Viet Nam Sightseeing - 2

Hi, This is the second, and last, post on sightseeing in Viet Nam.

From Hanoi we flew to Hue. The next day we toured the city, beginning with the Citadel. This was the location of a major battle during the Tet Offensive which began in January of 1968. The battle here lasted 25 days. There was much destruction and very little of the site has been restored. However, fortunately, most of the site was spared so there is still much to see. The photos of the young women in Ao Dais in the People post were taken here.







Next on the city tour was a visit to a Pagoda.


The next day we traveled by bus to Hoi An. Shown below are a pair of typical houses we encountered along the way. Also, we saw some boats here that will be in the next post.

Hoi An is a city for tourists. Shopping here is extensive. It is the place the guide recommended for made to order clothing.


We visited an historic home,

and watched the making of lanterns.

Walking back to the bus after dinner allowed for some interesting photography.

The lagoon here had some interesting figures that were lit at night.


While in Hoi An we had an optional trip to Champa Kingdom ruins. This was a royal temple and was dedicated to Hindu Gods. Eventually the Champa turned to Bhudism and eventually Islam. The Champa people controlled Southern and Central Viet Nam from the 7th century to 1832. Descendants of these people, called Cham, still live in Viet Nam.



The next day we flew to Nha Trang. In the afternoon we visited with the family of a former South Vietnamese army officer. Our full day program in Nha Trang included beach time. As it was raining the guide developed a plan B.

We visited a local market where he purchased pieces of local fruit that we all had an opportunity to taste.


Of course other items beside food were for sale.



We then visited the Champa Towers, another group of ruins left by the Champa Kingdom. These too had a Hindu connection.



We travelled from Nha Trang to Dalat, a small city at over 5000 feet. There were a large number of upper class houses scattered throughout Dalat. While we did not get to see the inside of a house like this, compared to less opulent structures they are quite grand. We were told the cost of house like this located in Dalat would be about $300K.

We took a cable car ride,

and then visited another temple.


That afternoon I walked around town. The French dammed the local river to create a beautiful lake.

Back from the lake was a small market with a number of flower stalls.


Our final stop in Viet Nam was Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). One of the highlights was the optional trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels enabled the Viet Cong to strike South Vietnamese and US troops and then literally disappear into the jungle. Here they had an underground complex with command and control, hospitals, and kitchens. They disguised breathing holes as termite mounds.

It was impossible to stand in the tunnels. Two were even lower than the one shown here but I did not go through them.

Once Viet Cong had entered into the tunnels and pulled the cover over the hole the tunnel openings were very difficult to locate.

Making sandals from old tires was demonstrated.

Burial in Viet Nam frequently is close to the family. This tomb is in the middle of a rice paddy.

We took a boat ride on the Mekong River. This is a tributary canal. Most of these homes have some kind of business attached to them.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Viet Nam Sightseeing - 1

Hi, This will be the first of a 2 part post on the sight seeing we did in Viet Nam. I felt there are too many images to post all of them at one time.

We landed in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and spent the night. The next morning we flew to Hanoi where we spent 3 nights. After a one hour rickshaw ride through town we were picked up by our bus and taken to the site of Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and the grounds of his final home. A photo of his mausoleum appears in the post below on people.

This is the house where he lived during the warmer months. It is very simple and open.

A small pagoda has been rebuilt on the grounds.

Our next stop was the Institute of Literature. I am not sure how it got its name as we saw nothing that would indicate any literary activities. However, it was very photogenic and this was the place where we viewed a demonstration of traditional musical instruments (see the post on people for a photo).





That evening we went to a show of water puppets. People manipulating the puppets stand in the water behind the screen behind the puppet using rods and wires to move the puppets around as well as parts of the puppets.

After the show the puppeteers came out front.

When the show was over we walked through some of the streets to reach our bus.


One stretch had a number of shops selling footwear.

The next day we took an optional trip into the countryside. We visited the home of a family that made tiles for roofing. This was definitely upper middle class.
Most, if not all, of the homes we visited had a photo of Ho Chi Minh prominently displayed.

A fairly modern and upscale kitchen is shown below.

However, even this family kept pigs.

This is the view from the balcony on the third floor. Note, there is no zoning in Viet Nam.

One of the bedrooms and the sitting room are shown below.


Next we visited a pagoda in a small village. This is a shrine to ancestors and the food is placed on the shrine so they will have something to eat.


After the optional tour we were on our own. We wanted to visit the "Hanoi Hilton." It turned out to be a major propaganda instrument. The visit began with an explanation that the prison was built by the the French in the 1880's to house Viet Namese fighting for independence. They set up displays showing the harsh treatment the prisoners received.


The tour then went on to explain how the prison was used during the Viet Nam war to house captured American pilots and to claim that American POWs were well treated; so well treated in fact that the prisoners did not want to return to the US. Yet they had this display of a single US airman in a cell. Although I could not show it, his feet are held to the floor like those of the Vietnamese prisoners in the picture 2 above this. I could not help but wonder what the young Vietnamese people passing through the exhibit thought.

The did leave in place, without explanation, the hook they used to hang US airmen when they were interrogating them. We knew about it before we went to the prison from our guide.

The next day we drove to Halong Bay. If there was one day we wanted sun this was it. Unfortunately nature did not cooperate. We boarded a junk and headed out; returning the next morning.

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is impressive in the gloom. It must be absolutely gorgeous in sunlight.

I'm not sure what purpose the sails serve. It may be to keep the junks from swinging on their anchors. Just a guess.


One of the rock formation appears to be the profile of a person.

Part 2 will be a little longer. Hope you enjoyed these.