Our society ran an annual tour to China for many years, and in some years had two. Covid put a temporary stop to that. However, now that the pandemic is over…. this March and April, our society had a 24 day tour of Vietnam and China, which included nine days in Tibet; the first to China since 2019.
The tour itinerary was planned and led by our immediate previous National President Dave Bromwich, in conjunction with China-based Wang Fang; they have worked closely on our society tours for about 13 years; very experienced and a good team. There were 20 people on the tour, from as far and near as Whangarei and Dunedin and everything in between, including Christchurch branch members Graeme and Gwynneth Tinkler and Dave Adamson.
This article, on the Vietnam part of the tour, will be the first of three over the next three months; September’s will be on China and October’s will focus on the Tibet portion of the tour.
We all met up at Auckland airport. Some of us knew each other, some didn’t, so there was the usual slight reserve and reticence and polite conversation. However, it didn’t take too long for us all to start chatting away and breaking the ice.
Once we reached Hanoi airport we quickly got our luggage, went through customs and were met by our local guide and Wang Fang, who would be with us for the full length of the tour; it was like meeting an old friend; she’s a real gem. From there it was off into the bustling city for a bowl of noodles; delicious.
The first day we all went to a money machine and got out some Vietnamese Dong; the conversion rate was 15,000 Dong to the NZ$; wow, I felt wealthy! We then spent two days on a whirlwind of visiting the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (where I got told off for walking where I shouldn’t!), the Hoa Lo war museum, known during the Vietnam War as the Hanoi Hilton, a very sobering visit; it was interesting to read the captions with the photos, which not surprisingly gave a different slant to what we in the West were told at the time. I found it almost a little surreal to be there as a Westerner.
From there we went to the Tran Quac pagoda on an island in Hanoi’s West Lake, and then on to the Temple of Literature. This was all topped off with the water puppet festival, which was a very fascinating thing to watch (how do they do some of these things??).
The next day we travelled by coach and ferry to Cat Ba Island. We were taken to a secret bombproof hospital which the North Vietnamese had built inside a cave (and what a scramble up to the entrance!) during the Vietnam War. It was certainly a sobering experience, imagining what it must have been like for both wounded soldiers and medical staff.
This was followed by kayaking in Ha Long Bay. Those who did not wish to do this could go in a punt – where all the work was done for you! From there it was back to Viet Hai village to cycle along the village paths and see the traditional Vietnamese bamboo houses.
We then went back to Hanoi for a night. Next morning we travelled through the Red River delta to Sapa and visited ethnic minority villages. By this time, we were all getting to know each other better, and I realised it was a very eclectic mix of interesting and well-travelled people – quite frankly, if someone had said they had been to the moon I wouldn’t have been all that surprised! It was the start of many Interesting conversations.
Next day we travelled to the Vietnam – China border to Hekou. A crucial gateway between China and Vietnam, it is adjacent to the Red River – and so started the China part of the adventure. That’s for the September story.
A final Vietnam observation – the people are friendly and it’s sad to think of what they have been through, but oh boy, they certainly need to do something about the littering; we were all shocked.
Story: Dave Adamson Photos: Graeme Tinkler
