Oh Hoi from Hanoi

Life is an adventure, and I am in charge of taking the steps to make it exciting, fun, and full of love. I am surrounded by those who truly love me back and appreciate my self-worth as much as I do theirs.

I returned to a sunny, glorious day in London, landing Saturday at 6am on the first weekend in March.
Could a girl ask for more? After spending the last few nights away, I was itching to return to my new home and be surrounded by all the love this city nourishes me: my kids and dear friends. Spending two and a half weeks alone bored me of my own company.  

To favour a single city would be unfair, as in 'my favourite place is...' Each town has its charm, which appeals to and may not to the other. But there are places where I feel more enriched in body and soul and simply breathe in a different air.  
Hanoi was my first destination; Vietnam's capital city had changed from Saigon (or the present-day Ho Chi Minh City) to its current name. Busy with motorcyclists flying out of traffic lights turning green in masses of hundreds, like the birdcage open to hundreds of birds flying out. Only here, crossing the road, has a very peculiar system of turning your head ahead as soon as a window of opportunity opens and a slot appears among the cyclists. Gently rushing across the street, not looking toward the freed birds. I'm exhausted thinking about it.

Ho Chi Minh Mosauleum

Cock fights in the square.

Less busy street in Hanoi

Original residence meant for Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh's residence of choice

The grounds of his humble home, as well as the palace

For a communist country, Vietnam has its moments of capitalism coming through.
Vietnam was under Chinese rule for approximately 1000 years in the early days. In the nineteenth century, French colonisation began, and in the early twentieth century, communism was introduced by Ho Chi Minh or Uncle Ho as he was labelled by his countrymen.
The French were defeated by May 1954, with a division of the country into North and South.
 
From what I learned from my guide, Hanh, Ho Chi Minh was born in the poor province of Nghe An. At age 21, he found a job on a big ship and went to France, starting from Marseilles, working in the kitchen as a helper; he also worked in London in a hotel from 1917 to 1919 and in Boston. He continued working and travelling by ship, train, and truck for thirty years. He joined the French Labour Party cabinet and found many volunteers to help against the colonisation of Vietnam. He adopted many children, joined many associations, and made friends to help him change his country. He realised people were the same everywhere, so he approached families in the US to call back their sons from the war. Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1941 when he was 51, during the  French colonisation of 1858 to 1954. Then the French left, and the American war went on from 1955 to 1975 when they used Vietnam for testing new chemicals, causing many cancerous cases, which places the country third in the world, sadly for cancer.
Ho Chi Minh became a Jade Buddha in Vietnamese hearts and religion (The God of Mercy Buddha with one thousand eyes and hands).

Ho Chi Minh lives forever in our hearts.

In 1986, the government's new policy caused many to travel to Vietnam and invest in the country, and a change was on the cards. From what I recall of the movies, as in Apocalypse Now, for one, I was so disturbed after watching it that the only way to get it out of my system was to try and not engage what went on in this country and not that long ago. Since then, many Americans have travelled to Vietnam on holiday, and the Vietnamese I met seemed forgiving towards the past. This is the only way forward; resentment towards a government is different from how the general people of a country feel. It is unhealthy to let politics be a cause of judgment towards the individuals occupying a land.

Hanh and I walked to find the driver, Tuan, who would then take us to the Temple of Literature, a tranquil setting of Vietnam's first university where doctors were taught over the years. The pictures will do the talking next! What can I tell you about the university where they study? haha

 


 

Next came the ride on the cyclo, ridden by a man on a bicycle. We each took a separate ride and went around, visiting more sites of the city and the fascinating old quarter. In one area, brides and grooms crossed roads with a photographer intact.  
"Is this for real? All these brides and grooms crossing the street in daytime?" Was my query to Hanh.
"Yes," she explained, "They come to this area to take photos, " whether on the bridge, by a monument, or next to the Gucci store.

By now, it was definitely lunchtime. Hanh took me to Cha Ca La Vong restaurant, which has been around for five generations. The fish here was freshly caught from a river running on a mountain and had no bones. It was cooked wonderfully before us, with lots of fresh greens. Delicious!

The only option at Cha Ca Va Long

As our tour had ended, Hanh sweetly offered to spend the rest of the afternoon riding her motorbike and showing me more of her city. She even took me to a gallery to buy a painting. Then we found an antique shop, where I entered and did not stop pointing to... This and then... Oh! That and then there were the five musician figurines... Ayayaya. This was only the first day of my trip, and it seemed I had already overloaded my luggage!
After a meal, I returned to the hotel and could not sleep for a while because the speciality coffee kept my eyes and mind open. 

