This month’s post is, as the title suggests, a mix of sadness and hope. The sadness is born out of the passing of Sandy’s mother Rita at the end of last month, after a battle with cancer. Family and friends have been mourning her loss and remembering her with huge warmth and fondness as a great wife, mother, grandmother – and mother-in-law.
The more positive side of the period has been two weeks spent travelling with Sandy and Matt in Cambodia and Vietnam. These are two countries, which, for much of my youth, were synonymous with conflict and atrocities. We saw a lot of evocative evidence of this history on our travels, but we also witnessed the huge strides towards vibrant economic progress and stability which they have made since. For me, after my recent visits to the fragile and conflict-affected states of Somalia and DRC, it was definitely a source of hope that change can occur even in the darkest situations and progress can be sustained. It was a sad coincidence that the great actor and comic Robin Williams, famous for his starring role in the film Good Morning, Vietnam – which was about seeking humour and humanity in depths of the conflict – should pass away while we were in the country.
Unfortunately the news this month has been dominated by three desperate situations which are definitely not laughing matters. The Ukrainian crisis has been escalating with every passing day and the spectre of an aggressive cold war is more real than ever. We have also seen the commencement of US airstrikes in Iraq to assist the evacuation of the Yazhidi community under attack from the forces of Islamic State and respond to the terrible beheading of a hostage journalist. Everywhere there are new refugees and displaced people and the nexus between conflict resolution and humanitarian aid has been as confused as ever – not least in the case of the convoy of white trucks sent by Moscow to East Ukraine!
The outbreak of ebola in west African states such as Liberia and Sierra Leone has been the other great human tragedy this month. My old friend Peter Piot, who was one of the earliest researchers into the original outbreak of the disease and who now heads up the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has been a regular presence in the media discussing the very real challenges of containing the outbreak while not destroying the economies of the countries that have been impacted. The President of Sierra Leone announced that there had already been a 30% reduction in the economy of his country as a result of the freezing of movements of people and goods on the back of the crisis. Many of the states that have been affected are ones that were only recently on the cusp of real development progress and are now in danger of slipping backwards due to this shock. When faced with natural disasters such as this, or the monsoon floods which have afflicted Nepal and India this month, one is saddened that the humanitarian resources of the world are dominated and absorbed by man-made disasters such as the situations in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine.
Our trip to South East Asia was planned to avoid the worst of the current monsoon season in these countries and, after arriving in Siem Reap in Cambodia in torrential rain, we were delighted that the rest of the rest of our time was blessed with warm, dry weather, albeit pretty humid! This city is the centre of the burgeoning tourism industry which is growing up around the magnificent temples of the World Heritage Site at Angkor Wat. We were struck by the serried ranks of giant new hotels that are springing-up along the road from the airport to meet the demands of the Chinese and Korean tourists who are flooding to the area.
Fortunately the temple complex of Angkor Wat itself, and the other nearby sites at Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm and Bantaey Srei remain incredibly impressive and enigmatic if you catch them at the right time. We had a particularly spectacular dawn walk into the temple at Ta Prohm, where knarled trees with snake-like roots sprout from the ruined walls that were used as a location for the Tomb Raider movie! Hearing the birdsong as the light gradually appeared and the buildings emerged from the gloom was a real highlight. Equally impressive were the giant stupas of the Bayon temple with their countless stone faces smiling down from every point on the skyline and the intricately carved gallery walls with mythical stories etched in the sandstone.
The economy of Cambodia is clearly modernising fast but it is only a small distance outside a city like Siem Reap that you find yourself back in a near mediaeval countryside or brought face to face with the reminders of the terrible war and murderous regimes of the recent past. We were very taken by our visit to the landmine clearance museum on the outskirts of the town set up by a former child soldier to display the thousands of devastating mines recovered after the war and to remind visitors about the ongoing threats to life and limb of these indiscriminate weapons.
