Vietnam ... and back again

[Ser Clegane]

As promised (or threatened ... whatever the point of view might be ), following are some pix/impressions from the the vacation in Vietnam (plus Bangkok and Angkor) Mrs and Clegane and myself took during the last weeks.


Before actually going to Vietnam we spent 2 days in Bangkok since our flight was going via Bangkok anyway...

A good chunk of our time there we spent at the quite impressive Royal Palace (and the Wat Phra Keo Temple that is part of the palace)

Part of the very long wall paintings in the temple area


Ronald Mcdonald - Thai style

[Ser Clegane]

Our first stop in Vietnam was Hanoi, from where we also made trips to Ha Long Bay and to the Ba Be National Park

[Ser Clegane]

After a week in the Hanoi area we left Vietnam again to pay a visit to the temples of Angkor in Cambodia

Part of a "Face Tower" of the Bayon Temple


Reliefs of dancers at Angkor Wat


Angor Wat at sunrise (quite amazing how many tourists get up eratly to catch a view ... and pictures)


Monks at the Angkor Thom area


Nature reclaims the ground at Ta Prohm

[Ser Clegane]

After leaving Cambodia we returned to Vietnam to visit Saigon

Selling of puppies in the streets of Saigon


At the Botanic Garden


I sincerely hope that this is an example of Vietnamese humor

[Ser Clegane]

Our last stop was at Hue (well we actuylly spent two additional days on the beach to "recuperate" before our flight back home ) which we especially liked although we had quite some rain there

[Kanamori]

Excellent pictures. Especially the one with the scooters and the person in green looking at you.

[LeftEyeNine]

Excellent shots, SerClegane.

I want to spend the rest of my life in Angkor Wat.

I hope you really made the most out of your trip to Vietnam and are happy with it.

[Kralizec]

I sincerely hope that this is an example of Vietnamese humor

Nice pictures

[Beirut]

Great stuff. Looks like you had an excellent trip.

So... how was the food? Omit no detail.

[LeftEyeNine]

Great stuff. Looks like you had an excellent trip.

So... how was the food? Omit no detail.

You forgot asking about something more, eh ?

[Beirut]

You forgot asking about something more, eh ?

I'd rather he volunteer the information without being coerced.

[R'as al Ghul]

Great pictures Ser Clegane!!

Hope your trip was as good as them.
It always amazes me how people can crouch a whole day like the woman in the rice field in your second post. When I try it for a few minutes, my legs fall asleep and I can hardly get up again. I guess it takes a lifetime of practice.

[Geoffrey S]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Great pics. I particularly like the one under the spoiler tag above.

[Adrian II]

Oh, great pictures Ser Clegane. Some touch my heart. The above must be Trang Tien Street, ending in the Hanoi Opera Square on one end (the building in the back that is being restored) and Ho Han Kiem on the other. Don't tell me you stayed in Dan Chu Hotel (its facade is the colonnade in the center, right side of the street)... beautiful old colonial hotel, that.

The rice field pic is excellent too, but then Vietnamese paddies have a thousand shades of green that keep you entranced. Did you taste pho soup in Hanoi, the local delicacy made with fresh noodles and mint from the hills?

Man, I have to get back some day.

[UglyandHasty]

Great pics, thanks for sharring with us !

[Ser Clegane]

I've always wondered about the Vietnamese perception of their "brief" war with America.. could you tell anything about that from your trip?

Hard to tell based on ca. 2 week we actually spent in Vietnam (and we did not have extensive discussions about the issue - and I am not sure if we, as tourists, would have received candid feedback on this topic).