The next day, after breakfast, the suitcases were down, and the same driver with the four-wheel drive was there to pick me up for a four-hour journey to hop on the junk in Halong Bay. We passed through dramatic scenes of paddy fields and small towns with boulevards running in the middle of the roads, which weirdly reminded me of driving through parts of Venezuela and getting to Choroni!  

The driver spoke no English and had put up with all my singing, leaving me at the port in the hands of someone to show me into the waiting area with other passengers. Firstly, I got to speak to a couple from England, both divorcees seemingly content together, so I left them to it as we were instructed to board the Indochina Sails.

Indochina Sails (without the sails!)

Halong Bay combines thousands of islets formed over millions of years. South East Asia's iconic landscape was also considered a World Heritage site in 1994. 

I will continue on with the rest of my travels in the next blog.
London has been bliss and hard work; getting the finishing touches of the flat done takes more effort than the actual work did. Chasing men over to come back and finish their jobs takes work, in any case! Haha. I feel super blessed and excited about the immediate future. It is the Persian New Year on the 20th of March, and the new year begins on the 21st, which happens to be the first day of spring. The weather has been kind to us here in London. A table is set with seven items beginning with the letter 'S', in Persian, of course, with special meaning for the year to start in health, wealth, patience and joy. As in red apples, gold coins for prosperity mirrors for light, spices and goldfish. Hence, Fish, Fish and Fish, as I call my new pets, are back. Since my arrival, I entirely a few friends have been popping in, especially over the weekend, to sit in the garden and enjoy the rare appearance of the sun.

I am so excited, and I just can't hide it... The song I sing at happy times. My brother Soltan is over with his lovely lady Tuba for a visit soon. The Jehovah's neighbours are not acting any kinder, but then, they probably think the same of me. However, Christofer was over since I got back to help me let off some steam; a true 'no strings attached' kind of 'relationship' over the years. Goodness, if that makes sense.

May your days be happy and every day a New Year celebration. 

Random meetings in Vietnam

Within each story lies a thousand words of love, hatred, wisdom, joy, sadness, and all the feelings we choose to create in our minds at each moment.

Sitting here on the balcony of my bedroom, with a bed large enough to comfortably accommodate not two but three, looking out onto a pool with coconut-bearing palm trees at each corner. I wish I had kept my skin away from the burning sun on the previous day. I'm glad there are the pages of my blog to turn.

Travelling so far east is not merely to discover the wonders of a country that occupied hours of news in the sixties and seventies during the American invasion but also to spend time on my own in finding self and others. So far, all I have gathered is that I am very comfortable in my own skin, even though somewhat burned at present.

Upon landing in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, my first introduction to the people here was with the lovely Hanh, who would be my guide and companion for the next day. The driver of the four-wheel drive, Tuan, spoke no English. The twelve-hour forty-minute plane ride to Singapore, followed by another three hours to Hanoi, meant I kept dosing off in the back seat of the jeep while Hanh tried to go through our next day's itinerary. She then suggested I get some sleep and contacted her in a more alert mode.

As she left me at Anise Hotel in what seemed a central square position in the city and checked into the room, I knew sleeping in the afternoon would be of no help to my unsettling jetlag, so I decided to get a map from the concierge, camera in hand and do a long walk around Hanoi. The hustle and bustle of the merchants occupying the streets was fascinating; I wandered until I unexpectedly found myself at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. It occupied a vast open space in what I assumed was the town centre. With no idea of time, I decided to catch a taxi to the recommended Seasons of Hanoi restaurant at an early 17:35 hour, only to be turned down by the amused waiter and told to return at six. Walking only a little further, I saw a large lake with relatively peaceful surroundings compared to what I had just experienced. It was hard keeping my eyes open, but I managed it until I was only five to six and was allowed into the empty restaurant, trying to keep my eyes open and not fall headfirst into my noodle soup.

After an eleven-hour sleep in a hotel room I would have customarily refused to stay in, Hanh was waiting in the lobby to take me on the privately guided tour.
I will leave details of the information gathered on learning about Ho Chi Minh's great leadership for when I go back home. As I have not yet had access to my photos, what is to be revealed for now are the people who have crossed my path so far.

Hanh was the first person representing Vietnam to me. Is it not true what an important role we each play in being ambassadors to the countries we call home? My guide was well-informed, kind, and caring, which was an excellent introduction for a start. When we met on that day for a tour of the capital, Hanoi, we walked around Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, which was closed on Fridays to enter, followed onto the relatively humble home he chose to live in the grounds of the palace originally built for his residence. The simplicity of his lifestyle was admirable. From there, another car ride to the Temple of Literature and a stroll in the vast area which occupied an excellent meterage of the town; it was fascinating to know what great minds had set foot in the grounds we now walked in.

