Highlights of Vietnam and Cambodia

Day One – 17 January 2015

Weather: Sunny-ish, 22.

Wow, what 8 hours of solid sleep can do for jet lag. I woke at 9:30 and knew there was no making it down for breakfast, so I snacked on a breakfast bar and took a long hot shower. Then I took my time getting ready so that my hair had time to dry.

And I have a lot of hair.

So, I did a laundry and explored the room. Found not one, not two…but four robes in my closet. Two terry towel and two silk robes. The bathroom has a nice selection of items and a good hairdryer as well as two complimentary bottles of water. There’s a safe, a stocked bar fridge and a kettle hiding in a drawer. The TV has an excellent selection of channels including my favorite Discovery and NatGeo which always have something on.

I was all set by noon to wander and went down to the front desk for a map. Our transfer said that when we ask where to go to see the Hanoi Hilton that we shouldn’t use that term as we’d likely be directed to a hotel on the other side of the city – The Hilton. He said to ask about the Hoa Lo Prison and it’s right next to the hotel. I can see it from my room as it turns out (the white and brown building occupies most of the footprint of the prison). Since it’s not covered on the city tour, it was a great spot to check out.

Last week I watched an episode of Don’t Drive Here that was done in Ho Chi Minh City. The series has a guy go to different cities and try out driving there in every kind of vehicle imaginable. Had I not seen the episode, I would have been in scooter shock today, but the show gave me an introduction as to what to expect.

Scooters. Everywhere.

One thing I learned from the show was that helmets are required for adults but not for children. For that reason, you can see a man and woman on a scooter with a toddler squat between them without any protection whatsoever. Utter insanity! The guy on the show was just in shock at this and even shadowed a family going about their day with their two kids on the scooter.

Oddly enough, that family owned a car, but preferred the scooter as it goes places faster. The show also noted that there are not a lot of cars on the roads due to exceptionally high tariffs which can triple the cost of a car.

I have to admit, there’s nothing more fun than standing on a street corner scooter-watching. Except scooter-dodging while crossing the roads.

You can see people crossing the street in this video. Makes you want to hold your breath, doesn’t it?

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah. Scooter-shock. So, I walk the block to the prison and pay the 30,000 Dong to get in.

$1.69

The entire prison is no longer here. That apartment building occupys the footprint of most of the prison. Only the front section remains.

The prison was built by the French in 1896 to hold thousands of Vietnamese “patriotic and revolutionary” fighters. Vietnam used it to house prisoners from 1954 to 1964. From 1964 to 1973, it held American pilots who were “arrested” after being shot down. In 1993, part of the prison was demolished and the rest turned into the historic relic.

Yeah, I love the word choices used to describe the various events, but as they say, the history books are written by the victor. No doubt the stories of maltreatment of Vietnamese prisoners by the French contains a great deal of truth, but the stories on the treatment of the US pilots is a series of obviously staged shots of the men enjoying games and care packages. Details from the pilots on their release are at odds with what is presented here.

Granted, information on their treatment is freely available to the Vietnamese through the internet and it is in no way restricted here like it was in China (where I couldn’t access Google and Facebook without a proxy).

John McCain’s flight suit is on display.

The French had a guillotine which is still there right next to the cells of death row. Prisoners were usually given ten months before sentence was carried out but overcrowding meant that they were often executed within days.

There is a memorial to the patriotic and revolutionary fighter on the back wall of the prison that was added in 2000.

Part of the original wall remains, complete with the broken bottles that top the wall to dissuade escape.

I spent more than an hour checking out the prison and picked up a fridge magnet and my cat figurine for Vietnam.

The transfer had recommended a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and I headed that way.

The pollution was starting to scratch at my throat so I put on my mask for the walk. Hanoi had a lot of rain last week and it has washed a lot of the pollution out of the air. I had read that the pollution in Hanoi can be worse than Beijing, so I brought along my pollution masks just in case. For the most part, I did fine for most of the day and just wore it when I was breathing harder.

Like when I was scooter-dodging.

Yeah, crossing roads can be hazardous, but unlike China, if you don’t quite make it, the Vietnamese actually will hit the brakes. They also obey traffic lights somewhat and crossing on a walk signal is okay…to a point. Some scooters will run the red light.

And I’m not talking a fresh red. I’m talking a red light that has been red for 10 or 20 seconds. I watched one guy do a Hollywood move through the crossing traffic. I actually held my breath. I was sure he was going to get splat.

It took about 10 minutes to walk to the lake and being Saturday…and yes, I had to think about that…there were a lot of people out and about for a walk. The lake has a nice walkway all the way around it with a lot of benches and an area for artists who will draw your portrait.

I found a KFC at the north end of the lake and had a late lunch. It was an interesting set up. You ordered on the first floor and picked up the meal on the second floor and could sit there or on the third floor. As with the KFC in China, it’s much better than KFC at home. These guys use real chicken in the sandwich and the breast that came along with my combo wasn’t a greasy mess.

When I was done, I headed out to do the other side of the lake and took my time heading back to the hotel. I had meant to pick up a Coke before I got there but couldn’t find a store, so I got two at the bar there.

They cost me double what the entire meal at KFC cost me. Ouch.

I was back in my room by 3:30 and had until 8 to relax, type this up and load up my first few photos. And watch a NatGeo special on Torres del Paine.

An hour before the welcome dinner, I get a phone call from our tour director, Thom.

He said hello, I’m in Saigon.

LOL

His flight was cancelled, so he was calling to say he had arranged for another guide to take us to dinner. He said he hopes to make it to the restaurant before we’re done, but I can’t see him making it. Between the flight time and the driving time from the airport, he’ll be lucky to get in by midnight.

Nice of him to call. Nothing has changed from my point of view. The welcome dinner is still at 8 and the substitute guide could have explained the situation easily enough.

He also said that we’d be leaving for the city tour at 8:30. Awesome! I think I’m going to easily beat 10 ½ hours of jet lag…or is it 13 ½ hours?

I was down for the welcome dinner by 7:45 and it was a short drive to the restaurant. We walked up a spiral colonial staircase to the second floor and had a room to ourselves. There was a menu on the table that said it was a set menu and we thought we’d have to choose from the list.

Nope. We get it all. They brought out plate for each group of four to divide amongst ourselves. It was delicious. Spring rolls, garlic bread, chicken on a skewer, rice, melon and more. Some fishy stuff too that I didn’t touch. We spend about two hours chatting and eating and head back to the hotel at 10 pm.