Hong Kong, Vietnam Thailand

Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong in the early afternoon and took the airport train to Kowloon and transferred to our hotel. We set off on foot for afternoon tea nearby at the famous Peninsular Hotel. It has prime position for its view over Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island and is an iconic reminder of the grandeur of the British colonisation of HKG.

Hong Kong Island

Much has changed since its construction in the 1800s – including further reclamation of the Harbour allowing the construction of more buildings including the arts and convention centre which now obscure much of the view from The Peninsular!

But the traditions of afternoon tea have not altered and we enjoyed a very pleasant few hours under the high vaulted ceilings of the dining area being served very graciously.

Leaving Hong Kong

Cruising

Early on the next morning we happened to notice the Silver Wind gliding past our window to dock at the Kowloon cruise port. We boarded early afternoon and remembered that this was the ship in which we had sailed from Italy down the Croatian coast two years previously. Some of the staff were also familiar and offer really superb and thoughtful service.

The Silver Wind

One small example probably illustrates the point. In the main restaurant we noticed a cabinet near the door which housed about a dozen pairs of spectacles. These were in case guests forgot to bring theirs to the dining room! They were also categorised in various magnifications to meet the specific needs of the forgetful guest. We also noticed in or room that ship stationery was pre-printed with our names.

With only 300 passengers, the ship is nevertheless spacious and caters very well to the target demographic of 45+. When going through the check in procedure we were surprised to meet an Australian crew member aged in her mid 20’s. She said she came from Mt Druitt and she was a singer in the small, outstanding entertainment troupe. The crew is multi-cultural to say the least and the usual employment arrangement is a renewable contract for 4-5 months followed by a month or two off.

We attended a reception where the ship’s senior officers were introduced:

Captain – Italian

Hotel Manager-Italian

Chief Engineer-Ukraine

HR Manager- Brazil

Doctor  - Croatia

Finance Manager/Bursar – Poland

Sales Manager - Czech Republic

Cruise Director- Scotland 

Pirates

One little piece of data that had not appeared in any of the website or booking material was that our route would expose us to the ‘very small risk’ of piracy! The detailed notice we found in our room advised us to follow instructions if the ship was boarded and also suggested that all curtains be closed at night to prevent light attracting attention. I would have thought the ship’s own lights would have made it hard not to notice at night!

This information did not cause us any concern as it also indicated that the ship was pretty fast and would outrun most pirate vessels.

But I imagine this still might have made some passengers a bit anxious.

Pool Deck

Fellow Travellers

Perhaps because of the age demographic we invariably meet some interesting people on this cruise line.

Within a few days we met Terry who is now in Qatar leading the construction engineering of their new subway rail system. He had previously worked on rail projects in Hong Kong, Dubai and even Sydney’s Airport link project (which he admits that everyone knew from day one was not economically viable!).

David who, after a long career in British Airways, led the start-up of the discount airline Fly Dubai based in Dubai.

Then we met Jack, a Scotsman now living in Malta, who had retired from the role of CFO of Rothmans International about 12 years previously. It turns out that quite a number of my Australian executive colleagues at Rothmans in Granville back in 1978 had gone on to international roles based in the UK-and Jack knew most of them!

David from El Salvador had apparently been the negotiator who facilitated the transition to power of the rebels in El Salvador in the early 1990’s.

Mai was a Chinese lady travelling with her middle aged daughter. She had left China in 1962 during the cultural revolution and had lived most of her life in Paris as a concert pianist and returned to Shanghai four years ago.

At trivia competitions we generally stay with the same group and have fun with the banter and breadth of interests of people with very diverse backgrounds.

Vietnam

Halong Bay Bridge

Vietnam is a long, narrow, mountainous country bounded by the sea on the east, China to the north and Laos and Cambodia to the west. The country is approximately 2,000 km north to south and is between 150 km and 350 km wide. It has a temperate climate in the north and a tropical climate in the south.

Its  history is built around the various ethnic groups in the peninsular including Khmer, Lao, and about 40 sub-groups who live in modern Vietnam. It was occupied by the Chinese for over 1,000 years to about 1100 and the French for 100 years to 1954. Various other powers have also occupied or colonised the country. The American War from 1962 – 1975 (Vietnam War) was essentially an internal power struggle or civil war where the US backed the south and Russia/China backed the north.