We took a cycle ride out among the paddy fields and bumped along dirt track roads to watch the painstaking process of planting and cultivating rice, maize, sugar cane and other crops. Seeing the live pigs strapped to the back of motorcycles on their way to market was also a regular, if disconcerting sight. The most memorable excursion we made was to the floating villages on the banks of the Tonle Sap Lake. These are exactly what their name suggests and consist of shifting collections of boats, barges and shacks which are moored together in seasonal clusters and act as centres of livelihood and commerce in vegetables, fish and other goods. We wove our way through the shanty towns which cling to the muddy banks of the channels, amid a constant flurry of sputtering outboard engines, paddling canoes and fishermen casting nets over the brown waters.
There was more bizarre entertainment to fill the evenings – and Sandy was bold enough to literally put her toes in the water of one of the many night-market fish massage tanks on “Pub Street” in Siem Reap. We also watched the Cambodian equivalent of Cirque du Soleil put on a spectacular if incomprehensible show of juggling, acrobatics and dance.
Vietnam is quite a bit more developed than Cambodia and we were amazed to land in Danang to find ourselves in a modern sprawling city of high-rises, neon-lit bridges and hotels. We stayed at the Nam Hai resort on the coast – which was probably the most luxurious hotel we have ever been to. The investment that has gone into the multiple beautifully-crafted swimming pools, stone and marble-stepped walkways and wonderfully-appointed beachside villas is incredible and to be honest it was quite tough to get Matt and Sandy to leave the hotel once we settled in! The only lure which successfully drew them out was the chance to visit the famous tailors of nearby heritage town of Hoi An and get some clothes made up.
The town itself is very well preserved and sits prettily on either side of a narrow river full of colourful wooden boats. Nearly every other shop is a tailor and they all draw upon a vast network of local community workers to meet the demands of the visitors who flock to the town in search of speedy made to measure couture. We plunged into this world with enthusiasm and emerged with Matt sporting a very distinctive pink piped dinner suit, me with a suit, a blazer and eleven shirts (copied from a favourite I had brought with me) and Sandy with several dresses.
The town is also famous for its culinary skills and we had a fun morning at a cookery lesson in a countryside restaurant, where an irreverent chef entertained us while showing us how to make rice cakes, vietnamese pancakes and other local dishes. We were moderately successful cooking pupils, though our efforts at vegetable sculpture were risible.
Sandy and Matt were similarly found wanting when it came to crafting creatures out of palm grass leaves on a trip out to the lagoon to learn local fishing techniques. We were transported about in small local coracles and shown how to cast nets by a fisherman, as well as how to lift one of the giant wood frame nets that line the banks. Our guides engaged in lively coracle “dancing” and racing, before cooking up a fine lunch of prawns and pancakes on the boat.
I left the others in the comfort of the hotel to take the two hour trip to Me Som, a temple complex which dates back to the 4th Century. The distinctive red brick buildings stand out against the verdant backdrop of the lush valley in which they sit. Sadly this amazing complex was substantively destroyed by B52 bombs in the war and there were more craters evident than standing structures amid the jungle. We often forget how much war is not only destructive of lives but of culture and history too – and as we speak ancient cities in Syria and Iraq, at the crucible of civilisation, are being turned to rubble.
The reminders of the war were a big part of our next stop in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). We travelled out to the remarkable Cu Chi Tunnels which were dug by the Viet Cong village communities as part of the resistance to the US and South Vietnamese forces during the war. They created labyrinthine networks of underground rooms and connecting tunnels, often three stories-deep to hide, live and conduct guerilla warfare. As the bombs, napalm and agent orange were thundering down from above, the community members, who are now viewed as national heroes, scuttled down very narrow and claustrophobic tunnels to emerge from tiny hidden hatches and launch attacks or transport arms and supplies.
Our guide was able to evoke the feel of the place very well and history came alive as we looked at the many small entrances hidden beneath tree roots, or saw the “termite mounds” which were both the means to hide the soil that had been excavated as well as cover for airholes. The most compelling part of the visit however was when Matt and I ventured into the tunnels themselves. There is a small part of the network that has actually been expanded to make the passages manageable for larger tourists than the small and wiry locals who first created them. Even so I could only get along on my hands and feet and was underground for no more than a few minutes before I emerged fifty or so yards later, already feeling the first twinges of claustrophobia.
There were other reminders of the brutality of the times in the display of the various home-made traps of devious spike arrangements that were rigged in the pits. The atmosphere was rendered all the more resonant by the continual crack of live machine gun fire from the shooting range which was set up on the site and where tourists could pay to use rifles and automatic weapons for a few dollars!