My (totally subjective) impression was that most people have a rather pragmatic view on the war (which mostly seems to called the "American War", btw - apparently a matter of perspective) - it is part of the country's history, albeit one that still affects the lifes of some people (e.g., the effects of Agent Orange)

Seemingly there is no grudge against Americans in general (or against the French) and American tourists are as welcome as any others (also the Dollar is kind of a second currency in Vietnam, and interestingly on water bottles it is often pointed out that the water has been purified "using modern American technology")

Of course you see a lot of reminders of the war - there seems to be a memorial in almost every town, and there is the "War Remnants" museum in Saigon that focuses on the documentation of the brutality of US troops during the war (although the focus shifted a little bit, as the museum now also includes a section that shows a lot of photos of the war which basically show the terror of war in general and have a more subtle bias; in addition the name of the museum has in past been changed from something along the lines of "War Crime Museum" to the current more neutral name).

Among the population of the Southern parts of Vietnam (i.e. Saigon) it seems that Americans are still often considered as allies who fought on "their" side (we had an interesting conversation about Vietnamese music with one of our guides - he explained that there is something called "Red Music" which is the Communism celebrating music of the North and "Yellow Music" which is the music of the South before 1975; the latter is "officially" banned, but as long as you don't make a public demonstration of playing it the ban is not really enforced.

So... how was the food? Omit no detail.

The food was (mostly*) excellent - and especially on our boat trip in the Ha Long Bay we got an excellent overview of Vietnamese cuisine - I was especially fond of beef in lemon leaves, "Pho" (see later response to Adrian) and a local pork sausage that we ate while in the Ba Be National Park.
We definitely need to get some Vietnamese recipes

* a notable exception were some slices of very bitter bamboo that we were supposed to dip in some strange purple sauce.

Don't tell me you stayed in Dan Chu Hotel (its facade is the colonnade in the center, right side of the street)... beautiful old colonial hotel, that.

Hehe ... no - we were a bit snobby and stayed in the Melia, but in Hue we stayed at the Morin which also had a very charming colonial touch (staying there felt a bit like traveling back in time).

Did you taste pho soup in Hanoi, the local delicacy made with fresh noodles and mint from the hills?

I had it several times and loved it - interestingly the best pho I had was by far the one I ate in an ugly little food stall our guide led us to when we returned to Hanoi after our trip to the Ba Be National Park - truly remarkable.

[Zalmoxis]

I've never had Vietnamese food, what is in it exactly?

[doc_bean]

Great pics !

Man, I need a job so I can afford to travel there too...

[Major Robert Dump]

Pho may be the greatest soup of all time. I'm having a hell of a time convincing my redneck family of this, though. The shops in Oklhoma first started popping up in asian districts, but someone realized the money to be made and now there are a couple in norman and just about every metro town. It's good, its cheap, itg healthy and its filling. I like it so much I go to a wholesale grocery company in the city and have them order me cases of the broth and then make it at home as well. It's all in the broth

Basically, you take very thin slices of flank and brisket, wrap it in rice or glass noodles, add onions etc to your liking, then in a seperate bowl bring the broth to a high boil, then pour broth in the bowl with all the raw fixins. It cooks it in about 4 minutes, then you eat it (with sprouts if u like)

I also like vietnamese eggrolls, but im not sure if those are traditional or just osmething they added in the states. They are 10x better than chinese eggrolls, and 10x as expensive in the restraunts.

Don't like much other vietnamese cuisine. And if you go to get pho at a restraunt make sure not to get some of the rather nasty versions, like the versions with tripe, or intestine or tendon, that will turn you off real quick. It's all about the brisket and flank, baby!!!!!!

[solypsist]

pretty hot pics, SC.

[Proletariat]

Don't like much other vietnamese cuisine. And if you go to get pho at a restraunt make sure not to get some of the rather nasty versions, like the versions with tripe, or intestine or tendon, that will turn you off real quick. It's all about the brisket and flank, baby!!!!!!

This paragraph is paramount. I tried the tendon once and just about couldn't eat this magnificient soup for 6 months.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Did you go to any Vietnam war memorials? I heard they still have some of the tunnels used on display.

[Adrian II]

It's all in the broth.

