Some Vietnamese history...

Our day city tour of Hanoi took us first to the Tran Quoc Pagoda located beside the West Lake, between the two lakes of Hanoi: West Lake and Truc Bach Lake.


The construction of the pagoda started in 541 and was completed in 545 under the reign of King Ly Nam De (544-548) under its original name of Khai Quoc (National Founder). It was initially built on the bank of the Red River (then West Lake and the Red River met).
A cultural symbol of Vietnamese Buddhism – intricate architecture

You might ask yourself why among a number of beautiful pagodas in Hanoi, Tra
n Quoc should be visited. The reason derives from the fact that it is considered a cultural symbol of Vietnamese Buddhism partly for it is the oldest pagoda and situated in the center of the capital of Vietnam. More importantly, unlike other ordinary pagodas, Tran Quoc Pagoda was built in a very intricate way. Behind the worshipping shrine is the Buddhist trinity followed by corridors, ten shrines and the belfry. Inside the pagoda, there are many valuable statues, such as the red lac statue trimmed with gold of Sakyamouni Buddha's Parinirvana, which is a masterpiece of Vietnamese sculptural art, and lots of ancient stele, one of which was made in 1639 by Doctoral lau- Nguyen Xuan Chinh, recording the Pagoda's history.

It must be said that the island and pagoda provide a beautiful backdrop, particularly when viewed at sunset. Standing at one end of Thanh Nien Road, one can see the towers of the pagoda rising above the lake’s surface. In the pagoda’s garden stands a Bồ Đề (Bodhi) tree, which is attached to a past story. The story tells that in 1959, on his visit to Vietnam, Indian Prime Minister Razendia Prasat offered the Pagoda a bodhi tree as a gift. The plant was grafted from the holy bodhi tree where Sakyamuni sat in zen (meditation) position and achieved enlightenment in India 25 centuries ago. Now the bodhi tree is easily recognizable from its heart-shaped leaves, taken from a cutting of its original tree. Today, the tree green and luxuriant, shading over part of the pagoda's yard.
These days, the story goes that if someone needs forgiving they should walk around  the tree anti clockwise three times.

Some history on Vietnam for those that are interested.....

When Vietnam achieved independence in 1954, Ho Chi Minh was claimed to have refused to live in the grand structure for symbolic reasons, although he still received state guests there, he eventually built a traditional Vietnamese stilt house and carp pond on the grounds. His house and the grounds were made into the Presidential Palace Historical Site in 1975.

The palace hosts government meetings. It is not open to the public, although one may walk around the grounds for a fee.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is located nearby the palace. The Presidential Palace of Vietnam is a hundred-year-old French colonial building in the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex surrounding Ba Dinh Square. Completed in 1906, the Presidential Palace is a thoroughly French Beaux-Arts edifice painted mustard yellow.

The Palace is inextricably linked to Vietnam's French colonial past, so much so that when Ho Chi Minh took over Hanoi and the rest of North Vietnam, he declined to live in the overtly luxurious parts of the palace. Ho instead claimed to have chose to live in servants' quarters behind the building. In 1958, a stilt house was built in the palace gardens and said to have served as his residence and office.

The Palace interior is not open to tourists, unless you're a diplomat or visiting foreign dignitary - Ambassador-designates present their credentials to the President of Vietnam at the Presidential Palace.

Regular visitors are allowed access to the Palace's botanical gardens, where you can get a good look at the Palace's fruit trees and Ho's stilt house. The Palace is visible from the beginning of the visitors' path, but straying off the path is highly discouraged.
Visiting the Mausoleum is this most daunting thing I have ever experience...you are literally regimented two by two through the main gates and ushered military style through the building. I was asked to take my sunglasses off even before getting into the building and Jim had his hands in his pocket and he was asked to take them out.

Ho Chi Minh was born in Vietnam in 1890. His father, Nguyen Sinh Huy was a teacher employed by the French.

He had a reputation for being extremely intelligent but his unwillingness to learn the French language resulted in the loss of his job. To survive, Nguyen Sinh Huy was forced to travel throughout Vietnam, offering his services to the peasants. This usually involved writing letters and providing medical care.

As a nationalist, Nguyen taught his children to resist the rule of the French. Not surprisingly, they all grew up to be committed nationalists willing to fight for Vietnamese independence.

