Our visit to Cambodia and Vietnam Part III: From Saigon to Hanoi — February 13, 2025  through February 22, 2025 (subtitle: enchanted by Vietnam — from its beautiful modern cities to well preserved historic towns and villages and gorgeous bays, there are hidden gems at every corner)

Well, we are going to cry (or at least Jill, our primary writer, is going to cry)!!!! Somehow all the typing we did to record Part III of our Cambodia and Vietnam travels got deleted. [Note to ourselves: always duplicate these notes before trying to copy and paste into the blog! Ugh!!!]. At any rate, there is way too much info to re-do the entire entry so we will simply record, for ourselves, our itinerary with a few of the memorable moments. Here’s the ultra condensed Readers’ Digest version:

1. We arrived in Saigon on February 13. Jill’s sister Kaili met us there. (A delightful last minute surprise). We did a private tour of the city (very modern) visiting Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum with an interesting Vietnamese perspective on the “American” war. Most memorable moments:
   • The visit to Independence Palace which is like a time capsule. All the rooms are preserved as they were when it was last used as the official residence for the South Vietnamese president and for related government offices. Each room had its own distinctive style (color and furnishings) to reflect and enhance the room’s specific purpose. (In the original blog entry we provide lots of examples. Now we recommend this website if you’d like to learn more: https://luxtraveldmc.com/blog/independence-palace-in-saigon-come-and-finf-pieces-of-the-past.html)
   • Seeing the history of the Vietnam war as it is told to the Vietnamese people. While we can in no way excuse or diminish the horror of the atrocities committed by some of our troops, the museum takes considerable license with the facts. For example, one exhibit talks about John McCain’s signed confession of his war crimes to the “International Community.” Though he did sign a confession, it was after being beaten by guards for 4 days every few hours. He renounced his confession, wishing he hadn’t done it, but stated that every man has his breaking point and he had reached his.
   • Hearing the perspective of our tour guide who is not a supporter of the government. The communist party believes that it takes 3 generations to change the hearts and minds of those loyal to the government in the south before the reunification. Her grandfather worked in government before the war so, in addition to being sent for reeducation, he along with his children and their children (which includes our tour guide), cannot hold any position of authority within the communist party. This exclusion, coupled with what she observed directly in travels to other countries, has made her believe that, contrary to what she was taught in school, democracy and capitalism is a pretty good thing or, at least better than the Vietnamese alternative. Interestingly, even 50 years after the war, there remains somewhat of a north/south divide in this respect.
2. In the afternoon of February 14 we traveled by air from Saigon to Hoi An. Such a lovely, well preserved, historic town. Charming. We spend a day (February 15) on a scooter tour getting out to the countryside where we got to make rice pancakes (it is as hard as it looks), weave a traditional sleeping mat and taste rice wine. In the evening we explored the Hoi An city center on our own. Hoi An comes to life at night with colorful brightly lit lanterns strewn around town and up and down the river that runs through it and the buzz of hundreds of locals and visitors. (You can see pics of Hoi An at night in our @sailingchefigata Instagram post about Part III of our Cambodia and Vietnam travels.) Most memorable moments:
   • Meeting locals who invited us into their homes to share their traditions. We were particularly inspired by the rice wine maker who lost his leg fighting the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s (he wears a wooden one) and now cares for his older mentally disabled brother (another war casualty) but has managed to maintain a genuinely positive attitude and exudes contentment. Maybe there really is something to the medicinal properties of rice wine! (As an aside, from all these interactions we learn that the question “how old are you,” considered impolite in the USA, is a common icebreaker in Vietnam.)
   • Admiring the eclectic array of architectural styles among the well-preserved shophouses reflecting the nationalities of the traders who put Hoi An on the map as a major trading port ( Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese and French) from the 15th to the 19th century.
