Rice Paper, Some Politics, and Why We Travel

Yesterday we spent a rainy day in the homes and businesses of some of the people that live on an island in the Cau Nguyet River. This village, Tho Ha, has been the rice paper making center of the Hanoi region for the last thousand years and has just recently lost its ranking to mechanization. But we all know that the good stuff is still made by hand!

            We started with a visit to a local Veteran’s Cemetery which even in the rain was preparing for the upcoming big Lunar New Year holiday…. this will be the Year of the Horse. This cemetery enjoys all of the respect and admiration that a Veteran’s Cemetery should….if you fought for the North Vietnam army. If you were from the South, then even now your family suffers from your inclusion in that Army. So much for unification and letting the past roll into one history for the story to be told from all sides, but we do know that the aphorism “History is written by the victors” is true until (here comes the other side, attributed by some to Mr. Churchill) “Until the lion (prey) learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter,” highlighting that the silenced (the “losers”) often have their stories buried. And we do know how good a Communist government is at burying the opposing sides of their positions.

            I’m not sure of where this will go today as at the end of the day, we plan to visit the infamous Hanoi “Hilton”, the century-old French prison, turned POW camp in downtown Hanoi.

                        We shall see.

            Back to the earlier part of the day.

            We needed to take a ferry ride across the river which lasted an interminable 😊 two minutes! I am constantly amazed at what transpires in countries that do not have the resources to enforce any kind of safety measures. Most of the time absolutely nothing but then we have all seen the videos of “Construction Gone Bad” and nine times out of ten they are from countries with little or no safety parameters in place. Our voyage was perfectly safe.

            We were greeted on the other side by the “chief” of the village, a low-ranking Party Member at whose home we would learn how to make the rice paper, then enjoy a lunch made from what we had just produced. But first we went off to visit the local “moonshine” operation! This little family-run business was quite busy when we arrived, and yes, there were samples to be had! Whiskey here does not seem to be quite as potent as some of our own homegrown stuff, but then that opinion is coming from someone who has never been inebriated even once in his life! (I needed to rely on some of the more “seasoned” members of our group for an accurate positioning of said moonshine).

            After imbibing we walked down a few alleyways and entered the front of Mr. Viet’s home where the family still makes these rice paper round things, (think tortillas). We watched the very simple but effective Rube Goldberg type machine in action and were then invited to try it out for ourselves….. with modest success. We then proceeded to make our own Spring Rolls with some nifty ingredients. (Think rolling big cigars).

            After a discussion period of Q&A with Mr. Viet he treated us to an impromptu concert with some of the instruments that were hanging on his wall…. the instruments are about as authentically ethnic as they could get. Mr. Viet was a member of the Viet Cong (VC) during the war and I’m fairly sure that subject was going to be on our agenda when someone from our group asked about those musical instruments and then all bets were off as the conversation went in a different direction. It was all very innocent, I got the impression from his personality and demeanor that had we been able to have that planned discussion, it would have been incredibly interesting.

            Lunch was served right after that and Mr. Viet and his wife sat with us as we thoroughly enjoyed our homemade vittles and accompanying accoutrements. This probably was the best meal that we’ve had, as the meals keep outdoing themselves as we go along! But even the first meal was great!

                        Lunch finished, Happy Room visited, we then marched back out of the alleyways and boarded the ferry for another unassuming voyage across the 100 yards or so of the river. Back on the bus we followed course and as Senior Citizens used this opportunity to nap. It was still drearily raining.

                        Upon our arrival back in Hanoi some of us elected to stay on the bus and continue to the Hanoi “Hilton”, the rest returned to the hotel. To be clear, the Hanoi “Hilton” was never a hotel. That moniker was hung on this facility by our very own members of our Armed Forces, a good, snappy use of fortuitous alliteration that I ever heard!

                        I am going to dive in here and try my best to stay as apolitical as possible on a totally, highly political subject. There is nothing more polarizing than the subject of the Vietnam War, or Communism vs Freedom(?), or Socialism vs Capitalism, and what is, and where does, Fascism enter this picture?

All great questions, that (on a different platform would be great to have meaningful discussions over and about) are valid, but this forum is not that one. I’ll leave it at I’m glad (in that weird sort of way) that I went, but I was uncomfortable being there, but only for the POW aspect of this place. Its long history is as entwined with Colonial Vietnam’s as anything that they have and remembering that these were an oppressed and subjugated people for generations and generations puts some perspective on the past sixty-plus years that included the Vietnam War.

