We arrived in Ha Noi on the 26th December and did not like it. The comparison between Cambodia's personality and that of North Vietnam was too great. Red flags with large golden stars symbolise the regime that was once very cruel, so vicious that tens of thousands took to unseaworthy boats to escape Uncle Ho's simplistic lifestyle philosophy which stripped assets and individualities from the citizens.
We met a Vietnamese woman visiting from her new country, Australia. She'd come back to see relatives who had not escaped. As she described the time she remembered as a child, she began to weep. Unlike Cambodia, where stories of Pol Pot's cruelty and partial genocide are available everywhere, North Vietnam does not allow its citizens in literature to discuss the early days.
But human nature, being selfish and competitive, began to find ways to disobey the doctrines of Uncle Ho (and the Chinese are genetically inclined to act commercially, secretively and ensure their own best interests). Socialism, I would suggest, will die out in Vietnam in time. There is just too much going against it.
Tourists are bringing in the sought-after dollars. Prospects of trade bring in more. This has unbalanced the Communist philosophy of equality and sharing. Like other countries in South-east Asia, the populace has learned how to grab those dollars. It was explained tonight by a Vietnamese university student that the austere and reserved Vietnamese personality shies away from revealing any emotion to Westerners. Yet we have found that once you are trusted to perhaps see their side, they will talk and explain their position, occasionally touching us on our arm in tentative ways, as if it is completely wrong to engage physically with us. Once we respect their background, or in the words of someone more modern - knowing where they're coming from - the Vietnamese become noticeably very sweet people, generous, intelligent, communal and hard-working.
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We've been in Ha Long Bay for two days. One thousand, nine hundred and sixty nine separate grey rock formations slumber in the sea not far from the mainland, 190 kms east of Ha Noi. Some of these formations are sheer vertical cliffs, hundreds of metres high. A few are large islands where roads have been built, but the overwhelming majority are fascinating geological formations, nearly all with trees clinging where possible.
Just like those faintly abstract Chinese paintings that show pine trees impossibly adhering to rock, these 1,969 formations prove such beauty exists. We cruised past them in our tourist boat, eating lunch, sleeping on board, motoring almost silently past them as we wove a path, our 23-year old skipper lounging in his Chinese hut wheelhouse, looking like any other kid in the streets of Ha Noi in his American windcheater and jeans.
On board, we met three young Muslim university students from Singapore. Hazi, Matt and Aly are credits to their faith and country, for they conducted themselves without flaw in the two days we spent with them. Aly is half Chinese, half Indian and he looks like a Thai film star. Matt has the widest and whitest smile I've ever seen and such a warm personality. Their friend, Hazi, does not wear the Muslim veil, but is strict in her beliefs and, at 19, is treated as the kid sister. They made our time on board very happy and our homes are theirs if they come to visit.
We also met a Californian woman, a biologist aged 30, who has travelled the world for 10 years. Her philosophy was interesting - self-reliance but allowing for personal attachments. There was a 23-year old radiographer from Melbourne, her boyfriend; a French film-maker and her partner; university students from French Canada; an Irish teacher of English in Korea and her friend; and Maarten and his friend. Maarten, from Holland, is well-travelled and exceptionally streetsmart although his happiest times are trekking, well away from civilisation. We welcome them to the Sunshine Coast when they pass through Australia. Being with these people on our highly polished old boat was like living on the finest foods in luxury for two days but in truth, the food was cafe quality and the bunks were rough. However, the people, coupled with the majesty of Ha Long Bay gliding past us, gave us a happiness too hard to describe. Maybe Cambodia has met its match.
