21. VIETNAM: What you see from Here you don’t see from There

20th to 25th February 2023

Early morning sailing into UNESCO World Heritage Site Halong Bay 20th February 2023. Magical, the changing colours of sea, sky and islands at different times and conditions. Its magnitude is not captured in a picture!

“What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam”! *

Roger McGuinn, Byrds leader, playing guitar, speaking this morning (10/03) Show Lounge, Deck 6. Nostalgic! “To everything, turn, turn, turn There is a season … And a time to every purpose under heaven” accompanying video of Forrest Gump fighting in Vietnam.

But Vietnamese don’t know “Vietnam War”. To them it’s the “American War”. “What you see from here you don’t see from there”. **

Excited to re-experience the wonder of Vietnam:

100 million people! Ubiquitous conical hats; 62 million motor bikes, substantially cheaper than highly taxed motor vehicles. Crossing road? – Be Careful! Our guide’s wife takes 3 children on motor bike: Illegal, regularly fined, but, he says, no choice. Vietnamese mix spicy, sour, salty, bitter, sweet on same plate to provide balance and good health. The number 4 considered unlucky: Sounds like death! Number 8: Lucky, infinite, prosperity!! Most houses, businesses have an alter on premises. Production of silk; rice paper blend with modern development. Progress; Poverty; Pollution!

Ha Long Bay breath-taking then as now: Much change, less pristine: More prosperous, extensive development. Ancient floating villages less prominent. Swimming off Junk into bay – a 2008 highlight, no longer allowed. Too polluted now!

Nevertheless, exploring Ha Long Bay’s caves, inlets, multiple limestone islands – magnificent. Magical night experience of Vietnamese hospitality, music, dance, delectable local food in huge distinctively decorated cave. Waiters, kitchen staff previously homeless, now recruited, upskilled through Silversea’s initiative.

Awesome bicycling rural paths alongside rice paddies towards quaint centuries old Hoi An.

Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, a sprawling 10 million people metropolis. Mekong Delta trip, one of world’s longest rivers, severely disappointing. Polluted, with tiny homes on precarious looking stilts, reflecting abject poverty.

Friday night service at Chesed-El synagogue and subsequent Communal dinner: high “ruach”, energetic, frenetic! Small Community, many tourists, mainly Dati Israelis, sharing the small space. Special speaking to expat Jewish men who married Vietnamese women, making Saigon home.

Pictures cannot capture Vietnam. Nothing replaces the actual experience. You must “see” it from “here”!

Kayaking Halong Bay’s emerald waters.
Glimpse of the cave in which we enjoyed a magnificent function – traditional Vietnamese dancing, musical instruments, food.
Cycling outskirts of Hoi An – about to reach narrower paths, rice paddies, water buffalo, rural housing & people and some hair-raising roads to cross as we got closer!
Hoi An, UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a mystical, whimsical sense about it. More time needed there next time!
Rice paper cooked as it has been for centuries, in the Mekong Delta.
Motorcycles in Ho Chi Minh. Everywhere! (Picture taken from Internet).

*Song sung at Woodstock Music Festival, 15 to 18/08/1969, by Country Joe and the Fish. 

**Line from popular Israeli song by lyricist Yankele Rotblit