Hanoians are purists and they will insist that fresh mint leaves are an indispensable ingredient. The rest of Vietnam give them a big finger and just as easily throw basil and all sorts of condiments into their soup. But I have to admit that some fresh mint together with noodles from the finest, youngest rice plants give it a very special 'godly' taste and aroma.

[Samurai Waki]

thanks Clegane! you have just sold me out on going to Vietnam, something I must do in the next 2-5 years

[Ser Clegane]

Did you go to any Vietnam war memorials? I heard they still have some of the tunnels used on display.

Unfortunately we did not have the time to visit the tunnels - the only war-related place we went to see was the "War Remnants" museum in Saigon I mentioned, which was interesting - even with the expected bias (the whole thing had a somewhat clumsy charme, and the broad mix of visitors with their approach to the exhibits certainly added to that charme).

Other than that we came along memorial places in virtually every town we passed but did not take the time to explore them in detail.

[Viking]

I sincerely hope that this is an example of Vietnamese humor

It doesn`t look like that.

[Upxl]

Really nice pics Clegane.
You would think some of these are postcards(this is a compliment).

Looks like a very interesting and beautiful country.

[Adrian II]

I had it several times and loved it - interestingly the best pho I had was by far the one I ate in an ugly little food stall our guide led us to when we returned to Hanoi after our trip to the Ba Be National Park - truly remarkable.

Yes, well, how shall I put this.. if you stayed in five star hotels, most average Vietnamese food stalls must have looked incomparably ugly to you with their dirt floors, low tables and chairs of soft plastic, toilet paper for napkins, etcetera. Something like this:



Nearly all of them are like that. But some of the best food comes from this places like this and in Hanoi some of the most reputable restaurants are even worse than the one in this picture.

You pictures of Hue are very good as well, btw. The atmosphere of the tombs is very special, and the whole situation much more authentic than all the twentieth century war kitsch. I fell ill in Hue once. I passed out in one of those little motorboats and regained consciousness because the skipper kept pouring huge swigs of home-made alcohol into my mouth. Something to do with the temperature and my blood pressure. A Vietnamese doctor took two hours to examine me, observe me, talk to me, finally came up with the simplest cure (Occam's razor) and all this for only ten dollars. He came back next day, just to see how I was doing. Since I was doing fine he took me to a tomb where we were the only visitors. No stalls, no guides, no schoolchildren -- just birds and buffaloes and one dead emperor. God, the beauty of that country defies description.

[Gregoshi]

Ser, those are beautiful pictures. Angor Wat at sunrise is probably my favourite. That one would be framed and hung on the wall for sure if it was mine. To my eyes, many of your pictures are well composed - I'll agree with Upxl that some are postcard worthy. Thank you for sharing your camera-eye view of your trip.

[Ser Clegane]

Yes, well, how shall I put this.. if you stayed in five star hotels, most average Vietnamese food stalls must have looked incomparably ugly to you with their dirt floors, low tables and chairs of soft plastic, toilet paper for napkins, etcetera. Something like this

Hehe ... I hope my comment about the food stall did not seem haughty or belittling as this was not the intention.
The "ugly" comment was meant to point out that even if you stay in the "better" hotels you shouldn't neglect the "real" thing, otherwise you will miss a lot, as the pho we got at that place clearly was the best we got (when I get home I might actually post a pic of us enjoying it ).

OTOH I can't deny that at least for spending the night, showering and perhaps breakfast my spoiled self likes to have a somewhat less authentic flair

Since I was doing fine he took me to a tomb where we were the only visitors. No stalls, no guides, no schoolchildren -- just birds and buffaloes and one dead emperor. God, the beauty of that country defies description.

Indeed - we actually tried to visit to of the less "popular" tombs during our stay there - unfortunately they were both closed for restoration, so we had to "settle" for the three main tombs (although we were luckly that - probably due to the somewhat rainy weather - they were not too crowded either)