Ho Chi Minh's sister obtained employment working with the French Army. She used this position to steal weapons that she hoped one day would be used to drive the French out of Vietnam. She was eventually caught and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Although he had refused to learn French himself, Nguyen decided to send Ho to a French school. He was now of the opinion that it would help him prepare for the forthcoming struggle against the French.

After his studies. Ho was, for a short period, a schoolteacher. He then decided to become a sailor. This enabled him to travel to many different countries. This included several countries that were part of the French Empire. In doing so. Ho learnt that the Vietnamese were not the only people suffering from exploitation


Ho finally settled in Paris in 1917. Here he read books by Karl Marx and other left-wing writers and eventually he became convened to communism. When in December, 1920 the French Communist Party was formed. Ho became one of its founder members.

Ho, like the rest of the French Communist Party, had been inspired by the Russian Revolution. In 1924, he visited the Soviet Union. While in Moscow, Ho wrote to a friend that it was the duty of all communists to return to their own country to: "make contact with the masses to awaken, organise, unite and train them, and lead them to fight for freedom and independence."

However, Ho was aware that if he returned to Vietnam he was in danger of being arrested by the French authorities. He therefore decided to go and live in China on the Vietnam border. Here he helped organise other exiled nationalists into the 'Vietnam Revolutionary League'.

In September, 1940, the Japanese army invaded Indochina. With Paris already occupied by Germany, the French troops decided it was not worth putting up a fight and they surrendered to the Japanese. Ho Chi Minh and his fellow nationalists saw this as an opportunity to free their country from foreign domination and formed an organisation called the Vietminh. Under the military leadership of General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Vietminh began a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese.

The Vietminh received weapons and ammunition from the Soviet Union, and after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, they also obtained supplies from the United States. During this period the Vietminh leant a considerable amount about military tactics which was to prove invaluable in the years that were to follow.

When the Japanese surrendered to the Allies after the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945, the Vietminh was in a good position to take over the control of the country.

In September, 1945, Ho Chi Minh announced the formation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Unknown to the Vietminh Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin had already decided what would happen to post-war Vietnam at a summit-meeting at Potsdam. It had been agreed that the country would be divided into two, the northern half under the control of the Chinese and the southern half under the British.

After the Second World War France attempted to re-establish control over Vietnam. In January 1946, Britain agreed to remove her troops and later that year, China left Vietnam in exchange for a promise from France that she would give up her rights to territory in China.

France refused to recognise the Democratic Republic of Vietnam that had been declared by Ho Chi Minh and fighting soon broke out between the Vietminh and the French troops. At first, the Vietminh under General Vo Nguyen Giap, had great difficulty in coping with the better trained and equipped French forces. The situation improved in 1949 after Mao Zedong and his communist army defeated Chaing Kai-Shek in China. The Vietminh now had a safe-base where they could take their wounded and train new soldiers.

By 1953 the Vietminh controlled large areas of North Vietnam. The French, however, had a firm hold on the south and had installed Bo Dai, the former Vietnamese Emperor, as the Chief of State.

When it became clear that France was becoming involved in a long-drawn out war, the French government tried to negotiate a deal with the Vietminh. They offered to help set-up a national government and promised they would eventually grant Vietnam its independence. Ho Chi Minh and the other leaders of the Vietminh did not trust the word of the French and continued the war.

French public opinion continued to move against the war. There were four main reasons for this: (1) Between 1946 and 1952 90,000 French troops had been killed, wounded or captured; (2) France was attempting to build up her economy after the devastation of the Second World War. The cost of the war had so far been twice what they had received from the United States under the Marshall Plan; (3) The war had lasted seven years and there was still no sign of an outright French victory; (4) A growing number of people in France had reached the conclusion that their country did not have any moral justification for being in Vietnam.

General Navarre, the French commander in Vietnam, realised that time was running out and that he needed to obtain a quick victory over the Vietminh. He was convinced that if he could manoeuvre General Vo Nguyen Giap into engaging in a large scale battle, France was bound to win. In December, 1953, General Navarre setup a defensive complex at Dien Bien Phu, which would block the route of the Vietminh forces trying to return to camps in neighbouring Laos. Navarre surmised that in an attempt to reestablish the route to Laos, General Giap would be forced to organise a mass-attack on the French forces at Dien Bien Phu.

