chinaadventure (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} chinaadventure) wrote,@ 2006-02-18 08:37:00 |
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Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh/Saigon, Vietnam - Happy New Year!
On the road from Hue to Hoi An, we made a couple of brief stops at a marble factory and China Beach. The beach was cold and windy, but our guide promised much better weather in the summer. We took a tour of Hoi An when we arrived, including a trip to a Fukkienese temple constructed by Chinese immigrants to Vietnam after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Because immigrants from the same Chinese province also make up a large percentage of Taiwan's population, the temple closely resembled the Matsu temple in Tainan. It was, in fact, dedicated to the same sea goddess Matsu who has protected generations of Taiwanese.
We took a day trip from Hoi An to the My Son Holy Land, where we could tour the ruins of a holy city of the Cham people. The Cham people once formed an independent kingdom before their land was joined with Vietnam, but many Cham preserve their traditional beliefs and lifestyles. Because in some ways Cham culture is closer to Thai than to Vietnamese culture, the architecture was very different from what we had previously seen in Vietnam. The figures carved into the stone showed a much stronger Indian/Hindu influence, as opposed to the Chinese influence more prevalent in Vietnam. Preservation of My Son is an on-going process; we passed a few archaeological sites during our tour. Some of the statues at these sites were missing heads, but as you can see in the Photobucket pictures, we were able to find a solution to that problem.
After a few days in Hoi An we flew to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon for the last leg of our Vietnam tour. We arrived in the city in time for Tet, the Lunar New Year also celebrated in China and Taiwan. On Lunar New Year's Eve, the streets were swarming with people and motorbikes, most headed in the direction of the river to watch the fireworks display. Outside some of the major hotels we could see lion and dragon dances with Vietnamese acrobats. We celebrated New Year's at a cocktail party in our hotel, then went outside at midnight to watch the fireworks. When the fireworks started at midnight, everyone in the streets began cheering and yelling "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!" (Happy New Year!)
In Saigon we had more opportunities to see another view of the war. We toured the War Museum, which featured pictures from photojournalists of what were once described as "American war crimes." These included pictures of suspected Viet Cong agents being loaded into helicopters, interrogated and in some cases executed. There were also photos of civilians fleeing bombing and napalm raids. Some of the more difficult photos featured Agent Orange victims, in some cases children, and the lasting effect the war had on their lives. As expected, there was limited documentation of the defensive actions taken by the Viet Cong during the war, but we were able to see some of this later in the Cu Chi tunnels.
The Cu Chi tunnels were located just north of Saigon and were a network of underground tunnels the Viet Cong used to stage operations. The region where they were located was so heavily forested that even on a clear day, the entrances were difficult to find. Part of this was due to the tunnel entrances being so small that they could only be entered by raising the hands above the head. The tunnels themselves were traversed by running at a crouch, and were so dark that without additional lighting it was impossible to tell if there was someone right in front of you. Currently the tunnels are clean except for a few small bats, but during the war they could be booby-trapped with snakes and spiders for American "tunnel rats." Outside of the tunnels we could see a disturbing display of additional traps once used for catching animals but modified for American soldiers. Though only simple contraptions of barbed wire and bamboo, we could see that they were devastatingly effective.
After too short a time, our trip to Vietnam concluded with a night cruise on the river. The following morning, we packed our bags and headed for the next stage of our journey - Cambodia!
Photos from Vietnam: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a
On the road from Hue to Hoi An, we made a couple of brief stops at a marble factory and China Beach. The beach was cold and windy, but our guide promised much better weather in the summer. We took a tour of Hoi An when we arrived, including a trip to a Fukkienese temple constructed by Chinese immigrants to Vietnam after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Because immigrants from the same Chinese province also make up a large percentage of Taiwan's population, the temple closely resembled the Matsu temple in Tainan. It was, in fact, dedicated to the same sea goddess Matsu who has protected generations of Taiwanese.
We took a day trip from Hoi An to the My Son Holy Land, where we could tour the ruins of a holy city of the Cham people. The Cham people once formed an independent kingdom before their land was joined with Vietnam, but many Cham preserve their traditional beliefs and lifestyles. Because in some ways Cham culture is closer to Thai than to Vietnamese culture, the architecture was very different from what we had previously seen in Vietnam. The figures carved into the stone showed a much stronger Indian/Hindu influence, as opposed to the Chinese influence more prevalent in Vietnam. Preservation of My Son is an on-going process; we passed a few archaeological sites during our tour. Some of the statues at these sites were missing heads, but as you can see in the Photobucket pictures, we were able to find a solution to that problem.
After a few days in Hoi An we flew to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon for the last leg of our Vietnam tour. We arrived in the city in time for Tet, the Lunar New Year also celebrated in China and Taiwan. On Lunar New Year's Eve, the streets were swarming with people and motorbikes, most headed in the direction of the river to watch the fireworks display. Outside some of the major hotels we could see lion and dragon dances with Vietnamese acrobats. We celebrated New Year's at a cocktail party in our hotel, then went outside at midnight to watch the fireworks. When the fireworks started at midnight, everyone in the streets began cheering and yelling "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!" (Happy New Year!)
In Saigon we had more opportunities to see another view of the war. We toured the War Museum, which featured pictures from photojournalists of what were once described as "American war crimes." These included pictures of suspected Viet Cong agents being loaded into helicopters, interrogated and in some cases executed. There were also photos of civilians fleeing bombing and napalm raids. Some of the more difficult photos featured Agent Orange victims, in some cases children, and the lasting effect the war had on their lives. As expected, there was limited documentation of the defensive actions taken by the Viet Cong during the war, but we were able to see some of this later in the Cu Chi tunnels.
The Cu Chi tunnels were located just north of Saigon and were a network of underground tunnels the Viet Cong used to stage operations. The region where they were located was so heavily forested that even on a clear day, the entrances were difficult to find. Part of this was due to the tunnel entrances being so small that they could only be entered by raising the hands above the head. The tunnels themselves were traversed by running at a crouch, and were so dark that without additional lighting it was impossible to tell if there was someone right in front of you. Currently the tunnels are clean except for a few small bats, but during the war they could be booby-trapped with snakes and spiders for American "tunnel rats." Outside of the tunnels we could see a disturbing display of additional traps once used for catching animals but modified for American soldiers. Though only simple contraptions of barbed wire and bamboo, we could see that they were devastatingly effective.
After too short a time, our trip to Vietnam concluded with a night cruise on the river. The following morning, we packed our bags and headed for the next stage of our journey - Cambodia!
Photos from Vietnam: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a