The cruise itinerary was to travel down the coast of Vietnam and it took a day at sea from Hong Kong before we made our first port at Halong Bay. The bay is unusual in that over 2,000 limestone outcrops are dotted around the bay in a veritable forest of stone.

Navigation is hazardous and dredging is necessary to keep channels operational. This port is the closest sea port to Hanoi the capital.

Halong Bay

As we cruised around the bay in a local ferry we were approached by smaller craft which latched to ours and they tried to sell fresh fruit and market products to the tourists.

Fresh Fruit Vendor attaches to moving Ferry

My brother, Gerard, lived with his family in Hanoi for a few years about a decade ago. He had been surprised to find that the school curriculum followed the French system closely.

Average income in Vietnam is USD 40 per week and until recently investment capital has not been attracted due to negative perceptions and regulations enforced by the communist government. There are signs that economic reality is hitting home and the government is softening its stance. Countries like Korea and Japan are now investing and, with living standards and labour costs rising in China, Vietnam’s 90 million population offer an alternative opportunity for cheap labour for volume manufacturing along with established agricultural and tourism industries. Vietnam is the world's second largest producer of both rice and coffee beans.

Most of the population seem to ride motor cycles and we often saw two adults and two children scooting past on the one motor cycle. They vastly outnumber cars.

Saigon Traffic Scene

Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a resort town with a beautiful long beach and protected harbour. It has a number of new resorts and Russians appeared as a large proportion of the tourist population. It was also the venue of Kerry and Matias’ Vietnamese honeymoon.

Marble Sculptures – Marble Mountain Chan May

  

Chan May

From the port of Chan May we joined a tour to Hoi An - an ancient town about 4 km from the coast along the Hoai River.

In the 16^th and 17^th century it served as a major trading hub for Dutch, Chinese, Indian and Japanese traders and hosted what we now call trade fairs for 3 months annually.

Visitors to Canton (Guangzhou) in China and Hanover in Germany would be familiar with the large emporiums and exhibition centres for modern trade fairs – and in this village that was very much the approach albeit 500 years ago.

It really is remarkable given the limited communications methods of the day that such regular international gatherings were possible. The Japanese at the time ‘donated’ a ceremonial bridge which is now nearly five hundred years old – and even today are playing a significant role in funding infrastructure improvement in Vietnam.

Japan Bridge 1600’s Hoi An

One industry that remains active is silk weaving. We inspected a mill where the silkworms were at various stages of their life cycle and we saw how the ‘yarn’ was woven and some remarkable works of art made from silk.

East meets West

Women, in particular, wear coverings on their hands, face and arms while riding motor scooters. It is tempting to think that this is an anti-pollution measure but in fact the Vietnamese women wish to avoid tanning as that would associate them with the rural types whose skin is darker due to ethnicity and agricultural exposure to the sun. They wish to keep white skin such as they see in advertising and films originating in the west!

It is an interesting paradox that white skinned western women seek to tan - often to the extent of frequenting tanning studios!

Saigon

The locals prefer the old name of Saigon rather than Ho Chi Minh City and while the environment seems stable one has to wonder about how many of the locals feel about their political fortunes.

The city had several landmarks that resonated with me including - the US embassy building from which the last of the escapees left Saigon via helicopter as the city fell to the Viet Cong in 1975; the Rex Hotel where many western journalists gathered for gossip and intelligence during the Vietnam War.

Perhaps due to the freedom of a captive western audience, our tour guide was quite expansive on the topic of life in Vietnam. He has a good life due to his earnings as a bi lingual guide and his wife’s income as a teacher. But regulation and intrusion upon day to day life by the government and its instruments remains unhelpful and unwelcome – at least for some.

Anyone who can afford it prefers to have their children undertake tertiary studies off shore - and several Australian universities have local campuses in Vietnam which are well regarded and patronised.

The state does not provide the basics that are often touted by socialist proponents of collectivism. Education standards are uneven and under-funded. Health services are also uneven – but improving.

Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of coffee and a major producer of tea. It is the second largest producer of rice after Thailand. These strategically important crops combined with serious offshore reserves bode well for the future.