Navarre's plan worked and General Giap took up the French challenge. However, instead of making a massive frontal assault, Giap choose to surround Dien Bien Phu and ordered his men to dig a trench that encircled the French troops. From the outer trench, other trenches and tunnels were dug inwards towards the centre. The Vietminh were now able to move in close on the French troops defending Dien Bien Phu.

While these preparations were going on, Giap brought up members of the Vietminh from all over Vietnam. By the time the battle was ready to start, Giap had 70,000 soldiers surrounding Dien Bien Phu, five times the number of French troops enclosed within.

Employing recently obtained anti-aircraft guns and howitzers from China, Giap was able to restrict severely the ability of the French to supply their forces in Dien Bien Phu. When Navarre realised that he was trapped, he appealed for help. The United States was approached and some advisers suggested the use of tactical nuclear weapons against the Vietminh. Another suggestion was that conventional air-raids would be enough to scatter Giap's troops.

The United States President, Dwight Eisenhower, however, refused to intervene unless he could persuade Britain and his other western allies to participate. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, declined claiming that he wanted to wait for the outcome of the peace negotiations taking place in Geneva before becoming involved in escalating the war.

On March 13, 1954, Vo Nguyen Giap launched his offensive. For fifty-six days the Vietminh pushed the French forces back until they only occupied a small area of Dien Bien Phu. Colonel Piroth, the artillery commander, blamed himself for the tactics that had been employed and after telling his fellow officers that he had been "completely dishonoured" committed suicide by pulling the safety pin out of a grenade.

The French surrendered on May 7th. French casualties totalled over 7,000 and a further 11,000 soldiers were taken prisoner. The following day the French government announced that it intended to withdraw from Vietnam. The following month the foreign ministers of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France decided to meet in Geneva to see if they could bring about a peaceful solution to the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam.

After much negotiation the following was agreed: (1) Vietnam would be divided at the 17th parallel; (2) North Vietnam would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh; (3) South Vietnam would be ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem, a strong opponent of communism; (4) French troops would withdraw from Vietnam; (5) the Vietminh would withdraw from South Vietnam; (6) the Vietnamese could freely choose to live in the North or the South; and (7) a General Election for the whole of Vietnam would be held before July, 1956, under the supervision of an international commission.

After their victory at Dien Bien Phu, some members of the Vietminh were reluctant to accept the cease-fire agreement. Their main concern was the division of Vietnam into two sections. However, Ho Chi Minh argued that this was only a temporary situation and was convinced that in the promised General Election, the Vietnamese were sure to elect a communist government to rule a re-united Vietnam.

This view was shared by President Dwight Eisenhower. As he wrote later: "I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held at the time of the fighting, possibly 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the communist Ho Chi Minh."

When the Geneva conference took place in 1954, the United States delegation proposed the name of Ngo Dinh Diem as the new ruler of South Vietnam. The French argued against this claiming that Diem was "not only incapable but mad". However, eventually it was decided that Diem presented the best opportunity to keep South Vietnam from falling under the control of communism.

When it became clear that Ngo Dinh Diem had no intention of holding elections for a united Vietnam, his political opponents began to consider alternative ways of obtaining their objectives. Some came to the conclusion that violence was the only way to persuade Diem to agree to the terms of the 1954 Geneva Conference. The year following the cancelled elections saw a large increase in the number of people leaving their homes to form armed groups in the forests of Vietnam. At first they were not in a position to take on the South Vietnamese Army and instead concentrated on what became known as 'soft targets'. In 1959, an estimated 1,200 of Diem's government officials were murdered.

Ho Chi Minh was initially against this strategy. He argued that the opposition forces in South Vietnam should concentrate on organising support rather than carrying out acts of terrorism against Diem's government.

In 1959, Ho Chi Minh sent Le Duan, a trusted adviser, to visit South Vietnam. Le Duan returned to inform his leader that Diem's policy of imprisoning the leaders of the opposition was so successful that unless North Vietnam encouraged armed resistance, a united country would never be achieved.