   • Visiting the silk shop where they are literally involved in the end-to-end process of producing silk: from hatching the eggs, to giving the larvae food to grow and proving a hospitable place to spin a cocoon. Fun fact: each cocoon produces somewhere between 600-900 meters of silk thread.
   • Walking across the covered Japanese bridge originally built in the late 16th century. Not only is it notable for its classic Japan architecture but it distinguishes itself as the most well-known example of a bridge with a temple built on one end.
3. From Hoi An we flew to Hanoi. First on our agenda (February 16/17) was an overnight cruise through Halong Bay, which is filled with striking limestone formations. Next we spent 3 full days in Hanoi (February 19-22). The first day we took a private tour of the city by car and rickshaw and, at night, we hopped on scooters for a Hanoi by Night Food Tour. Such fun and the food was amazing. The next two days we explored Hanoi on our own. Discovering so may hidden gems along the way. Most memorable moments:
   • Kayaking on our own and being rowed in a sampan through the stunning ubiquitous limestone formations in Halong Bay. While the highlight was being in and among the karsts, the boat, itself, was lovely. Appointed with rich dark wood and filled with colorful paintings and other artwork by local Vietnamese artists, the boat felt like a cross between a floating fine art gallery and luxurious boutique hotel.
   • Making a small world connection with another couple on the cruise. Though they are British they have lived in New Canaan, Connecticut for the last 17 years. We know one couple (and only one couple) who live in New Canaan, Peter and Sybille, and the wife regularly plays tennis with Sybille.
   • Visiting Train Street — where cafes and bars were built nearly to the edge of a train track — not once but twice. The first time was for a coffee break during our daytime tour and the second was a beer and rice wine stop during our nighttime food tour. Patrons enjoy coffee and libations on chairs facing the tracks as a train races down the them with little separation. We can’t lie. It’s both exhilarating and terrifying!
   • Visiting the Temple of Literature which served as a national university (the first in Vietnam) from 1076 through 1779. Today, students still visit — to pray for good grades and to take highly Instagramable graduation pictures using its stunning architecture and grounds as a backdrop. (https://explore.airasia.com/assets/blt01e4878e10a4be67/5-facts-about-the-temple-of-literature-vietnams-altar-to-academia)
   • Attending a performance of the Water Puppets. As the name implies, this puppet show is performed in water. Puppeteers stand in waist high water behind a screen using a rod to control wooden puppets painted bright colors which glisten. This form of puppeteering, which depict scenes from everyday Vietnamese life and culture, dates back thousands of years when farmers used it to entertain each other during the times that the rice fields were flooded.
   • A rickshaw ride around the French Quarter past iconic buildings including the Hanoi Opera House, Hoa Lo Prison (known to us as the Hanoi Hilton), and St. Joseph’s cathedral (inspired by the Notre Dame). Each a remnant of French colonialism.
   • The food tour where we got to enjoy:
     • Banh cuon — a steam roll rice pancake (generally served for breakfast) filled with meats and vegetables.
     • Banh xeo — a really interesting dish that starts with a pancake made of rice flour, water, turmeric, eggs, sugar and coconut milk. (Vegan versions omit the egg). The pancake is filled with savory ingredients, folded over like a omelette and then cut into about 6 slices. The final flourish is taking the “omelette” slice and rolling it, along with a variety of interesting greens and herbs, in dry rice paper and dipping the end product in fish sauce. So yummy!!!
     • A traditional Vietnamese salad
     • Pho two ways — the first was a variety of savory delights rolled in a pho pancake and the second was deep fried pho that turns into a puff about the size and shape of a ravioli. You poke a hole in the center of the puff so that it becomes a pocket, add vegetables smothered in a thick gravy and then pop the entire thing in your mouth for a taste explosion.
     • And, finally, dessert — mango pudding topped with caramel sauce and floating in a sea of slightly sweetened coconut milk for Zack and Kaili and highly sweetened coconut milk with pandan and yam jellies for Jill.