My abiding impression is that Vietnam is a decade or two behind China in terms of economic and political development. Its population of 90 million is a powerful resource. If they can manage to restrict the affliction of endemic corruption which seems to permeate much of Asia one could be optimistic in a short time frame that life would improve for most. Certainly the government is adopting a more western style of economic policy.

While a limited sample, all the Vietnamese I have met in Australia have been incredibly hard working and committed to bettering their circumstances. This also appeared to be the case among many in Vietnam.

There appears to be little or no resentment (at least outwardly) to Americans or Australians who only 40 years ago wreaked such havoc upon the people and the landscape of this country. There appears to be a genuine view about focusing only on the future rather than dwelling upon the past.

Perhaps our economic security gives us the luxury of reflecting on the past - perhaps it is less of a concern in Vietnam because more than 65% of the population were born post that particular war.

Cu Chi Tunnels

The Viet Cong during the Vietnam War effectively managed to defeat the US - one of the mightiest military capabilities that the world had ever seen.

There are many reasons for this outcome but among the tactical reasons were the ingenuity of the local people in dealing with initially their French colonialists and then their American invaders.

Entering the tunnels- lowering the lid to disguise entry

About 30 km outside Saigon a network of tunnels extending over 200 km were dug and inhabited by on average 16,000 people. The occupants mounted raids and evaded capture as they escaped to this network – which remained unknown to the enemy who were perplexed at their inability to track and capture raiding parties.

The design was clever and even if a tunnel was discovered there were many means of closing off access once it had been entered. Booby traps were horrific yet simple. They were designed to terrorise whole companies of soldiers who would see what had silently befallen a comrade.

Part of this complex has been converted to a fascinating tourist destination. The visitor gains an insight to the scale of the complex and how life was conducted underground.

One interesting fact was that there was never a master plan or map of the complex. The idea was that if someone was caught and arrested they would at best only have a partial knowledge of the tunnel system and access points. Despite bombing (B 52s), napalm and massive artillery attack the tunnels remained unaffected. Some of the plans to avoid detection were ingenious and utterly frustrated the American forces who had ultimately figured out that there was a massive hidden army in the area.

Singapore

At the conclusion of the cruise, we spent a day in Singapore en route to Koh Samui in Thailand.

It had been over ten years since my previous visit and we were there in the last days of the life of Lee Kwan Yew - the founder of this remarkable city state. The contrast with Vietnam could not have been starker – infrastructure, education and commercialism along with an excellent maritime location have combined to deliver a gleaming and orderly metropolis.

This has been achieved at some price to civil liberties - and deprivation and often bankruptcy to political opponents of the Founder.

What seems to distinguish LKW from other dictators is that he genuinely sought to further the interests of his people/state whereas many of his ilk descend into self-interest usually at the expense of their people - sometimes through delusion and often through intent.

For now, the population at large has been a beneficiary of the efforts of this visionary leader – I think the real challenges for Singapore lie ahead with an ageing population and its very cautious approach to immigration.

Thailand

We had never been to Thailand previously – except as a transit point en route to Europe.

It is now managed by the military although the king retains his semi deity status. We flew direct to a resort at Koh Samui which is an island in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a small island and the eastern side comprises Chaweng Beach and Lamai Beach. Both are lined by high quality resorts which sit adjacent to each other.

The local people are very gentle and welcoming – and are attuned to the tourist dollar!

Telephone wires – Chaweng Beach

Nevertheless, high quality food, lodging and service is on offer at very reasonable process compared to first world economies. All this and the blessing of a tropical climate and gorgeous flora.

Little wonder that it is a popular destination in particular for tourists from England, Germany and Scandinavia.

I hope that it somehow maintains its current vibe or feel – but I suspect that the opportunity to develop resorts at further areas of the coast will prove irresistible.

Tourist at Koh Samui

Liberalism

Thailand offers many of the contrasts that westerners come to expect of the exotic east.

Although a seemingly conservative society, there appears to be a warm tolerance of transgender and homosexual lifestyles. This was very apparent among the tourist population we encountered - and among the local staff who served us.

Each night in Koh Samui there were cabarets in several venues featuring 'Ladyboys'. On our last evening there was a Thai Kick Boxing tournament which was heavily promoted. 

It seems such a vicious sport and in severe contrast with the placid, peaceful milieu in which the community leaves. Perhaps our football codes appear that way to Thais?