vietnam Archives - Atul Jalan

Mui Ne: Vietnam’s Hidden Jewel By The Sea

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Vidya V

I was excited to board the early morning train from Saigon to Phan Thiet, the access point to Mui Ne. Once we crossed the Saigon River and sped past colonies of closely-packed settlements, we were scurrying through a cornucopia of plantations: coffee, banana, sugar cane, mangoes and rice fields.

After reading a few pages of a book, I tottered over to the dining car towards the rear of the train. It was romantic to be in a dining car, indubitably a colonial luxury: the noodles in broth and sweetened Vietnamese coffee cost me next to nothing, and was delectable.

From Phan Thiet City I took a ferry to my hotel in Mui Ne. This coastal area has 15 miles of beaches, and while the white sand at Ca Na is exquisite, the beach at the Fishing Village is compacted with the discarded shells of harvested crustaceans since time immemorial.

You can haggle for fresh catch, buy fish sauce (this place produces around 17 million litres of the best fish sauce in Vietnam), or look out at the bay where spectacular sunsets cajole the evening breeze to gently nudge an armada of yellow, blue and reds boats to sleep. If you can get up at 4am you can watch the boats head out again, and watch the sunrise over turquoise waters along foam-flecked white sand beaches.

The area from Phan Thiet to Mui Ne is a geographic anomaly. It has mountains, rivers, and sand dunes, all squeezed into a narrow band from the coastline. It’s the only desert in South East Asia, with low rainfall and cool ocean breezes, which makes for a great tourist destination.

Adjacent to town, you can walk up the Red Dunes, formed from coastal sediment. The nearby Fairy Stream, a reddish coloured creek spawned from a mix of clay, limestone, and white sand run-offs is a becalming sight.

Slightly further, the White Sand Dunes (Doi Cat) area is spectacular, and has a Saharan hue at midday. While ATVs and Quad bikes abound as tourists are at play in the sand, an oasis shows off its blue colours down a slope. I walk through a tree-lined meadow and arrive at a serene lotus pond. I think it’s a mirage but the splash of a heron’s wings remind me that I am in my senses.

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.