We stumbled upon a mall that would have been just at home in Beverly Hills or New York City.
Lest you forget, this is a communist country. Sort of.
In one of the great ironies of the Vietnam war, the purpose didn't match the reality. The stated cause for the war was to stem the tide of communism moving across Asia, which our leaders at the time saw as both a security and an economic threat. I’ll stay out of the debate about how dangerous communism really was, and take the statement at face value.
In my recent role of armchair geopolitical historian, I’ve come across plenty of writings that portrayed Ho Chi Minh as much more of a nationalist than a communist. Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho, as he is commonly referred to here, was the mid-1900s political leader that unified Viet Nam and led the country to independence from France. And in that post-colonial, post World War era, small countries needed to have big friends. France and its WWII allies (including the USA) weren’t exactly lining up to help the former colony, so HCM aligned Viet Nam with the only other team to play for at the time. Granted, I'm sure he related to a philosophy that values community over the individual, but he might have wanted nothing more than to have someone in his corner if another country came knocking (like they had been doing for the past millennium or so).
As we know, that exact scenario played out throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Viet Nam needed a friend, and the rest is history. After HCM died in 1969, his lieutenants carried on the communist political system, outlasting even the country that pioneered it. But the Vietnamese version of communism has always been market friendly. Their communism seems to be less about regulating industry, and more about keeping tight control over national politics. Viet Nam has endured centuries of outside aggressors and internal divisions, so it’s easy to see how a political system like this one could take hold.
Or at least that’s how things seemed to a visitor who has read just enough Wikipedia articles to get himself into trouble.
But we weren't looking for answers that afternoon, we were looking for coffee. Our wandering led us to yet another cute little cafe with amazing coffee. That was nothing new, but their tables really caught my eye.
I have grown to love the tiny little tables that Viet Nam is known for. My knees weren't quite as enamored in our first days in the country, but they've come around. The wood ones at our cafe that day seemed reasonably easy to build for our own house once we got home. So I took out my travel tape measure and started planning.
It retrospect, my ambitions might have overshot my carpentry skills. We’ll see how that plays out.
After coffee, we went back to the hotel for a round of naps. Our next stop was the water puppet show. If you’re like me, you probably haven’t even heard of a water puppet show. But let me tell you, they’re nothing short of increible. They evolved from simple puppet plays performed by rice farmers to pass time during the rainy season. Modern versions are staged by a troupe of actors controlling intricate creations that float, swim, and dive throughout a small pool stage.
The art form is a beautiful combination of dance, comedy, opera, and live music that is impossible to capture in a photograph or blog post. Seek one out and experience it yourself. You will not be disappointed. I was (and still am) awestruck.
Even Mimi—our ten month old who gets distracted by her feet when she’s playing with her hands—was absolutely captivated.
It was magical.