Ho Chi Minh agreed to supply the guerrilla units with aid. He also encouraged the different armed groups to join together and form a more powerful and effective resistance organisation. This they agreed to do and in December, 1960, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) was formed. The NLF, or the 'Vietcong', as the Americans were to call them, was made up of over a dozen different political and religious groups. Although the leader of the NLF, Hua Tho, was a non-Marxist, Saigon lawyer, large numbers of the movement were supporters of communism.

The strategy and tactics of the NLF were very much based on those used by Mao Zedong in China. This became known as Guerrilla Warfare. The NLF was organised into small groups of between three to ten soldiers. These groups were called cells. These cells worked together but the knowledge they had of each other was kept to the bare minimum. Therefore, when a guerrilla was captured and tortured, his confessions did not do too much damage to the NLF.

The initial objective of the NLF was to gain the support of the peasants living in the rural areas. According to Mao Zedong, the peasants were the sea in which the guerrillas needed to swim: "without the constant and active support of the peasants... failure is inevitable."

When the NLF entered a village they obeyed a strict code of behaviour. All members were issued with a series of 'directives'. These included:" (1) Not to do what is likely to damage the land and crops or spoil the houses and belongings of the people; (2) Not to insist on buying or borrowing what the people are not willing to sell or lend; (3) Never to break our word; (4) Not to do or speak what is likely to make people believe that we hold them in contempt; (5) To help them in their daily work (harvesting, fetching firewood, carrying water, sewing, etc.)."

Three months after being elected president in 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson launched Operation Rolling Thunder. The plan was to destroy the North Vietnam economy and to force her to stop helping the guerrilla fighters in the south. Bombing was also directed against territory controlled by the NLF in South Vietnam. The plan was for Operation Rolling Thunder to last for eight weeks but it lasted for the next three years. In that time, the US dropped 1 million tons of bombs on Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh died in 1969.

Hanoi the Capital of Vietnam, 8 of the 91 mil people live here."The City on Water"with more motorcycles than people. with an hour and 50 mins flight from Bangkok, but a two hours wait in the customs queue at the airport!  The Silk Path Hotel is in the Old Quaters of the city....prefectly located with a 5 mins walk to the central hub. We quickly showered and were out into the street. ....OMW....What a welcome, and even after Bangkok it is a complete mind blow, have never seen so many motorbikes and bicycles in my life, had always thought that Thailand was bad but this is crazy. There are no robots or road signs and no rules so street vendors, bicycles,motorcycles, pedestrian are all intertwined in this maze of streets where pavements are used for parking and eating. The streets are incredibly and surprisingly clean with a calmness in the chaos that cannot be explained. We ventured into a side street to find pavement restaurants and ate the most delicious roasted fresh crab with coarse salt, chilli and lemon grass. They serve greens with most dishes which is made up of coriander, basil, lemon grass leaves served with lime and course salt with dried chilli. Delicious and so cheap...a beer costs you R12....our usual gage as to how expensive a place is. Had a fairly relaxed and restful evening, so that we could head out early the next morning , which happened to only be at only 11.00 am!!

Following a map in a place like Hanoi had it's challenges...we were out looking for the Prison but landed up at the Lake where all roads lead...it seems!!! Once you've got your bearings it's fairly easy to make your way around. All roads in the Old quarter start with Hang.....which means road of....our hotel, for example was in Hang Bong, which is road of silk, .hence our hotel was called "Silk Path" and all the shops in that road were to do with silk.... And so it went on.   road of coffee, has all the coffee shops etc...eventually it got real easy to make our way around. .
A local can also make out how long a tourist has been in town depending on how he crosses the road. On our first night we stood on the road side for probably about 5 mins before attempting to cross it, waiting for a gap in the stream of motorcycles...eventually a local actually helped us across. He got out into the traffic and stopped the on coming  bikes and cars to let us cross....we quickly learnt that you cross a road with complete confidence any hesitation will get you run over, without a doubt. Pavements are also not necessarily used for pedestrians..they are all packed with parked motorcycles or vendors or plastic stools where locals will meet to have a cup of coffee, tea or a meal....try sitting and standing.from that height when you are as large as Jim and I.


We did the Hanoi Street Food Tour that evening and again tried to find our own way there...this time using Trip advisors app which allows you to use the map option without the  internet...well that was also hilarious as we real I used that we had walked past the address three times and decided to take a cycling rickshaw who so took us for a ride....literally around a block, where he bought his Lottery ticket and then brought us straight back to where we were and charged us 1million VN dollars which equates to R550.....Jim just knew that we would get ripped off and he was right!!!

