H’mong clothing, especially the women’s, shows their hard-working character, cleverness and sense of beauty, it says.

Red is used extensively because the H’mong believe the colour is the symbol of strength, happiness and luck and also guards against evil.

Against an indigo background, the collar and sleeves of a H’Mong woman’s dress are embroidered with splendid patterns. The pleats of the skirt symbolise her native mountains, and the patterns are said to follow the ancient H’mong calligraphy. Other patterns come from nature – images of crops, domestic animals, the moon and the sun. Fabrics are also adorned with small silver beads or bells.

The H’mong grow the hemp that provides the raw material of the fabric, and raise their own silkworms for the embroidery thread. According to Vietnam’s Museum of Ethnology, H’mong girls are taught to do all these things by their mothers from the age of six or seven. The embroidery is done in their spare time in the evenings, while they are watching the buffaloes grazing or doing other farm work – which is elderly H’mong women have weak eyesight. It usually takes a month of continuous work to complete a dress, or up to six months if the girl does it only in her free time.

On the mornings of spring markets, the girls don their best clothes as they are likely to meet boys there. If a boy fancies a girl, he will edge up close to her and tear a thread or a bead off her dress. If she welcomes his attentions, she will come back to the market to meet him at night. After that a wedding may well take place, according to a report by Nguyen Duc Thinh from the Institute for Traditional Culture Research.

When the bride finally goes to the groom’s home, her wealth and social position are indicated by the quality of the dress her mother made for her. According to Dr.Thinh, this dress is a H’mong girl’s most valuable possession. She keeps it carefully and wears it for her funeral, so that her mother will be able to recognise her in the next world.

The Cham people in An Giang live mainly in Tan Chau, Phu Tan and An Phu districts in Chau Doc city, along the banks of the Chau Giang river, the second biggest town at the headwaters of the Hau river. The Cham people live and work under the creed of Islam, which is best shown in their wedding customs.

Strangers are very rarely invited to a Cham wedding. But I am a friend of a Chairwoman of the Womens Association in Chau Phong commune of Tan Chau district, so I was invited to attend the wedding of her relative. This was the first time I had attended a wedding of the Cham people and I was the only Kinh person at the wedding.

A wedding of the Cham people in An Giang lasts for three days. The bride and groom decorate their house on the first day. The rituals to prepare the groom and the bride to enter family life are held on the second day. The third day is the most important. The wedding is held in the mosque and the groom goes to the bride’s house.

Rituals for the groom in the mosque

The tea party and singing performances last until 1 a.m., and in the early morning all the people in the groom’s party are present to attend the ceremony. At 6 a.m., everyone, all dressed in formal costume, accompany the groom in traditional Cham costume to the mosque. There are only men (women are not allowed in the mosque) and three children carrying three boxes. In the boxes are betel, areca and lime in the first box, rice and salt in the second box, cakes and fruit in the third box. The groom is shaded from the sun with a colorful parasol over his head. Villagers rush to attend the ceremony and noisily discuss it. The groom is taken to the mosque on foot, not by motorbike or by car.

On the way to the mosque, flutes or drums are played and people sing together. On arrival at the mosque the groom sits opposite to the bride’s father. There are two elders, who lead a very moral life, who witness the ceremony. An imam reads from the Koran, telling the groom about the responsibilities of a husband under Islamic regulations. Then the bride’s father shakes the groom’s hand and says: “I marry my daughter, Mahriem to you, Sarol, with I tael of gold and 5 million”. After that everyone prays for the good health and happiness of the couple. The ceremony lasts for only about 15 minutes in the mosque.

Taking the groom to the bride’s house

The Cham people in An Giang follow matriarchal customs, so they take the groom to the bride’s house, instead of taking the bride to the groom’s house as the Kinh people do. From the mosque, the groom is taken to the bride’s house. Here everyone stands on the ground, then one person of the bride’s family comes to take the groom to the bride’s room.

