March 2021 - Atul Jalan

Ha Long Bay: One of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World

Posted on March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 by Vidya V

The Jade Emperor in Heaven was worried. The people of a country called Vietnam on Earth were being invaded by northerners. He directed a Dragon family to descend to Earth and fight alongside the people. The Mother Dragon and her children fought a ferocious battle and annihilated the invaders in an epic blaze.

The place where the action took place was Vinh Ha Long (Where the Dragon Descends to the Sea), or Ha Long Bay, as we know it. Giant emeralds appeared in the bay (actually the teeth of the dragons) and created an impassable barrier to discourage future invasions.

The mother dragon and her children never returned to the heavens and lived on amongst the Vietnamese. Folklore and legends are an essential part of life for the Vietnamese. Almost every hillock, stream or lake has a legend, and gives the people an avenue to connect with other worlds.

So, here I was in the Gulf of Tonkin, aboard a Cessna Grand Caravan, along with ten other passengers, gaping in wonder at a profusion of jagged limestone pillars jutting out from the bay, in a seascape unlike any I had seen before. The flight lasted for about 25 minutes only, but the ethereal quality of the panorama below will last me my lifetime.

The Ha Long comprises of over 1600 islands and islets, mostly uninhabited by humans since the dawn of time. This entire area along with the contiguous Cat Ba Archipelago has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2014. This is the most active tourism destination in Vietnam and the fragile ecosystem here needs strict vigilance to keep it untrammelled.

I took a leisurely two-day cruise through this tropical vegetation-capped columnar islet world and visited a few prefixed hotspots. Hiking to the top of Titov Island was fun, though a tad crowded. I did not sign up for parasailing or kayaking; instead, I gorged on the sumptuous Vietnamese spread on board. I went around Cat Ba Island on rented bike and did a spot of snorkelling in a hidden bay.

There are 59 discovered caves within this marine invaded ecosystem. I visited the Sung Sot Cave (Surprise Cave): its two chambers are lit up with coloured lighting. The cathedral-like ambience becalms the senses.

Hanoi: Where France Emerges in the East

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Vidya V

Hanoi is a thousand years old, but in 1010 AD it was called Thang Long (Rising Dragon). The first ruler of the Ly dynasty, Ly Thai To consecrated it as his capital. It was renamed Ha Noi (Between Two Rivers) in 1831 by the Nguyen dynasty. It again gained prominence during the French rule of Indochina – the area known as Tonkin.

Being a seasoned traveller to Saigon, I knew what to expect from Hanoi even though the two cities are tellingly different. It’s a busy metropolis with backed-up traffic and the tyranny of motorcycles on the streets is not to be scoffed at. However, it also has leafy suburban areas, French colonial buildings and arcades, and tranquil pagodas and temples, and restful green spaces, especially the areas surrounding the numerous lakes within the city.

Since driving around is a bit of a nightmare I decided to shack up in the Old Quarter, in close proximity to the Hoan Kiem Lake which is the primary lung-space of the city. The Ngoc Son Temple nestled on a small island in the middle of the lake and accessible by a red wooden bridge is charming.

Most of my breakfasts were at the Note Coffee Hanoi, a four-storey coffee shop near the lake, and yes, it is plastered with a zillion Post-it notes from patrons over time. The egg coffee (a raw egg coffee dunked in sweetened coffee) has a Crème-Brulee bouquet to it. In Hanoi, the food is terrific, whether you fancy the French bakes or the Vietnamese Pho.

Another French legacy is the Long Bien bridge. It was designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the man behind Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. French architecture is showcased throughout the city but the standout ones are The Hanoi Opera House, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the National Museum of Vietnamese History and the Presidential Palace.

While the Tran Quoc Pagoda is the most ancient (1500 years) and revered, there is none more adorable a pagoda than the One-Pillar Pagoda. It is a must see; and there is an interesting legend surrounding Emperor Ly Thai To which led to its inception.

The body of Ho Chi Minh lies entombed in an eponymous Mausoleum. The building and premises are stately, reverential, and visit-worthy.

Saigon: War and Remembrance

Posted on March 24, 2021March 25, 2021 by Vidya V

I went into the Vietnam Coffee Republic to grab a quick breakfast. I ordered a poached egg croissant and cà phê bạc xỉu which is the grandaddy of sugar rushes: Robusta coffee, a healthy dose of condensed milk and ice. My Saigon guide was already downing his second expresso, trying not to look agitated even though the caffeine was kicking in. The Vietnamese swear by their coffee and the myriad French patisseries in Saigon are just a cupcake away from each other.

This morning the War Remnants Museum was on my itinerary. It’s a complex of buildings with a walled yard displaying military equipment and defused ordnance. I recall seeing a Huey helicopter, a Patton Tank, a BLU-82 (Daisy Cutter) bomb and F-5A Fighter.

Inside, themed rooms display the brutality of war. The tiger-cages for political prisoners are sordid. Graphic photography of war atrocities (My Lai Massacre) and of the catastrophic effects of chemical warfare (Agent Orange), napalm and phosphorous bombs benumb the senses. War photojournalist, Bunyo Ishikawa’s images are as haunting and heart-rending as they are real. The story is one-sided, as most national war museums are all about, but that does not abridge the horrors of a long-fought war.

