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Magazine
TIME OUT
Expectations and experiences
PUSHPA CHARI
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One takes to Vietnam an imagined collage of expectations. Would it live up to the realities of a fast-changing country?
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Photos: Pushpa Chari
A cocktail of cultures: A Hindu temple in Hanoi (left) and a bustling city street.
As our plane lands in Saigon, dipping over vast stretches of emerald green paddy fields and a barely glimpsed sliver of the meandering Mekong River, my mind is abuzz with the imagined collage of the country which I’ve formed in my mind’s
eye. Part ancient Champa, Annam and Tonkin juxtaposed with the classicism of Chinese culture and the romance of the French connection. The witchery of embroideries and lacquer work, haunting strains of Jim Morrison’s songs, the elegant ao-dai clad ladies of Saigon, one of whom had became part of our family in the distant United States some years ago… Would the romance of expectations of this once-upon-a-time Pearl of the Orient, melting pot of cultures and ethnic tribes, match the reality of today’s bustling Ho Chi Minh city, reportedly home to a million madly-driven motorbikes relentlessly chasing consumer driven success, state of the art factories replicating China’s manufacturing miracle, larger than life five star hotels occupied by the invasion forces of Western tourists, and a nine per cent growth rate “in this last frontier of the business world”?
Three days spent imbibing the vibrant street life of Saigon, talking to its friendly people, doing touristy spots, eating local food, exploring Saigon’s parks and museums answer some questions, beg some more, while moving images create new collages of experience. The route from Tan Sin Nhat, Vietnam’s American-built airport to our tiny and charming Indo Chine Hotel in fashionable Hai Bai Trung captures the dilapidated urban underbelly sprawl of Third World cities yet also manages to encapsulate the tremendous verve of the city. Despite the honking horns and trundling buses, “hug” taxis and two wheelers coming any which away, a certain languorous charm, part French and part “Oriental” seems to come through, especially as we approach the more “elegant” parts of the town. If the French left boulevards, town squares and elegant structures in Saigon, the post-war Vietnamese, bent on “doi ma” or economic renovation feverishly erect golf courses, hotels, power stations and factories manufacturing everything from sewing machines to hosiery, fashion accessories, cement scissors and more.
Haunting melody
I am awakened at the crack of dawn on my first day in the city by the haunting music of a flute. The blind flautist wears the typical conical cane hat of Vietnam and is shepherded by a small boy holding a tin into which people drop coins. Saigon is bustling about, welcoming a new day with hordes of uniformed children walking in “crocodiles”, old mamas and “uncles” drinking endless cups of tea while pavement craft shops spread themselves on the ground, handcrafted dolls and fans creating vivid pools of colour on the pitted, pot-holed pavements. Fruit sellers materialise out of nowhere with baskets of bright oranges — there is much mirth on my refusal to take an extra orange for free. More laughter when an oversized Westerner in a fancy cap passes by in a cycle rickshaw pulled by a petite miniscule lady! The warmth is familiar as are the green public transport buses trundling in the road or the milling scooters carrying entire families, chicken coops, baskets and fresh flowers.
Superstar Jason (as he introduces himself), our tourist guide for the day, is the embodiment of the young, energetic spirit of Saigon. He has his own website and says he is a world famous tourist guide. He is a mine of information on everything local from where to get the best ice-cream to information about the famous photograph of the last American helicopter leaving Vietnam at the end of the war from a Saigon rooftop with thousands of Americans scrambling to get into it. Those thousands were Vietnamese, he says, and the building was not the U.S. embassy but this one, he points across the road. His taxi takes us through elegant tree shaded avenues like the famous Ngyun Du Street with its Conservatory of Music and the Reunification Palace by the side of flower filled Tao Dan Park. Central Saigon exudes sophistication, intimacy as well as urban charm with its tree-shaded boulevards and town squares lined by imposing five star hotels such as Hotel Park Hyatt, and Saigon International, international banks, bistros, coffee shops and shopping malls selling designer brands like Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Versace and so on. Here the Western tourists and young trendy Vietnamese congregate to shop, disco, have coffee or just imbibe the ambience.
Best of the French
Notre Dame de Saigon, the beautiful post office building and the City Hall breathe period romance. Built by the French in the 18th century, they represent the best features of French Colonial architecture, classical columns, vaulted ceilings and the grand sweep et al. The city hall is beautifully lit up at night along with entire shopping arcades decorated with illuminated Christmas trees, mistletoe and bunting.
We stop by for a mandatory visit to the Reunification Palace from where the last President of South Vietnam peacefully surrendered to Ho Chi Minh’s tanks. The War Remnants Museum has a disturbing display of man’s cruelty during the Vietnam War including gruesome photographs, a simulated “tiger cage” prison, shots of deformed babies born as a result of the contamination spewed by “Agent Orange” and much else. Alongside is a heart-rending exhibition of paintings done by post-war Vietnamese children. They feature the dropping of bombs, the killing of innocent children, and are uniformly captioned “we want peace”. Surprisingly, all the young Vietnamese we spoke to like the Americans. Perhaps it is because half the population of today’s Vietnam was born post 1975. Or perhaps it is a pragmatic people looking to the future.
We pay a quick visit to the famous Ben Thanh market, where we haggle over dolls and candies, followed by a look at the State-run Lacquerware Centre and an embroidery atelier. Inlaid with eggshells and mother of pearl, Vietnam’s lacquer work is one of its great craft treasures and can be seen in a variety of exquisite vases, bowls and trays. The embroidery, considered a spiritual art, and unparalleled in its delicacy of execution and subtle shading, can best be described as painting done by needle.
They say Saigon spoils you with the large number of eating places and restaurants ranging from local street food — often prepared partly on the pavement — to the best Vietnamese and international cuisine. Alas, most of it is non-vegetarian. So I leave it to my son whose passion for ancient civilisations is matched only by his love of fish to admiringly dig into plates of Vietnam fish noodles, masses of sea food and some such while I am left holding breadsticks or bits of cucumber!
Walk through history
Saigon’s National History Museum offers a panorama of its history and civilisational strands in a series of well-planned galleries divided into Dong Son culture, Lo and Tran dynasty, Vietnam’s Nguyen dynasty, Khmer artefacts, Chinese ceramics, Champa Hindu and Buddhist sculpture etc. Of particular interest to a visitor from India is the section on Champa sculptures representative of a flourishing Hindu culture in South Vietnam from 2nd to 12th Century A.D. Among the exhibits is a massive sandstone Mukha linga, a Durga in sandstone (ninth Century) wearing local headgear, a Vishnu (seventh Century), again in Vietnamese headgear and a fifth century sandstone slab inscribed in what appears to be Tamil Brahmi script. A superb fourth century standing Buddha in bronze from Quan Nam province is beautifully cast with crisp details and perfect proportions. A Buddha gallery includes a 17th Century Vietnam Buddha and a serene, gilded Buddha also belonging to the same period. We spend more than half a day at the Museum, walk back to our hotel and reluctantly bid adieu to Saigon….
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