The wedding room is beautifully decorated. There are three children holding three boxes in their hands who accompany the groom. The bride is beautifully made up and dressed in traditional costume. She sits on the bed, waiting for the groom. On entering the room, the groom sits next to the bride and places three boxes in front of her. Frankincense is burnt. The women and girls in the bride’s family pray for happiness for the newlyweds.

At this time, the groom takes one of three long haipins from the bride’s hair then puts them in her hand. This shows that the bride is now his wife. Then the groom changes into dress provided by the bride and comes out of the room to greet the bride’s family. After that, they return to the groom’s family. The bride goes with an aunt of the groom’s family to greet the relatives (the aunt come to the bride’s family before the groom gets there).

After taking the groom to the bride’s family, the groom and the groom’s family return home.

By this time, the guests are all present. The mother greets the female guests and the father greets the male guests. The guests will a sum of money to share the happiness with their family. Then everyone prays and enjoys the feast. The menu of the feast includes rice, beef and sour vegetables (onion, pickled scallion heads, ginger, red cabbage and white cabbage) and salted lemon with pepper, which is the traditional food of the Cham people who follow Islam. According to Islamic regulations, the Cham people are not allowed to drink wine. Their feast is very simple and finishes quickly, unlike the wedding feast of the Kinh people.

That evening, four female elders of the groom’s family take the groom to the bride’s house. The wedding night is spent here and is the final stage in a Cham wedding. After three days, the groom’s family brings many useful things to the newlyweds for their life together. On the next night, two women in the bride’s family go with the newlyweds to visit the groom’s parents. The parents give the bride money and jewelry. The bride’s parents also give money or jewelry, like the groom’s family. Then their life together as a married couple begins.

Tri thought of taking his ostrich meat to markets, restaurants and supermarkets. However, a two-year-old ostrich weighs more than 150kg; its skin is reserved for tanning and its meat weighs about 40kg – but he didn’t know how to deal with the remainder, so he gave the tendons, bones, heads, necks and legs to the poor people in his neighbourhood.

Then he had the idea of making ostrich noodle soup. First he tried it on his family and friends; the more they ate, the more they liked it. So he went to Saigon to open an eating house serving the dish.

Directing me to the restaurant, the xe om remarked to his friend: “Look, people come from all over to eat ostrich noodles – we are right here but have never even tasted it!” Like these two, other locals had also heard about it but were put off by the price. At VND27,000 – VND37,000, it costs half the price of a bowl of Japanese noodle soup in the city centre, and twice the price of Tau Bay noodle soup in Cho Ca-Ly Thai To, a popular address in Saigon.

Anyone who appreciates noodle soup but has never tasted this style may well ask: “What does it taste like? Surely it’s nothing like either beef or chicken”.

All they can do is go to Thien Lam 7 restaurant to try it. Like any noodle soup, a bowl of it on the table looks very attractive. Containing well-cooked ostrich fillet and tendon, it suits the Saigonese palate since it also includes fresh bean sprouts, mint and red and black bean paste.

Above all, it’s very low in fat. The broth is always clear, making it suitable for the elderly and others who have a dread of the fat invariably seen in a bowl of beef or chicken pho.
Trying to persuade the choosy Vietnamese people to try something as outlandish as this is not easy. However, if that was always true no one would ever dare to introduce a new dish – so everyone would just eat traditional noodle soup forever. Now Saigon has ostrich noodle soup, so try it!

Thien Lam 7: 54 Truong Dinh St., D.1, HCMC
Tel: (08) 822-5121

As a military base for many armies during wars over the past two centuries, Ham Ho, in the central province of Binh Dinh, is a series of springs, waterfalls, lakes, rivers and canals stretching nearly 2km along the Kut River.

The water lies between two rocky mountains coloured green with trees, some of which are enormous with along branches stretching out over the calm waters.

Gusts of wind spread the scent of wildflowers and whip up small waves that hit the sides of the boat-a strangely calming sensation.

Our boat landed at a point known as the Buffaloes’ Muddy Pond. Huge “buffaloes” of rock with backs smoothed by water flowing over and eroding them made an ideal place to have a rest after our long journey in the small boat. From the backs of the rocks we were able to admire beauty in every direction.

