I’m in a modern art gallery by the lake. A stylish gallery owner shows me the work of a young contemporary artist: squares of dirt, found objects and giant paintings made from fingerprints. The title of the exhibition is “Continued,” as Google Translate puts it. It’s all pretty mysterious. Then the artist himself, Lâm Na, appears, pressing a coin he dug up from the ground into my hand. This feels important, because I understand that work is about the past in the present, about what was planted and what was reaped, but I have little idea of where I actually am. Maybe Mayfair. Actually it is Hanoi.
This is my first day in Vietnam, next to Hoan Kiem lake, in a posh part of the city where many expats choose to live. There are taco places and cocktail bars. This wasn’t what I was expecting. To my even greater surprise, the fascinating Nguyen Anh Tuan, an artist and curator, tells me I’m lucky. We bonded over our shared love of Leonard Cohen, and now he’s taking me to the massive disused Gia Lam train factory. It was taken over by Hanoi Creative Design Festival artists. The theme is “flow” and I’m going with it.
Artists are taking over this former industrial space, combining their heritage with contemporary life. There’s so much work to see here: Cornelia Parker-type dismantled cars on ropes, huge hanging strips of fabric, tunnels of tiny photographs that you’d need a candle to see. I’m overloaded.
The truth is, if your first day in Hanoi doesn’t overwhelm you, you have no pulse. One of the most exciting cities I’ve ever visited; traffic frenzy, markets, lights, street food, colonial architecture and huge monuments. Determined not to be like a friend who was stuck in her hotel for two days trying to get out, I brave swarms of scooters and heavy cross traffic to get around.
When I meet my guide, he offers to teach me how to cross the road and is surprised that I have already done so. The explanation for this is jetlag, not courage. He says one should not hesitate and look at the traffic. Just keep going and don’t stop. My guide wears a sweatshirt that says “Barmy” and asks me what that means as we sample street food. I tell him that Barmy means “crazy but in a nice way.”
You may have had Vietnamese food at home, but there’s nothing quite like sitting on tiny plastic stools next to girls wearing fake Gucci and eating what’s known as the “Obama Combo” (after Barack Obama’s dinner with the late, great Anthony Bourdain). here, in 2016). Grilled pork, noodles, bunches of herbs, dipping sauce. Bun Cha and two beers.
Ripped martial arts men slurp it up nearby; Backpackers line up for their Banh Mi. Later, at a dazzling rooftop bar, as the DJ spins remixes of Pet Shop Boys and the moon rises over the lake, young and trendy Vietnamese couples arrive with flowers for countless selfies.
First thing in the morning, large groups exercise next to the Lenin statue, while queues begin to form for the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Here you can see the mummified body of “Uncle Ho”. (He didn’t want this; he wanted the body cremated, but instead he received full Soviet treatment.) There are communist flags and slogans everywhere.
Vietnam is a one-party state, but the official reality is that it is a “market economy with a socialist orientation.” Ordinary people are paying for healthcare, education and leaving Hanoi, the economic boom is felt. Luxury developments are everywhere. I realize that the hard times mentioned in the speech are not just the “American War” but the famine that occurred between the end of the war in 1975 and the lifting of the trade embargo in the mid-1990s.
Of course there are war tourists rehearsing here. apocalypse now Conversations are being made, but the bulk of the hostility I have heard openly expressed is directed towards the French rather than the Americans. One man told me that the country’s former colonial masters had gouged out his father’s eyes.
A few hours’ drive southwest of Hanoi, the mountains rise: black vertical ridges of limestone jutting out of the ground, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I’m staying at Pu Luong Retreat between two mountains overlooking the rice terraces. The view is spectacular, but the steep hills to reach the room are not very appealing. This is not a country for old knees. Luckily there is a pool, spa and a great restaurant.
This is a place that attracts hikers, but my guide clearly understands that I am more of a hiker. We go down to the valley, where houses stand on stilts and incredibly beautiful village girls take selfies with us.
I can’t stop thinking about Graham Greene A Quiet American Fowler describes his mistress Phuong as looking “very small and breakable” but not an ornament in any way. These villagers are ethnic White Thai and have their own language and style of clothing. They still use scythes in the fields.
We see growing papayas, star fruits, guavas, cassava and Muscovy ducks that I have only seen hanging in markets. In the betel nut tree, I heard about the fashion for Vietnamese women to paint their teeth completely black – mind-boggling – which was once considered beautiful.
I’m flying south to take a cruise along the Mekong. It has a completely different weather, hot and rainy. As we sip our coconut, the boatman says there are fish in the river that eat dogs. But I only see mud jumpers. At night at my resort you can sit by the river and watch the junk go up and down. I won’t be able to stay long because I’m going to Can Tho to catch a small propeller plane to the island of Con Son.
I wave to a baby at the airport and I feel like it makes everyone uncomfortable. I was later told that babies should be ignored because no one wants to make the spirits jealous and make the baby sick. Every day in Vietnam I become more aware of the ever-present spirits: ancestor worship prevails; death is next to life and is celebrated everywhere. The dead should be made happy with votive money, gifts and food at family shrines. I even see expensive pairs of sneakers left as offers.
Con Son is a small island in the Con Dau archipelago. It’s an idyllic place, full of pristine beaches, jungle, black squirrels and macaques. Brad, Angelina and their troops stayed at the ultra-luxurious Six Senses in 2011, but I don’t think any place could be nicer than the Poulo Condor resort where I stayed.
My room is actually a sage green villa with two balconies. There is an outside shower and water lily ponds everywhere. You can go to the empty beach or get a massage. There are canoes you can paddle around. There is a pool, completely green, with Mount Chau rising above it. The staff are great, WhatApping to ask if you would like breakfast brought to you. Although these islands are surrounded by some of Vietnam’s best diving waters, they remain underdeveloped.
But the heart of this seemingly untouched paradise is dark. This was a prison island. The town has a museum and is dotted with old prisons and cemeteries. More than 20,000 political prisoners died here. The French built prisons in 1863 to house people they considered dangerous. Americans used them until the 70s. Here you will find the famous “tiger cages” where prisoners were chained and quicklime poured on them.
Visiting these places for a few hours was enough for me. It was clear that many of the Vietnamese who visited had relatives who died there, so it is a pilgrimage site. When I returned to my hotel, I learned that the museum was founded by the son of a political prisoner and that it was a way of saying thank you to the candidate.
This is how modern Vietnam comes into existence, with its parallels of life and death. There are always hungry ghosts to be appeased, but there is beauty and wealth to be created right here, right now. And there’s always another selfie to take. Stunning. During a cooking class, I learned how to tie summer rolls using steamed scallions into tiny ribbons. While maneuvering in heavy traffic, I saw girls on Vespas applying make-up. I took a look at the ultra-modern city of Ho Chi Minh City and chatted with octogenarians working in the rice fields.
They all draw you in one way or another. You may feel the future rising, but what truly seeps into your heart is the extraordinary and unbreakable spirit of this place.
Fundamentals
InsideAsia (0117 244 3380; InsideAsiaTours.com) has a 12-night Vietnam Sights cultural adventure from Hanoi to Pu Luong, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, costing £2,275 per person, including all accommodation, a selection of meals and transport. country, private guidance and a variety of cultural experiences, but excludes international flights. Vietnam Airlines (vietnamairlines.com) operates daily flights between London and Vietnam for £754 return.