Met up with the tour guides, Sie a young man and a young girl who was there training. cannot remember her name, but so.sweet and all she wanted to do was chat in either French or English. She is 22 years old and lives in a room in Hanoi old quarters with her mother, studies English and French. Se is from the country where his family lives and own a farm, his mother cycles 60kms every day to the city to sell her vegetables. He was a brilliant guide, explaining the Vietnamese culture as well as taking us to the little street vendors and amazing street food we had. From paper thin rice flour pancakes filled with pork mince and veggies, to spring rolls with phyllo pastry, to toasted baguettes filled with beef and cheese to coconut milk and veggie soup...ending with "egg"" coffee..the most delicious thick creamy coffee I ever tasted which is drank while peeling sunflower seeds...fantastic combination..

Leaving on a jet plane....via Bangkok

What a treat this has been, from Jhb to Dubai in Emirates Business class lounge where we bumped into Vincenzio, Penny and kids on their way to Dubai. Started our journey with a chauffeured pick up from home to OR Tambo airport, what a blessing not having to drive in that pouring rain. After a few glasses of Moet champagne, a light snack we took our seats in Business class not having turned left but the first seats having turned right, rows 8A&B. My first Business Class experience was introduced with another glass of Moet champagne...how much better could it get? Well, having a seat that turns into a bed sure does it for me, as well as a T V that was larger than my laptop screen and a meal to die for...I did not make dessert and was asleep in a flash. Jim got as far as the duck confit and he was gone for the night. Did manage to watch one movie..."Tracks" the story of Robyn Richardson who walked across the Australian Outback with three Ferrell Camels, and calf and her dog. Who would have thought that Australia has the largest population of Ferrell Camels in the world...even more than Arabia!!
A good solid 4 hours sleep made for a fresh and bouncy arrival in Dubai with a hour and a half cross over to the next Emirates flight to Bangkok.on the 380 Airbus again a Business class seat. The seats were less attractive than the previous flight
...individual cubicles, but real comfy bed and the highlight....the pub in the back of the  plane upstairs! Our very own party (air) bus!
Pre drinks in the pub, then managed to finish a very pleasant meal washed down again with Moet!! Could honestly get quite use to this😆
Jim had mentioned that he would sleep the first legg of our journey then party the second, which is exactly what he did. During our pre drinks we met a Canadian executive life coach, married to a Danish guy who she met in Africa and both now living in Monaco. How about that for international relations? During lunch I managed to watch another great movie.."Hector...Searching for Happiness.another must and feel good movie...it was all beginning to feel like many good and positive signs. That it was until I found Jim in the "party bus" looking rather bleary eyed and hardly standing. If anyone had found happiness...it certainly was Jim 😱!!
Needless to say that the walk off the plane, through customs and finding a taxi was rather challenging. Even tying shoe laces was quite entertaining!!!

Saw a huge improvement at Bangkok airport and all ran very smoothly until the Emirates pick up was not there to meet us. By now Jim had invaded a few peoples spaces including the two Frenchmen in the taxi queue in front of us. After telling them that I was trying to jump the queue, I had to salvage myself and tell them that I am the wife and they must please just ignore him. We got chatting and they we both from the Swiss border returning with their Thai wives to visit the family. Interesting to know that in France any immigrant has to learn French and these two ladies could barely speak the language after having been there for two years. Always said that French was not for sissies!

Got a taxi to Sukumvit, but our driver seemed a little confused and brought us to the wrong hotel...should have realised when I did not recognize a single thing and Jim was not helping by chirping all the way. He brought us the Millennium Hylton instead of the Grand Millennium...for those that ever need to know, there are two "Millennium" hotels in that  area. After a quick fresh up we were out onto Soi 4 and the famous Chequers bar...thank you Des Kimmet for the intro there from our last triip to Bangkok in 2013...we did make it back. Met some of Des's friends including Keith the truck driver from Scotland and the German beer maker from Berlin and an Aussie and American chick...and loads more who I don't remember their names (hic...hic).Got to bed at 2.45am!!! Well no need to ever mention how we felt the next morning but somehow managed to get up in time to catch out flight to Hanoi, Vietnam, where we are now.