My friend pointed to a group of rocks in the distance. “They look like spears ready for battle”, my friend said. We walked over to Bong Trang (moon shadow) waterfall, which splashed into a pool, raising thick foam and forming a pretty rainbow.

Violets and orchids of many shades sprang from cracks in to rock and moved in the wind, making reflections in the glassy water. Smooth white boulders lay in the bright sun like giant pearls, sparkling.

The white beach glittered in the sun but its heat seemed to be tempered by the clear blue water. Schools of fish were swimming in the stream, fearlessly oblivious of the visitors who had set foot in Ham Ho for the first time.

Trekking along beside a spring whose water noisily poured down into the lake, our feet were covered by its delicious chill. We jumped into the water and then lay down on the rocky sides of the spring to let the water massage every part of our bodies.

Half-hidden in the forests of trees and rocks are stilt-houses where visitors can stop for a rest. Fish is the food speciality here; Ham Ho has a great variety. In the rainy season, fish from the Con River move upstream to lay their eggs. According to legend, fish would gather here every year to jump up the waterfall; those that succeeded would turn into dragons. That’s why it is known as Flying Fish Waterfall.

The old man who was our guide told us about another local speciality, a dish of red ants’ eggs.

As the sun went down, we set off in our wooden boat down the stream. The boatman told us a secret: “If you want to explore the beauty of Ham Ho, you should stay overnight, sleep in Eden Garden and walk on to Doc Waterfall and Trao Rock the next morning”. However, we decided to postpone that until our next visit. It would give us an excuse to return to Ham Ho.

Getting there: Travel 40km from Qui Nhon city to the town of Phong Phu in Tay Son district, Binh Dinh province. Head south-west for another 7km and you will arrive at Ham Ho.

It’s also an area of culinary delights. If you have the money you can dine in places that have menus in English and where knives and forks are as ubiquitous as chopsticks – but it’s also an epicurean cornucopia if you want to eat with the locals.

It would take a thick volume to include all the delicious, and usually cheap, Vietnamese eating places within easy walking distance, so for now I’ll choose a few spots in the immediate vicinity.

Let’s start with breakfast. Just around the corner from Quang Trung St., in Ngo Van So St., Mrs. Hoa sits next to her large basket of xoi (sticky rice). Her produce is popular and sells out quickly. One thousand dong will buy a tasty dollop but it’s so moreish that it’s better to get two. She spoons the warm sticky rice on to a banana leaf and offers to pile shredded dried pork or spiced sesame salt and crushed peanuts on top.

You can either squat on the pavement to eat it, or walk halfway down Ngo Van So St and have it with Vietnamese coffee at Xa Me coffee house, run for and by the street kids and orphans who live above it.

Coffee here is amongst the best in Hanoi and comes as a strong short black (cafe den), with ice (den da), hot with condensed milk (cafe sua), milky with ice (sua da) or, most delicious, yoghurt and ice (sua chua danh da cafe). If you’re ice phobic (as you should be in lots of Vietnamese venuse), then stick to cafe nong (hot). A good coffee will cost VND5,000 and VND5,000 more for yoghurt.

Across the road in the alley are Mrs. Sam’s and Mrs Hong’s pho bo (beef noodle soup) stalls. By 6 am both cooks are sitting beside bubling couldrons slicing fresh beef and onions. For the novice, all I can say is go, sit, watch the preparation ceremony and order a bowl. If you’re unsure about how to eat it, just do as the locals do. When you’ve finished, hand the cook VND10,000.

Truong Han Sieu St has a plethora of street sellers, both legal (those who pay a People’s Committee rental for a metre or so of pavement) and illegal (the women who wander the street with baskets on shoulder poles or the back of bikes). If you are buying from one of the latter and it’s a police hassle day, you may end up chasing your fleeing vendor to get your change. Today we could buy bananas, guavas, custard apples, longans, jackfruit, watermelon, grapefruit, oranges, dragon fruit, limes, passionfruits, peaches, persimmons, plums and pomegranates, imported grapes, apples and fuji pears… all within 50 metres. If you’re a tay (westerner) you’ll be fleeced a bit, but generally for any seasonal fruit expect to pay an inflated VND15,000 to VND20,000 a kilo.

