Leah Goes to Singapore: November 2008

Hi everyone! Things are busy as ever in Singapore as the semester is starting to draw to a close. I see Obama Mania all over the internet, but right now I feel so far away from it all. It is very surreal for me sometimes to experience everything going on at home through a computer screen, but I am so glad that I at least have the internet to communicate across the world. I did send in my absentee ballot, and my friends and I will be watching TV starting at our time Wednesday 8 AM! I am hoping for the best!

I promise to give some large updates about Singapore soon, but, as you can see from the size of this update, I have been working on this post about Vietnam for a long time. I haven't even begun writing about the food or the people I met, but I think I need to post this and move on with my life! If you get bored reading, scroll to the bottom for pictures!!

Emily and I left for Hanoi on the evening of Thursday September 18th, and when we got off the plane I felt like I was on another planet. Gone were the big bright multi-language Singapore signs; the well-structured efficiency that is everywhere in Singapore seemed to be completely absent in Hanoi. Emily and I shifted through crowds of rushing people and finally found our "airport shuttle" outside- a small poorly labeled van that would take us to the center of the city. For $3 USD each we got a 45 minute trip to the stop near our hostel, and for 1 more USD they brought us to the door.
This ride showed me two staples of Hanoi society: the first was CONSTANT loud honking from cars, trucks, and motorbikes as all the vehicles attempted to pass each other and go as fast as possible. Safety definitely seemed like a secondary concern, but luckily all the drivers seemed quite well versed in their swerving style of driving, so maybe I shouldn't have worried so much. The other fundamental of Hanoi that struck me right away was the "roadside life". It might be safe to say that more people gather outside their homes and shops than inside them. Locals all sat and had late night meals on the side of the road on the smallest little stools I think I've ever seen. They looked like chairs for toddlers, but everyone sat on them- when I later tried to sit on them I didnt find it so comfortable, but it seemed to be the chair of choice in Hanoi.

In describing my trip, I will have to use the word "seem" a lot. There is very little that I actually KNOW, because I was viewing the place completely through a visitor's eyes with very little input from those who live there. I guess I was more surprised than I should have been that the Vietnamese people we met knew very little English. What surprised me even more was that those who did know English were only interested in talking to us if we bought whatever they were selling. Unlike the locals in Malaysia(see entry from August 9th) who were enchanted by talking to foreigners, locals in Vietnam seemed to see Westerners merely as "money making opportunities", as Emily so eloquently put it. This is understandable considering that a luxurious 3-course meal there costs about 70,000 Vietnamese Dong but only $4 USD- to them we are very, very rich. The only Vietnamese person I was really able to talk to and ask questions was our tour guide on the second part of our trip- and the fact that he spoke fluent English and had a job in tourism already put him, I believe, in a much different class than most of the locals we saw in Vietnam.

All that being said, there was a lot of beauty in Hanoi as well- not only in the picturesque temples and the serene lake and greenery, but also in the arts- painting galleries, silk shops, porcelain shops and other craft shops were almost as plentiful as the motorcyle and sewing machine shops (for some reason those two are often sold together!). The daily life that we were able to observe on the streets was also quite nice. Women set up their fruit baskets on the street corners to sell produce while they brushed their daughters' hair and made food. Men took naps on their motorcycles, but usually woke up just in time to chase us down and shout "MOTORBIKE!", offering a ride for a fee.

On our first full day in Vietnam Emily and I visited the Hoa Lo Prison, or "Hanoi Hilton" - the prison used by French Colonists in the 1800s and also for American POWs in the Vietnam War. It is now converted into a museum. Visiting the prison was very depressing and certainly showed the darker side of Vietnam's history. We read a lot of ugly stories and various pictures and artifacts really brought the place to life. I was slightly amused by the celebrity status John McCain seemed to have there- since he was a POW at the prison, they proudly display his flight suit in a glass case, and show pictures of him in the prison as well. I haven't figured out if this is making a proud statement for capturing him back in the day, or if it is to attract Westerners to visit the prison. Either way, it is interesting.

I may be wrong, but aside from the prison I saw few remnants of "the American war" (the name of the war of course changes depending on where you are). My Vietnamese friends in Singapore confirmed that the Vietnamese have no ill feelings towards Americans who visit Vietnam, although the small percentage of men who you see on the street with missing limbs might feel differently.

Next we went to the Temple of Literature in Hanoi. The link I gave covers the gist of the place quite well, so I won't be redundant explaining it here. It was very beautiful though, and I appreciated that a university from over 1,000 years ago was still in pristine condition, despite the littered and chaotic state of the rest of the city. That is one thing I definitely noticed throughout the trip- the sacred things were kept sacred. While the streets, as I mentioned earlier were filled with roaring motorbikes and the gutters filled with trash, the Hoan Kiem Lake and the temple by the lake seemed like it could have looked the same centuries ago. The French theater where we saw water puppets was also in fantastic condition. Water puppets was our last cultural essential that we viewed in Vietnam. The stage is filled with water, and from behind a screen puppeteers control wooden puppets with stunningly elaborate choreography. Meanwhile, the audience also enjoys Vietnamese traditional instruments and singing to go along with the show. Since a picture is worth more than I could ever describe:

After our adventures in Hanoi, Emily and I met up with my roommate Jolene and our friend Kirstine, and took our trip to Halong Bay. This area is filled with sparkling blue water and deep caves and limestone boulders that have been around for thousands of years. When I first saw the beauty of Halong bay after a day in the bustling density of Hanoi I thought, "wow! here is a place that hasn't been taken over by people!" Unfortunately, I was a little wrong about that, as Halong bay, being one of the most popular tourism spots in Vietnam, was teeming with other tourists. While the huge lineup of other tourist boats stopped me from completely enjoying the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, Halong Bay was certainly beautiful enough.

My friends and I spent 1 night on a boat and then another night on Cat Ba Island, where, unfortunately we spent most of the day in the hotel due to torrential downpours!! We visited caves, went swimming, hiked up the limestone, went kayaking, and just enjoyed the beautiful sights. Emily and I, instead of sleeping in our room on the bottom floor of the boat, slept up on the deck, so that we could open our eyes and take in the scene any time of night.

Spending an overnight on the boat ended up being a great time. I had to bring my violin to Vietnam to practice for upcoming performances at school, and all the other travelers begged me to give them a performance on the boat! I was reluctant at first, but when one of the travelers from England offered to buy me a bottle of wine to share with my friends in return for my violin playing, I couldn't refuse! So, I played some fun songs on the boat, and then the concert expanded to our Vietnamese tour guide and boat crew. I provided a drone on my violin while they sang traditional Vietnamese songs and love songs. I think it was really a special night for everyone, and a very new cultural experience for me!

What I may have loved the most about Halong Bay were the Fishing Villages- or "Pishi Villag" with the Vietnamese accent. These were literally villages of fishermen who lived in tiny houses among the limestone. Whole families lived in tiny one-room houses IN the water, and often they had a dog live with them too! Space did not seem to be an issue to them, as they still had room to cook, room to sleep, and a little bit of room to play. Children who could not be more than 5 or 6 years old went out in rowboats that they rowed with their feet if their hands got tired, and helped their fathers or older brothers with the fishing. It really was a whole different world.

I want to write more, but as it's been over a month since I've been home, I think I should post this in its current form, and stop before you all get tired of reading! Here are some pictures from the trip. Click on any photo to enlarge-