Hanh did not rush me once while I took the hundreds of photos I usually do. After a fabulous and healthy fish lunch, she offered to stay with me the rest of the afternoon, having the most delicious coffee Vietnam is known for; thick and chocolaty made with condensed milk, yummy. I rode on the back of her scooter as we toured the rest of the afternoon while I purchased a couple of paintings, two reading glasses, plus a visit to an antique shop. Ayayayaya.  Hanh then left me at a restaurant, where she recommended dinner, and it was a great start to my holiday.

Saturday, 22 February, the same driver, Tuan, picked me up at the hotel for a four-hour drive to Halong Bay, setting sail on the Indochine Sails junk for two nights of unforgettable scenery. As he spoke literally no English, I only had myself to entertain, so with his permission, I put the car music playing from A Love Story to sounds of the seventies and began singing. My mother would have been horrified, but Tuan's expression looked untouched. Great. He then dropped me off at the port, and we bid farewell. I joined a group of about thirty on board a small boat carrier, which took us to the junkyard. It was not difficult to notice the two single men amongst a group of couples stuck together as peas in a pod.

The older gentleman, closer to my age, began his approach as we got on board and, after settling in our relatively luxury cabins, asked whether I would care to join him at the table set for two. It weirdly felt like Valentine's night with red roses and an elegant surround. Eeek! As I had clearly stated on my Facebook page: 'Fuck Valentine's Day, I love you every day'. I'm not a fan, but in any case, Alistair had a wedding band on, so no hanky panky there, just good company. In fact, he was great fun, mentioning his wife quite a few times during the evening, and I genuinely appreciate his faithfulness. Taking time apart when you are in a solid relationship is only healthy. The bottle of Argentinian Malbec went down well with the Vietnamese meal, and we could not stop giggling at the poor man announcing the visit to the 'Surprise Cave' set for the following day, only ten times. I was among the five or six who stayed on for two nights, so that visit would be made later. We chatted and laughed some more after dinner, and I even joined Alistair on deck for three Marlboro light cigarettes after giving them years ago. He said:
"I'm often told to be a bad influence!"
I added: "That's usually my line!"
We each retired to our rooms, and I only got a glimpse of Alistair as he returned from the cave tour. He said aloud while his boat was leaving ashore:
"Bye! And by the way, the Surprise Cave was no surprise!"

The younger single man was already there when I got up to the breakfast area. We shared a table and began conversing immediately. Dale was his name, and he was brought to Vietnam through work. He decided to spend the weekend exploring Halong Bay waters before starting in Hanoi. He kept me great company for the next twenty-four hours as we visited the Surprise Cave, one of the most extraordinary caves I had ever been to! Gigantic, too, with three thousand visitors inside, as one tour guide noted at the time. We also did some kayaking with a newlywed Colombian couple, going around other caves nearby. No Sun, but great fun. Despite a deliberate dislike for Harry Potter by the husband and his wife's fascination with the character, she says, looking at her man: "Yes, but he likes Harry Potter now because this is love."
Fair do. We all shared a dislike of the message we had received. As we expressed, the masseuse jumped on the bed like a kung fu fighter, and goodness, did she mean business! I had to beg her to be gentle.
When we were taken to the pearl farm, Dale was buying his mum a pair of earrings when I heard a lot of hoohaa and laughter. Once back in the junk, our guide mentioned all the interest from the sales girls when they found out Dale was single, but he seemed wiser than to fall for that.

Another goodbye the next day as Tuan awaited to pick me up at the harbour, and this time, a one-and-a-half-hour drive to Haiphong airport was scheduled. I had already asked him to bring a new CD for the journey as I had tired myself of singing the same songs three times on the way from Hanoi, and he gladly listened. Only this time, I had yet to learn the songs! Perhaps that was deliberate. Haha. As we were early for the flight, the friendly driver took me for a short visit to the Opera house and flower market in Haiphong city and a spot for a mediocre lunch at one of the few restaurants we managed to locate; a silent lunch as of Tuan's limited language capability.

So far, I have found the Vietnamese people warm, kind, and friendly. They all seem surprised when I keep pointing out the table for one. Room for one. Breakfast for one, and it is clear from the warm embraces the ladies here give me that there is nothing sad about me, my smile, or my wonderful life. Also true, I have yet to come across one woman travelling alone here, nor any man apart from Halong Bay. Oh well, neither here nor there. I am absolutely cherishing the experience and realise self-searching does not have to occur anywhere in particular. Every day carries learning in many ways; just being open to the miracles surrounding us and the tiny details that make life awesome is all we need to observe. The rest is merely experience.

A change of hotel from Boutique to Chic tonight, where I had spent my first night in Hoi An, ordered three flamenco tailor-made dresses; one each day here, visited different restaurants on a nightly basis, and took a guided tour of the ruins of My Son today sums up my time so far here. Looking forward to more...

With Love from Vietnam.