Next up was the Cu Chi Tunnels. Originally built by the Communists during the war of independence from the French, they were expanded by the Viet Cong (Communist supporters in South Vietnam) during the Vietnam War. Consider this: these tunnels linked Viet Cong bases over a distance of 250 kms (from Saigon to the border of Cambodia).

With aerial control in the hands of the Americans, communist guerrillas lived and proliferated in the underground. They built living quarters, ordnance factories, hospitals, bomb shelters, community kitchens and even music halls for guerrilla-troops’ entertainment! Later, US forces and the South Vietnamese tried to flush out these guerrillas from their sanctuary. They sent in short statured soldiers (famous in history as tunnel rats) to detect traps or find enemy bases.

The war history, and the artifacts I witnessed, was indeed dispiriting. The next day I signed up for a two-day boating trip down the Mekong.

Saigon: An Archive of Diverse Histories

Posted on March 17, 2021 by manthanadmin

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Saigon is one of my favourite destinations and I have been there a few times. It is the Vietnamese people, so patient, considerate, and welcoming of visitors, that make the experiences memorable.

In my memories Saigon is like a terraced hillside fecund with vistas of history lying one on top of another. The Vietnamese people along with their mixed Chinese culture is at the bottom lying in a labyrinthine swathe of big-city squalor; followed by a layer of colonial grandeur detectable in the pastel opulence of French architecture; overlaid by memories of American infiltration which can be noticed in its museums and numerous battlements, and finally topped with a dose of the modern as can be evidenced from the searing skyscrapers that jostle for space in the blue skies of easternmost Asia.

While there is much to see and explore, sauntering around is the best way to see the city. I can remember a visit to the Binh Tay Market (Cholon – Chinatown) where a fascinating array of handicrafts, textiles and fresh produce are sold in streets next to opulent Chinese buildings.

Notre Dame Cathedral and statue, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

An early morning visit to largest flower market (Ho Thi Ky) is recommended: a profusion of exotic flowers, fruits, and Cambodian breakfast nooks (mostly) await you. Try the CoCo sweet soup – I won’t play spoiler.

Cathedrals and churches dominate the cityscape. The Pink Church, with its shocking colour and fairy-tale Gothic architecture deserves a viewing. The church that is of greatest importance is Notre Dame Basilica Cathedral (modelled after Notre Dame de Paris): the red colour, the twin white belltowers, and bricks (brought all the way from Toulouse, France) make it a sight that not only beckons the religious (it is the centre for 6.2 million Catholics of Vietnam) but artists as well.

In the evenings people hangout in karaoke bars. This Japanese (karaoke means ‘empty orchestra’ in Japanese) pastime is taken very seriously by the locals. People are quite unabashed about wielding a mic, whether they can sing or not, and there is no fear of jeers or catcalls from anyone. It is simply accepted as a way of bonding, and family members often join in.

There’s a lot more. See Saigon, Part 3.

Saigon, Vietnam: City of the Bringer of Light

Posted on March 12, 2021March 17, 2021 by manthanadmin

The touchdown at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport was a bit bumpy. I peered out of the plane window: in the twilight I half-expected American GI’s to be waiting to transport me in a Huey chopper up the Nung River; into the Heart of Darkness, so to say. Well, there you have it, a flashback to Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic film, Apocalypse Now.

I had just landed in Ho Chi-Minh City (Saigon), and some of the imagery from the 1979 film came back to me with the rapidity of a machine gun burst during battle. Incidentally, in the Vietnam War, this same Tan Son Nhut Airport was one of the busiest military airbases in the world. Anyway, enough of war and its sordid images; Vietnam today is a wonderful place.

Vietnam’s complicated history can be best understood if we look at it as a culture of affiliations and assimilation. While the tribal Viets in the 3rd Century BCE learnt from their Chinese masters about high culture, the mixed peasantry of 938 CE ejected the Chinese. When different strands of Buddhism arrived, or Hindu civilizations influenced the Chams (Champa Kingdom – 2nd Century CE to 1832 CE), or even when the French arrived (Sino-French War -1884-85) the local population only burgeoned as an assimilated group of diverse ethnicities.

Street Food of Cho Lon, Saigon's Chinatown

Again, these descendants of tribals and mandarins did not hesitate to adopt communism in the 20^th Century CE in order to overthrow French colonialism, while retaining French liberty, architecture and cuisine. Ho Chi-Minh (Bringer of Light) himself settled for a while in Paris, joined the Communist Party, and assuming the epithet of “Nguyen the Patriot,” lobbied for Vietnamese independence during the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919. Of course, he succeeded much later.

Vietnam, bolstered by support from Russia and the Chinese (under Mao), beat back the Americans in the Second Indochina War (1955-75). Again, in the modern day, while the government is primarily communist, Vietnam has embraced economic liberalization and global integration. With its rapidly expanding market-based economy the visage of united Vietnam is that of an Asian success story.

So what did I see and do in Saigon? See Part 2.