Even if you’re not that hungry, buy a fresh, warm breal roll from the lady who trots around the streets balancing a basket nearly as big as herself on her head calling “mi nong nao” (delicious hot bread). VND1,000 is all it takes to receive the morning’s widest smile.
That’s breakfast, but there’s still lunch, dinner and a latenight snack to go. We might have to continue our neighbourhood food ramble in future issues. Mind you, our mouthwatering area is replicated in different guises and dishes throughout Hanoi.

A hawk floats over the mountains, wings stretching flat and motionless, like an airplane.

Admired from inside the four-star junk, Ha Long Bay is a field. For nearly 300 million years now, the stone mushrooms have been growing there, resisting all the destruction of typhoons and salty water; the tides have polished their feet smooth.

The mountains, legends go, are the gems spat out by fairy dragons to help Vietnamese people prevent the progress of the enemy’s boats. Today, after 4,000 years of the nation’s history, the gems are still here, but just to attract million after million of tourists. According to the figure released by Quang Ninh Trade and Tourism Department, with in the first six months of this year, the province has welcomed above 2 million tourists, twice the local population. Obviously, Ha Long Bay, twice recognized by UNESCO as the World’s Heritage, is the main attraction.

One thousand nine hundred and sixty nine islands depict life in 1969 different ways. On the immense smoothness of the sea, the cock and the hen on Trong Mai Island are still nuzzling each other; the two beaks still in contact. The human head on Dau Nguoi Island is looking toward to Ha Long City, like an exile missing his father land. A dragon is hovering in the shape of Rong Island. And from Canh Buon Island a sail is unfurling.

There was a rumour that pollution from coalmines, destruction of mangrove forest for aquaculture, tourism and domestic sewage would deprive Ha Long of its UNESCO-given title of World Heritage Site, but this has not happened.

Ha Long presents a bay without condoms, cigarette ends and candy wrappings stuck in the rocks. If someone reports to the bay management board that any passenger on our cruise litters the bay, we’ll be sacked, Truong, the cook on Indochina Sails, says. “An advantage of working on board is free cruises and the pure air. No traffic jams, no dust”, the 23-year-old man adds, smiling.
The Indochina Sails drags the anchor along on the seabed. The jungles on the mountainsides are also moving. Some approach while some recede.

The Indochina Sails drags the anchor along on the seabed. The jungles on the mountainsides are also moving. Some approach while some recede.

Cua Van fishing village is a complex of about 200 green boathouses hidden in a wind-tight gulf. On the floating yards, a baby has crawled to the water’s edge; two teenagers are bending down, getting the shipworms out of the nets, preparing for the next fishing session when night comes; the men are fixing the bamboo frame of a squid trap. An elderly woman sits grazing at the sea…These people are the human values, adding to the picture of the sky, the mountains, and the water of Ha Long Bay. They are descendants and continuance of the ancient Vietnamese of Ha Long Culture, from more than 4,500 years ago.

Two floating schools are the great revolution brought to the villagers who for thousand of generations have been illiterate.

Inside the cultural centre, youngsters are playing cards, laughing loudly. Recruited to work in tourism, they have lost the dark-brown complexion of their fishing fellows. Completed in 2006 as an effort to promote tourism, the fishing cultural centre offers almost nothing but craft products produced on the mainland.

Surrounding the floating village, mountains spring up. Reflecting against the sky, the heaving peaks look like a big waves rushing from the horizon. At the foot of the mountains, juvenile needlefish, tails blossoming, mouths long and pointed, drift cheerfully, nibbling at the surface.

At the strait, something is moving. A villager in a conical hat appears on the little wooden boat, smiling. The ivory teeth blossom between the dark-brown, wrinkled cheeks of a fishing woman.
The stone steps lead to the wonder of La Grotte des Surprises. From the ceiling, stalactites drip down, abundant and magnificent. On the ground, stalagmites grow up, undaunted and resplendent. Before creating the world, perhaps God had made a model here, in this cave. From a round base, a long chunk of rock shoots up. The tour guide tells the tourists, “Does it look like an index finger?” And then with a wink he turns to the person next to him, whispering, “Sorry, but people say it resembles a penis”. On a shrine, a mother embracing a child tells of the Napoleon legend. A turtle plods with the head raised up; a lion rests on a stone base. As if to suit the world of stone life, thousands of bats sticking on the ceiling also stay motionless.