   • Just walking around the 76 interconnected winding streets in the Old Quarter with their very narrow storefronts and multiple floors above that often hang over the front in ways that don’t look structurally sound. (This is an artifact of the days when taxes were based on street frontage). We particularly enjoyed our visit to Dong Xuan Market, a traditional indoor local market with cheek to jowl stalls, and little room to navigate tween them, selling every manner of apparel, accessories, housewares and dry goods. You know you aren’t in a tourist location when you are one of the few Caucasians in sight and the vendors literally push you out of the way as they scurry about their business. Also notable was visiting what is reputed to be the narrowest store in Hanoi — a music shop that can barely accommodate 2 people standing side by side (while there we couldn’t resist purchasing a traditional gong) — and discovering the most delightful bar, called Circle, down a narrow green passageway with a sign overhead that read “Tailor.” This small bar is comprised of a courtyard with a few covered, cozy and private, seating areas. At the end of the courtyard, a center staircase splits in two up to the right and left. Vines cover the walls. The music of 1950s crooners gently wafted in the background. Were we in Hanoi or Rome? (And, yes, there really is a tailor in there. He works on the second floor accessible by the grand staircase.) You can see pics of the green passageway and the stairs in our @sailingchefigata Instagram post about Part III of our Cambodia and Vietnam travels.
   • Successfully navigating the traffic. While we are used to dealing with scooter traffic from Taiwan and Thailand, Vietnam — and particularly Hanoi — takes it to a whole new level. Scooters travel like a school of fish following the unwritten code that every space of road must be occupied. (Locals call it “organized chaos”.) With few traffic lights and most streets lacking sidewalks — and those that exist being appropriated as parking spots for scooters, spillover from shops and al fresco dining — pedestrians and scooters simply have to co-exist. (Of course, one of the reasons that there are so many scooters is that the city is not pedestrian friendly. No one walks from point A to Point B.) Fortunately, we had great guides who taught us the secret to survival: walk with purpose using predictable steady steps. No sudden movements! Drivers will anticipate your moves and generally avoid you!
   • Learning why Vietnamese is one of the 3 hardest languages to master: the frequent use of the same word with nearly identical pronunciations for many different meanings. Case in point, “Ma” which has 6 different meanings depending on tone and inflection (our untrained ears certainly couldn’t distinguish among them):
     • Ma: ghost
     • Má: mother
     • Mà: however
     • Mả: graveyard
     • Mã: horse
     • Mạ: planted rice
   • Not really in the memorable department — at least not is a positive way — but still noteworthy, was the smog that hangs over Hanoi. Hanoi is very polluted due to heavy traffic, particularly from scooters, industrial emissions and burning of agricultural waste. Every day during our visit was grey causing our throats and eyes to sting. No wonder so many locals wear masks all the time.

And there you have it — hours and hours (and hours and hours!!!!) of work recording the minute details of a fun and enriching trip through Vietnam, from South to North, condensed to three sad little bullets. 😢 (Well, okay, bullets and sub-bullets — and sub-bullets with sub-bullets — but trust us, this entry is a shadow of its former self which included lots of historical context, demographic details on all the places visited, information on Vietnamese symbolism and oh so eloquent descriptions of everything we visited and saw 😉).

We are now back on Che Figata getting ready to sail up the Queensland coast. After our 17 month hiatus we are close to resuming our circumnavigation with a sail from Brisbane to Darwin. But first we need to haul Che Figata for a fresh coat of bottom paint. We also need to make sure our systems still work with a few local “shake down” cruises. Though we had a caretaker look after Che Figata, regularly running her systems, boats don’t like to sit idle. If all goes according to plan we will start our sail up the Queensland Coast of Australia by mid to late April. We will publish our next blog entry either right before or right after starting that trip. Hopefully, by then, Jill will have recovered from the Blog debacle. Fortunately, as a sailor, she is very resilient so she actually took it rather well.