its wildlife, stretching along the South China Sea, from the temperate to the tropical. A country of plateaus, mountains, and tremendous river deltas, world renowned unique biological diversity and endless kilometres of sparkling white, sandy beaches.

It was one of the most luxuriously and well-organized tour I have ever been on with an air conditioned van and driver, and a guide from airports, to hotels, to all the sites. The land tour of Vietnam was just over $3000, and a Cambodia three day extension, $1050.

In Vietnam, Canadian dollars are easily exchanged at banks and the major hotels we used all give the same rate. There are plenty of ATMs but you are allowed only 20,000,000 dongs a day. ($1 Cdn = 20,300 dongs). My tour included all accommodation, transportation and twenty-two meals, so there was a lot of leeway for shopping, with the prices varying from bargain basement to as high as your tastes take you. Foreign currency is not allowed for any purchases in Vietnam, only dongs. but it is wise to carry US low-value bills

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

for tipping guides and drivers.

I bought my Vietnamese visa on line from the Vietnam government website (Ottawa Embassy). As advised, I purchased my Cambodian visa ($45 US), very easily at the Siem Reap airport, on arrival. I would like to share some vignettes that were beyond our norm, as we journeyed along the streets, roads and highways.The Vietnamese tour began in Hanoi and ended fourteen days later in Saigon.

Hanoi, I thoroughly enjoyed - an old Asian city of six million and at least 20 million motor scooters. There are an equal number of a mixture of cars, buses, tuk tuks and pedicabs. I spent two days prior to the departure date getting over jet lag and wandering on my own in this very beautiful city of lakes, massive trees and marvelous gardens and parks. I would haul myself out very early each morning as this was the best and quietest time to go for a tour in my favourite mode of transport, the 3-wheeled pedicab. The very ornate passenger seat is where the basket should be, supported by two bicycle wheels.

I bargained for a fare of 100,000 dongs for a half-hour around the lake and parks near my hotel and this became my 3-day Hanoi ritual.I did most of my souvenir shopping from this pedicab - silk clothing as well as strange and exotic small souvenirs and toys. The streets are very narrow and the small shops move much of their goods onto the sidewalks.

The Chinese ruled this country for a thousand years in those ages long past. The Chinese influence, followed by the French occupation is everywhere. “Coffee and croissants with your rice, Sir?” Households and shops display the small shrines that are ubiquitous in Vietnam. The sidewalks are full of vendors, most being ladies on preparing Pho and tea over small charcoal fire pots with low plastic stools for the customers. Small containers of a myriad of chopped vegetables, basins of live shrimp and small fish surround each cauldron. The vegetables can be added by the customer. I only chose the vegetables to add to the large bowl of steming broth and rice noodles. In the broth were bits of meat; don’t ask!

As we traveled I was enthralled by the endless array of flowers, paper lanterns, dragons and firecrackers for the whole country was in a high state of excitement due to leading up to Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, like Christmas, New Year’s and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. Tet is about family and food and festivities. Every worker gets a bonus and a week’s holiday at Tet. Couples get their photos and then marry on the eve or day before Tet. With the bonus, they can travel to one

of their family’s homes for the holiday.

The highways were crowded with Flower Ladies on their bicycles, each bicycle with a complete florist shop towering over the rider’s head. Others carried brilliantly-coloured Tet decorations so the streets are a collage of reds, pinks and yellows due to the ornamental trees and flower pots that line the pavement. Other bicycles had a more disquieting cargo, cages of cats (some had dogs) which the guide told me were heading for the restaurants in the towns and villages. In the heart of the rice paddy countryside, rice farms are a target for rats which can destroy one’s livelihood, so rats are hunted and consumed to supplement the meat rations. My guide said they were actually delicious.

Hoi An, on the coast of the South China Sea, is 140 km from Hue. It is an ancient, well-preserved East Asian trading post of the 15th century with streets teeming with silk-seeking tourists. The tailor shops, side by each along most streets, were doing a brisk business.

We had a very interesting stop at a silk ware factory outside the city, with cages of fat silkworms chowing down greedily on mulberry leaves, the worms spinning the cocoons, then step by step to the spinning wheels and looms. The boiling water cocoon bath to separate the threads ended all my interest in silk.

The Chu Chi Tunnels are the 70 km underground network, only 40 km outside Saigon, used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnamese War. The guide asked me if I would like to try going through it for 500 metres but I had the excuse that I couldn’t fit. In these tunnels the Viet Cong had all the necessities of life and war under the roots of the tropical forest - kitchens, shops, sleeping and eating quarters. Some of the tunnels have been enlarged for the tourists. Even getting into the enlarged ones was physically challenging.

Angkor Wat, a World heritage site, is mind boggling in its magnificence and size. I took the half-hour flight to Siem Reap. The hotel was sumptuous and after three more temples I wanted to stay put in its luxurious tropical gardens and pools. Cambodia also makes excellent cold beer.

One last interesting note about the customs. Along the roads and highways from the airport in the early morning the traffic was bogged down by cars suddenly stopping at one of the countless roadside vendors. Imagine morning line ups at Tim’s, then triple it. This was early morning. The driver was nonplussed by the snarled traffic, stopping to pick up bamboo sticky rice. I hope you have found this report intriguing and interesting. If you decide to go, you will not be disappointed. n