The Former French Indo-China

The former French Indochina June 19th

After a few days in Bangkok, indulging in beer, pad thai and all the indulgences that make Thailand the tourist haven it is I was ready to embark on my journey to meet my close friend Alisha ona journey through a country very misunderstood by our part of the world.

Vietnam is heavily covered in our modern cinema. Movies, documentaries and books covering the American involvement in the war there, which was not long ago at all have painted a picture in my mind as to what Vietnam was and may be today. I was wondering what they would think of myself, as my accent and appearance resembles that of USA marine. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Many people I spoke to discussed their distaste for how aggressive the Vietnamese are when it comes to tourism, seeking to rip people off left right and centre. Although after being in India and Bangladesh I found travelling in this region to be a blissful breeze. I visited the museums of Hanoi before heading south to Hoi An to meet the gals. I saw the pictures of the French occupation and hints of communist Vietnam everywhere. Ho Chi Minh is essentially a god according to the propaganda found throughout the capital.

I arrived in Hoi An and could not have been more relaxed. I chilled with the gals, drinking 20 cent beers and hearing about their experiences across the far north of Vietnam. We parted ways from our group of four, as Stacey and Carly had other ventures to tackle and me and Alisha took a break to the far south to chill on the beach and soak up the former French hill station of Dalat.

The south of Vietnam was sooooooo chill. We drank wine, produced locally, dined in the markets on fresh seafood and enjoyed the surreal kindness of Vietnam. I could not help but ask myself, with how relaxed and friendly these people were, how on earth did they fight the USA? The people are small, relaxed and kind beyond belief. How could they have been the killers that I saw in the movies?

We went to Saigon, which is called Ho Chi Minh city, but it seems next to no one calls it that. That city was a blast, soaking up the markets, the chu chu tunnels and learning about southern Vietnam in the war museum. Seeing this vastly developing regional capital left me puzzling again. Despite the embargoes against Vietnam, which lasted until 1995, the place is developing beyond belief and may rival Thailand as one of the rising tigers of SE Asia.

I looked the understand better the three states of the former French Indochina, which includes Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Having visited Cambodia five years, I had a taste of the region, but it was not nearly enough.

We crossed the border to Cambodia, and it was here we saw poverty and the ravages of their genocide. The occupation by the French and bombardments by the Americans seemed to still have a lasting impact on Cambodia, and even five years on since my last visit the country has changed little in my eyes. I expected Vietnam to be suffering in similar circumstances, but that was not the case. It appears the French had invested much more in Vietnam and left Cambodia to rot, as a backwater of their imperial agenda. Vietnam has worked to combat the lingering destruction of their war, seeking modern medical innovations and job creation for those most affected, but Cambodia was still struggling.

The genocide museum was a moving experience, one I had missed on my last visit to Cambodia. It was here in Phenom Pehn that Alisha and I parted ways. She went for Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and I went North for Laos to get a taste of the final state of the former French empire in the region.

Although my stop in Laos was brief, I visited one of its most beautiful parts, the far southern corner called the 4000 islands. Located along the Mekong river I visited two friends of mine from Australia, Cherie and Nicky. These two gals have been conquering the whole region of SE for the last few months and I met them last in Malaysia. Catching up with them was a blast and seeing the agrarian and relaxed parts of Laos was a highlight.

Laos is leagues behind Vietnam as far as I could see, and the impacts of the French as few and far between, with the exception of the Baguettes and some other food influences, ohm and driving on the right side of the road, as opposed to the left in Thailand. Which by the way, crossing the land border by bus is quite interesting, lol.

This was a short detour on the trip, but an excellent recharge of the batteries, as what lies before me now is going to be rather daunting in comparison to the breezing relaxing travel of SE ASIA.

As I board the plane back to Kolkata from Bangkok I cannot help but have cherished this glimpse into the former French Indochina. It has given me more of a drive to explore SE Asia again and get a better understanding of the area, which I am sure at another point in my life I shall.

Up next, Kolkata part two and the road to Pakistan!

Cheers to all,

William