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Published: November 23rd 2014
Lacquer Factory
Working with crushed egg shellsIn the mid-1960’s as I watched the young men in my high school class being sent to Vietnam, many of them never to return, and as I watched as we as a nation, agonized over the war, were split by the war, and prayed it would be over soon…never, ever did I think that I would one day be in Saigon, Vietnam.
Our ship docked at Phu My and we took a 2 hour bus ride, along the Saigon River to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Saigon is still referred to as Saigon by the locals. They revere Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho) but say the name was a political move so the natives still call it by its old name, Saigon. Lots and lots of rice fields flooded with water-some ready to harvest and some just beginning to sprout. All along the highway we passed poor, small vendor shops and fruit and vegetable tables minded by old men or women. Whereas China was the land of bicycles and mopeds, and South Korea the land of motorcycles and cars, and Japan the land of cars, Vietnam is the
Water Puppets
Natural History Museum land of the motorcycle! The entire right lane of three lane highways and streets are dedicated to the motorcycle. A good, new motorcycle costs about $1500 U.S. You must wear a helmet. Very rarely did we see a grownup without a helmet; however we did see many children without helmets. Helmets are in every conceivable color and pattern. We even saw a Tinkerbell helmet ;-) Virtually all of the “motorcyclists” were wearing face masks and many with goggles. The face masks many times for the women were “fashion statements”, coordinating with their motorcycle colors or with their clothing. ;-) As in the other Asian countries we’ve visited, pedestrians DO NOT have any rights ;-) Beware.
Our first stop of the morning was the lacquer factory. As with other “factories” that we have visited, we learned a great deal. The making of inlaid lacquer pieces, starting with fine wood, is painstaking hands on work. The inlays can be of many varieties including egg shells, finely broken and hand placed one piece at a time into carved wood, or ivory or jade or, or, or… The work takes fine eyesight and a tremendous amount of patience. The working conditions
in a shed type warehouse factory did not have good lighting or ventilation which made the smell of the lacquer quiet strong. The store was beautiful with whole tables and chairs made of lacquer ware all the way down to small rice bowls and chopsticks. Beautiful quality pieces at reasonable prices.
From there we headed across town through noon day traffic to the Natural History Museum. At the museum, we were so excited to see a performance of the Vietnam Water Puppets-clearly amazing-we could not figure out how these puppets dancing and doing acrobatics in the water were controlled. At the end of the show, 5 handsome and beautiful young Vietnamese came out from behind a bamboo curtain in the water to take their bows. Clearly somehow they were manipulating the puppets from behind the bamboo screens ;-) It was fascinating and great fun. Maybe there is a video on YouTube …try it.
A 15 minute ride later we were at the Thien Hau Buddhist Temple, in Chinatown. The streets were so crowded that the bus driver just picked a place about a block away and we hurried off and onto the crowded sidewalk.
We had to walk on the edge of the curb between posts, trees, people on one side and tons of motorcycles on the street side of us. Not an easy feat ;-). This jumping off and on buses in the middle of major busy streets is keeping us quite agile LOL!. Up to the intersection and around the corner we ducked into the courtyard of the temple. The temple and courtyard itself were peaceful. Vendors selling incense sticks, people lighting them in big cauldrons and praying to the north, south, east and west….lots of incense in the air. This temple had something a little different. Porcelain scenes of people and life in days gone by. They were really beautiful. Inside a little room off the courtyard were beautiful watercolors of each of the 12 animals of the Zodiac. Leaving the temple, our bus driver, Mr. lam, found a way to be at the front gate just as we were leaving…yea…no dodging traffic .only nice but aggressive vendors LOL.
The most moving parts of the day was yet to come. We went to the President’s Palace (now named Reunification Hall) and saw the gates to the grounds that
were mowed down by tanks as they moved across the lawns and up the palace steps when the North Vietnamese took over Saigon at the end of the war. It was stifling hot today as the temperature was around 86 with 92% humidity. We walked onto the grounds and over to view the tanks (replicas) that came through the gates. Then we walked to the front of the palace, up the steps and into a beautiful marble open walkway and by glass windows looking in on the huge conference room where the President currently meets with his ministers-besides this, the Palace/Hall is a museum. Then we started down a narrow, concrete stairway into the “bunker” under the palace. We saw the war room, maps of the war, troop deployments, the President’s bedroom, and the kitchen that served meals to 500 people working underground in telecommunications, logistics, reconnaissance etc. Everything looks so “antique” now. Personal computers and cell phones where unheard of and each desk had color coded old style rotary phones. We walked through low concrete corridors. Amazing to think of all the war machinery and tactics that were discussed in these rooms.
Both Cope and
I still have images in our brains of the helicopter evacuations from the roof of the Palace and the American Embassy and the Saigon Airport. To find ourselves reliving those times once again in the actual Palace and in the bunker below was so emotional, even today we found ourselves tearing up, unbelievable.
It began to rain as we were leaving bringing the humidity level to 100% ;-). After a buffet lunch at a 5 star hotel in downtown Saigon, we drove to the site of the Rex Hotel where many dignitaries stayed during the war and home of the famous “Friday Night Follies”. We couldn’t see it very well as they are building a metro station right next to it in cooperation with Japan. Japan has helped Vietnam with many types of technology and construction projects. Around the corner was the original Opera House which is very beautiful.
As with every city we have been in in Asia, this section of the city was comprised of the old and new. Gucci, Versace and Valentino in beautiful upscale shopping centers, while right outside are one-person sidewalk shops, streets being cleaned by broom and street
Family Affair
Son, Father, Baby, Mother vendors everywhere.
We headed for the Catholic Church named Notre Dam Cathedral and in the rain and took a few pictures outside before once again taking our lives in our hands as we crossed a major boulevard to the French Colonial Post Office. It was beautiful and an original building from the 1890’s. They still have places for people to sit down and actually write letters…and amazingly, there were people there doing just that.
The day was passing by way too quickly… On our drive back to the ship, we paid more attention to something our guide, Mr. Phat, told us on the way in-there are hammocks set up along the highway in stores and sheds where motorcyclists can stop and take a nap. All anyone has to do if they are tired, is to pull off the road and take a nap in one of the many hammocks available-no cost and a very effective way of reducing “driver fatigue” ;-). Wish they had hammock stops in the USA!
We continue to be amazed at the transport system here in Asia, and Vietnam is no different. We have seen everything being
Traffic
Hi Chi Minh City transported by bicycle or motorcycle possible… whole families, goods, raw materials, chickens, pigs and fish stacked high...just fascinating to watch. As in many countries of the world, there is such disparity between the “haves” and “have nots”. Yet, life goes on… people buying and selling, figuring out ways to “make a living”. So very difficult to see how so many can make a living with so little, yet the country seems to function and people just live life as it comes along.
Next: Bangkok, Thailand!
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