Most compelling however was the Remnants of War Museum, where photographic displays bring to life the terrible impacts of the conflict on all sides. An exhibition built around the work of the war photographers who died in the war was especially thought-provoking, as were the images of the awful after-effects of the chemicals such as agent orange on the subsequent generations of children who had to grow up in the former battlefields. Matt has been studying this period as part of his A level History and not only was he able to give us some of the background as to what we were looking at, but also his own understanding of the situation was brought into sharper focus by proximity to where it all actually happened.
A more fun part of our time in the city was a tour around the local wholesale market. Markets in this part of the world, as elsewhere, are always fascinating places. The sheer volume of different products stacked, displayed and being sold or transported is mind-blowing. The dry goods, clothes and toys are one thing but the wet goods of fresh vegetables, meats, noodles and other ingredients are a sensory explosion. As we wriggled down the narrow corridors of produce we would be accosted from behind by the regular cries from porters hefting sacks and boxes between stalls.
Equally interesting was the ancient chinese temple in the heart of China Town. It’s wall is decorated with pink prayer strips and the wooden roof is hung with a mass of burning incence coils which send grey plumes up to the colourful blue enamel carvings of gods and devils above.
More modern elements of the city such as the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the ornate baroque Post Office, despite its giant portrait of the universally-revered Ho Chi Minh, were reminders of the French colonial past of the country. Our visit to country ended with a night on board a rice barge which had been transformed into a luxury cruise boat on the Mekong Delta. The Delta covers a vast area of broad canals and waterways dotted with small communities and larger ramshackle towns.
The rivers are plied by a huge variety of brightly-painted boats from giant barges laden with concrete to small skiffs bearing piles of melons – and they all sport the twin eyes on the prow for good luck. There was a further chance to see dawn rise over a floating market. We went walkabout in one of the small villages and were able to taste some of the more exotic fruits that are produced in the area, as well as see close-up the paddy fields lined with the burial monuments to family ancestors.
As we returned to Saigon for our flight out to Bangkok and home, we were left with a rich set of memories of both of these countries and their people. Despite the ever-present reminders of the war that tore them apart less than fifty years ago and the ongoing challenges of developing rural and urban economies, they seem to be finding effective ways to blend the work-ethic of communism with the spark of entrepreneurial energy that their people are known for around the world. There are challenges in reigning-in some of the excesses of over-development and tourism but there remains a authenticity and real spirit to the place that is beguiling. This trip certainly left us with taste to return and see more of the region.
Sandy’s mother Rita’s funeral took place on our return and, while this was inevitably a sad occasion, the over 60 friends and family that filled the crematorium (including virtually the whole of her bowls club) were testimony to the affection in which she was held. The celebrant did a great job of describing the various aspects of her life and her character and, for me, particularly hit the spot when she spoke about the impact that Rita had as a grandmother for her five grandchildren, and especially Matt and Alex in their early years. It was very moving to hear the boys leading the singing of the hymns in the service with so much feeling (and volume!).
Sandy’s father John joined us for a week in Como at the end of the month, where for few days at least we had all the family in one place. Alex’s girlfriend Katie also came out and one highlight was watching her undertake the Ice Bucket Challenge, which has taken the social media world by storm this month, in the garden of our villa. Though the fact that we had to use ice lollies rather than ice cubes made it all a bit sticky! So now as the summer comes to an end, Matt is heading back to begin his final year at school, buoyed by some good AS results, and Alex is preparing to go off to university at Bath, where his memory of what studying is about will be no doubt be tested!
postmarkfromfoster 
Hello, I am impressed by your picture of the students paddling from school. I am a teacher in a highschool in Korea and I’m preparing for a trip to Cambodia with my students. We are planning to help building a dormitory in Siem Reap downtown for the students in Tonle Sap Lake so that they can go to highschool. We’d love to use your picture in our postcard telling our friends and family what we’ll be doing. It’ll be a great honor if you let us:)
I’ll look forward to hearing from you! Thank you.
Hi there – I have just seen your request and I am happy for you to use this picture if it is still useful for your trip
All the best
Mark