When the tourists return from Soy Sim Beach, the buffet on the deck is ready. On the grill, chicken wings, pork ribs, beef are dripping down drops of fat, sending out a fat aroma, and a shriveling sound. The oysters are opening their shells, showing the white, delicious meat; pieces of corn and tomato are turning brown, inviting.

Twilight gathers the last remnants of light. In a moment, the bay becomes a mysterious jungle with numerous stone creatures appearing from the nearly 2,000 rocky islands.

Then the first stars appear, piercing stillness of the evening sky, twinkling like a million diamond points of light. From the ocean, wind comes up, blowing the clouds into the mainland.

The traditional music session is the last course of the dinner on deck. The tourists go to bed, lulled by the sea wind hissing and the waves rocking.

Nature has regained its sovereign. The stars get brighter; the clouds turn drifting over the masts like thousands of huge jellyfish. Some shooting stars dash from the west to the east, falling behind the mountains.

Even the mountains have gone to sleep at the lullaby of the sea. From that interminability of the night, some fishing boats run by. Their engines chug for a while before falling into the dead silence. Their yellow lamps flicker, like fireflies on the surface.

Further, at the sea mouths, the squid-fishing ships are lit up. The squid, lured by the light, gather around the nimbuses, to be caught by an electric net. If squid from Nha Trang Bay are favoured for their large size, those from Ha Long Bay are preferred for their taste.

There is a long howl as if some monkey on Monkey Island is calling its mate.

The breeze gets stronger.

From the rim of the dark mountains, a slender, golden crescent rises up, glistening. And clouds are like a massive herd of animals sliding by the last-quarter moon. In one moment it is a tailless bear, in another moment it is a five-leg dog.

Crowding around the junk, mountains are still silent, sacred as if they are the souls being fossilized since the Neolithic Ha Long Culture 50 centuries ago.

Shaped like an elongated S, Vietnam stretches the length of the Indochinese Peninsula and covers a surface area of 128,000 square miles–making it roughly the size of Italy or, in the U.S., New Mexico. China lies to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the east.

Topographically, Vietnam is a verdant tapestry of soaring mountains, fertile deltas, primeval forests inhabited by exotic fauna, sinuous rivers, mysterious caves, otherworldly rock formations, and heavenly waterfalls and beaches. Beyond nature, the curious and open-minded visitor will find in Vietnam a feast of culture and history.

For convenience, the country can be thought of as comprising three unique areas: north, central, and south. The north is known for its alpine peaks, the Red River Delta, the plains of Cao Bang and Vinh Yen, enchanting Halong Bay, and historic Hanoi, as well as for the diversity of its ethnolinguistic minorities.

Central Vietnam, also home to many ethnic minorities, is characterized by high temperate plateaus rich in volcanic soil and by spectacular beaches, dunes, and lagoons. It is also the location of the ancient imperial city of Hue. In the South, visitors encounter modern life in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and the fertile alluvial delta of the Mekong River. Vietnam’s territory also encompasses a large continental shelf and thousands of archipelagic islands.

Vietnam’s climate is as complex as its topography. Although the country lies entirely within the tropics, its diverse range of latitude, altitude, and weather patterns produces enormous climatic variation. North Vietnam, like China, has two basic seasons: a cold, humid winter from November to April, and a warm, wet summer for the remainder of the year. Summer temperatures average around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (about 22 C), with occasional typhoons to keep things exciting. The northern provinces of Central Vietnam share the climate of the North, while the southern provinces share the tropical weather of the South. South Vietnam is generally warm, the hottest months being March through May, when temperatures rise into the mid-90’s (low-30’s C). This is also the dry season in the south, followed by the April-October monsoon season.