    

     

                        Context: The Vietnamese peoples had been subjugated for over a thousand years by various waves of conquerors including the Chinese, Japanese, and most recently, the French during the Colonial Period (when the Countries of Europe were trying their best to outdo each other.) They wanted their freedom and who wouldn’t? Ho Chi Minh wrote to President Truman to ask for help in getting France out of his country. Truman, valuing our alliance with France over Vietnam’s, said “No”. Ho Chi Minh then approached China/Russia who eventually agreed. This put the Number One Fear (Communism) on the doorstep of another emerging country (Vietnam) which in the 1950’s and 60’s, was the primary concern for the USA and our allies.

 And all Vietnam wanted was their independence.

So here I am at the Hanoi “Hilton” viewing the cells and facilities erected by the French in the late 1800’s. The exhibits show how the French used their torture techniques on the local folks who defied their laws, etc. male and female alike. Then we moved to the next obvious timeline and that would be the POW era. These exhibits showed photos of US service men playing volleyball, making Christmas trees, getting medical care, and the like. All of which is true, but we also know that it shows (in true propaganda/communist regime type form) only a small sliver of the story. Even up to today, most citizens only know what is allowed to be known and that is the “Approved Edition” of their history. Are the Vietnamese folks better off under this present government than they were under the French……

 Or during the War?

Or when they were just emerging and there was far more influence from China and Russia?

I’d venture a probable ‘Yes’! They are better off now, at least from my observations. They do emphasize “Red Capitalism”, which is thriving! And I can see where “Westernization” is creeping (and allowed) into some daily aspects of their lives.

I did not leave the Hanoi “Hilton” feeling good, actually rather empty as there was no way to even attempt to correct (?) any of the information that was given inside without trying to convince the other person that all we wanted to do was stop the advancement of countries like China and Russia from taking over so much of the world that our way of life would eventually be threatened by sheer numbers.

            In a way I’m glad that it was raining because it matched my mood.

            So, I’ll move on, change gears a bit and thank you for getting this far…..

The Question of the Century seems to be…. Why Vietnam?

The answer, or answers, to that question are as many and varied as the folks who ask us.

We could be humorous and reply with the quote British explorer George Mallory said in 1924 before attempting to climb Mt. Everest…. “Because it’s there” but that may end the conversation without gaining any insight into the answers.

            Maybe I should start by flipping this around…. why does someone ask that question to begin with?

                        If we were traveling to say, maybe ….Florida, would the first response be to ask, “Why Florida?”

                        Maybe, maybe not.

            I will hazard a guess that the question stems from our involvement back in the 60’s in the military conflict that tore our country into mostly two factions, for and against.

                                    That war was a long time ago, sixty years or so puts us in the ballpark of the timeline.

                        The caveat to this is it all depends on one’s perspective and that perspective is as true to each person as their own being is. I have two brothers-in-law who served in Vietnam, and I would never presume to tell them how they should feel about returning to Vietnam.

                        So, do you want the real answer?

                        If you’ve gotten this far without clicking the X at the top right of the Page, then you deserve an answer.

                        “Because it’s there!”

                        Only kidding! In reality, Harold and Sherry said that they were looking at this particular trip with Overseas Adventure Travel and wondered if we’d like to come along. To be honest, I hesitated. I had never had in my brain an incredible desire to visit this part of the world. Then it happened….

                                    This is the “Dangerous” part of traveling…..

                                    Meaning that we did some research.

And found lots of things to like about this trip!

We watched the video of this trip by O.A.T. and saw what looked like a fascinating glimpse into the lives and customs of a people that have their own stories to tell, their own version of the local diaspora, their own ways of clinging to their culture before it disappears. Especially when we throw in our visits to the Hill Country tribes at the beginning of this trip. Maybe a good “home grown” example would be our own Native American tribes and their quest for recognition and longevity in their own right. The more we watched the trip unfold before us and listened to the comments of the Travelers that had been on this Itinerary, the more we wanted to say “Yes”! Plus we got to travel again with H&S with whom we had so much fun with on the World Cruise!

                        So we said that one little word, Yes!

                        We’ve been here a Grand Total of about ten days and we’re already totally sure that we made the best decision!

                        Traveling anywhere and experiencing whatever it is that brought you to that location is reason enough for travel.

 Always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower?

Go  to Paris!

Always wanted to experience the crystal-clear waters of the South Seas?

Go to Tahiti!

These, and the rest of the millions of places on this planet, are reason enough to go and see them. We have elected to dive in just a little deeper and get to know the folks that live on the planet with us.