Hanoi, Vietnam (2)

The modern history of Vietnam is very complicated. But here goes.

The Spanish may have colonised Central and South America, but it was the French who colonised south-east Asia. French Catholic missionaries arrived in the 1600s; as time went on, feuding Vietnamese clans sought French military help and the French presence grew and grew. In 1885, Hanoi fell to the French, and Vietnam (or more accurately, French Indochina which included Laos and Cambodia as well as Vietnam) was under French rule.

This is the palace that was built in 1906 to house the French governor-general — in a very European style. Today it's the official residence of Vietnam's president, although no one lives there. It's used for government meetings.

The Hanoi Opera House was built in the early 1900s, modelled on one of Paris's opera houses. It can be admired from outside but is not open to la populace (aka the hoi-polloi) for sightseeing. Another French construction is Saint Joseph's Cathedral, which the French built to commemorate their victory over Hanoi in 1882. They demolished a pagoda that was standing here, which is not exactly an action designed to win over hearts and minds, right?

The French might have introduced neoclassical architecture and some delicious foods to Vietnam, but the Vietnamese kings had little, if any, power under colonial rule. Independence and nationalist movements bubbled away for decades.

The most famous revolutionary leader was Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh was a Communist-leaning organisation that encouraged ordinary people to overthrow the French. Think of Ho Chi Minh as Vietnam's Mandela. Uncle Ho, as he is known, is loved and honoured throughout the country. It's the 70th anniversary next week of ... oh wait, you'd better keep reading.

In 1939 World War II broke out, and France had bigger problems on its own doorstep. While France was diverted by events in Europe, a powerful Japan took control of Vietnam in 1941. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Viet Minh — in the person of Ho Chi Minh — seized the day and declared Vietnam's independence. Everyone (locally) celebrated.

Non, non, mais non! said France. Tu es à nous! For almost the next ten years, France and the Vietnamese people battled it out. Around 800,000 soldiers and 400,000 civilians died during the French Indochina war.

Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi was originally used by the French to imprison political prisoners.

Hoa Lo was built on the site of an old ceramic-making village ... pottery gave way to Madame Guillotine. The exhibits in Hoa Lo Prison demonstrate France treating the local population very badly.

The museum also contrasts the way in which French prisoners of war were treated by the Vietnamese. The French prisoners had access to decent food, doctors, recreational activities and they even celebrated Christmas. It was a country club by comparison!

Is it all objectively true? It's probably (like most museums) a little selective. Is it victors' history? Of course it is. But I thought it was well done.

Finally the French were defeated in the battle of Dien Bien Phu and in 1954, Vietnam was split into two countries (North Vietnam and South Vietnam). The Viet Minh — with Ho Chi Minh as president — controlled North Vietnam above the 17th parallel (the demilitarised zone, or DMZ).

The north was communist; the south was anti-communist. This was the 1950s, and the Cold War was in full swing. It played out in Vietnam. North Vietnam wanted to unify the country under a communist government supported by China and the Soviet Union; South Vietnam wanted to retain ties with the West. The USA feared the spread of communism so (a) funded South Vietnam's new government, (b) sent in the CIA with their cunning tricks and (c) brought in more and more military advisors. In 1964 the US brought in active combat units and started air bombing of the north. By 1969 there were 500,000 US soldiers in Vietnam.

Hoa Lo Prison was still in business. Now the North Vietnamese (the Viet Minh) were using it to hold captured American soldiers, including the many US pilots who were shot down over Hanoi. American pilots called it the Hanoi Hilton. John McCain was one of the most famous prisoners. This is the flying suit he was wearing when he bailed out of his damaged B52 and landed in a Hanoi lake. The silvery fabric is a fragment from the covering of a B52 bomber.

It goes without saying that the US lost the war to the North and the Viet Cong. In 1973 the US withdrew, tail between its legs, and in 1975 the South fell completely. Almost 2 million civilians were killed in the American War, as it's called in Vietnam. Vietnam might have been victorious militarily, but agriculture and industry were disrupted, its countryside was bombed and poisoned, land mines littered the landscape, and cities and towns were damaged. I admire the recovery and resilience of the population.

This is the memorial garden at the prison. It's a fairly brutal wall, no?

Uncle Ho died at 79 in 1969, so he never saw the end of the American War. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is his final resting place; the mausoleum is similar to Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow and has been open in Hanoi since 1975. His body is preserved here (against his wishes, apparently — he wanted to be cremated) in a glass case. Uncle Ho's remains are sent to Russia 'for maintenance' every year (and no doubt a cosy chat with Comrade Lenin in their Embalming Club). Fortunately he was back in residence in Hanoi so we could see him.

It's a very solemn, silent procession for the literally thousands of people who visit every week. No bare shoulders, knees or hats. No phones or cameras. No photos are allowed. We walked into the mausoleum in single file and reached the body, which looked quite waxy. We were not allowed to linger. We had to keep walking briskly around the cool, dark chamber in which he lies.

Apart from tourists, local people visit the mausoleum on holidays and important Vietnamese anniversaries. Here we are in Ba Dinh Square outside the mausoleum.

Uncle Ho's house was a simple, modest affair. He refused to live in anything grand, so spent his last days in this little house on a lake. He entertained other heads of state in his lounge room and very reluctantly accepted the gift of a car from the Soviet Union. No, I am not commenting on the quality of Russian automotive engineering in the 1960s. Uncle Ho simply wanted to live simply.

The One Pillar Pagoda next to the mausoleum was a nice change of scene. The pagoda on top of the pole (pillar) represents a lotus flower; the yellow fruit offering at the shrine is called Buddha's hand because it looks like, well, fingers. It's pretty but inedible. Also very pretty were all the bonsai trees wherever we went!

All this touristing made us very hungry, and Vietnam is certainly a wonderful place to be hungry. Our food tour guide Sarah (with an H) took us into little alleys, up stairs and down lanes, and like obedient sheep (two Australians, three South Africans, two Germans, two Americans) we followed our leader into culinary heaven. I'll just say two words: egg coffee. EGG COFFEE. It's a Hanoi specialty and it's wonderful. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Next we visit Ha Long Bay, and spend a night on an Indochina junk.

Postscript

This summary of Vietnam's modrn history (below) comes from the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. I'm including it here as it presents the key events through a Vietnamese lens.