History

Legend has it that Vietnam’s origin lay in the harmonious union of lac Long Quan, King of the Sea, and Au Co, Princess of the Mountains. Real life was not so paradisical, as Vietnam’s early history–like its recent history–is characterized by a nearly continuous struggle for autonomy. First came an entire millenium of Chinese domination, which was finally thrown off in the 9th century. External control was imposed once again in the 19th century, when Vietnam was occupied by the French.

French rule lasted until WWII, when the country was invaded by Japan. At the war’s end the predominantly Communist Viet Minh, which had led the resistance movement against the Japanese, declared the country’s independence. The French Indochina War ensued, until France admitted defeat in 1954, and the Geneva Accords left Vietnam divided into a Communist north and an anti-Communist south. By this time the U.S. had replaced the French as the primary sponsor of the anti-Communist government. Tension between north and south mounted over the next few years, until in 1964 full scale war erupted. The conflict lasted for the next eight years, and involved hundreds of thousands of troops from the U.S. and other countries. In 1973, after the cease-fire agreement being signed, the U.S. withdrawed its troops, and in 1975 the southern capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. An extended period of political repression followed, prompting massive emigration from the country. In 1991, with the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War, many western powers re-established diplomatic and trade relations with Vietnam. The last country to do so, in 1995, was the U.S.

Vietnamese Culture

The richness of Vietnam’s origins is evident throughout its culture. Spiritual life in Vietnam is a grand panoply of belief systems, including Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Tam Giao (literally ‘triple religion’), which is a blend of Taoism, popular Chinese beliefs, and ancient Vietnamese animism.

The most important festival of the year is Tet, a week-long event in late January or early February that heralds the new lunar year and the advent of spring. Celebration consists of both raucous festivity (fireworks, drums, gongs) and quiet meditation. In addition to Tet, there are about twenty other traditional and religious festivals each year.

Vietnamese architecture expresses a graceful aesthetic of natural balance and harmony that is evident in any of the country’s vast numbers of historic temples and monasteries. The pre-eminent architectural form is the pagoda, a tower comprised of a series of stepped pyramidal structures and frequently adorned with lavish carvings and painted ornamentation. Generally speaking, the pagoda form symbolizes the human desire to bridge the gap between the constraints of earthly existence and the perfection of heavenly forces. Pagodas are found in every province of Vietnam. One of the most treasured is the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue, founded in 1601 and completed more than two hundred years later. In North Vietnam, the pagodas that serve as the shrines and temples of the Son La mountains are especially worth visiting. In South Vietnam, the Giac Lam Pagoda of Ho Chi Minh City is considered to be the city’s oldest and is notable as well for its many richly-carved jackwood statues.

As a language, Vietnamese is exceptionally flexible and lyrical, and poetry plays a strong role in both literature and the performing arts. Folk art, which flourished before French colonization, has experienced a resurgence in beautiful woodcuts, village painting, and block printing. Vietnamese lacquer art, another traditional medium, is commonly held to be the most original and sophisticated in the world. Music, dance, and puppetry, including the uniquely Vietnamese water puppetry, are also mainstays of the country’s culture.

Although rice is the foundation of the Vietnamese diet, the country’s cuisine is anything but bland. Deeply influenced by the national cuisines of France, China, and Thailand, Vietnamese cooking is highly innovative and makes extensive use of fresh herbs, including lemon grass, basil, coriander, parsley, laksa leaf, lime, and chili. Soup is served at almost every meal, and snacks include spring rolls and rice pancakes. The national condiment is nuoc mam, a piquant fermented fish sauce served with every meal. Indigenous tropical fruits include bananas, pineapples, coconuts, lychees, melons, mandarin oranges, grapes, and exotic varieties like the three-seeded cherry and the green dragon fruit.

People

Today there are about 75 million people in Vietnam. Eighty percent of these are ethnic Kinh, while the remaining twenty percent comprises more than fifty separate ethnic groups. About seven million of these ethnic minorities are members of the hill tribes or montagnards (French for mountain people), making their homes and livelihoods in the spectacular mountains of the north and central highlands.