The temple of literature and its engraved stelae
To train a class of senior civil servants, Emperor Le Thanh Tong commissioned the construction of a building dedicated to Confucius in 1070. The Temple of Literature, with its five vast courtyards in a row, is very well preserved and exudes a delicate serenity. Embellished with gardens, pavilions and ponds, the sanctuary, which has recently been made private, is a haven of peace in the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. The third courtyard is dotted with steles in memory of the "great scholars". The oldest enshrines the regime's founding political principle: "The wise and learned are the roots of the State". A maxim penned by the Emperor, which our century would probably do well to ponder!
Hanoi, a capital taken over by two-wheelers
At six o'clock in the morning, Hanoians are practising their tai-chi in the bus lanes, which are still not very busy. The uninterrupted flow of two-wheelers is surprising, as cars are in the minority in the country's capital of 4 million inhabitants. The first honks are heard. The cliché of a provincial Hanoi languishing behind its colonial houses has come to an end. The city skyline is piled high with buildings, and given the myriad of construction projects, the work has only just begun. In the old town, however, you can still find the roots of the city, its noria of craftsmen and shopkeepers with their stalls squeezed together. Known as "the 36 streets", this area of medieval origin, whose extreme density gives an impression of urban chaos, is nevertheless organised, with each lane, alley and alleyway dedicated to a particular activity: ironmongers, herbalists, jewellers, ex-voto makers...
Tribute to Hô Chi Minh
It is not the mausoleum housing the mummy, a pantheon of grey concrete in the Soviet tradition, that deserves a visit, but the two houses that Ho Chi Minh lived in, which are very close by, in the city's botanical gardens. The first is a simple gardener's pavilion, two rooms with Spartan comfort where the founder of the Republic felt very well, but which was judged unworthy of his rank. The second, overlooking a pond, is a pretty building built on stilts at the request of his comrades, which Ho Chi Minh used mainly as a study. It is a moving place, both for the Vietnamese, who venerate Uncle Hô as they did in the early days of the country's struggle for independence, and for foreigners, who see how little he cared about pomp and circumstance.
Ethnological museum
The best place to visit to understand Vietnamese culture, which is rich in 54 ethnic groups. Educational and entertaining, the tour alternates between scenes from daily life and displays of everyday and ritual objects, from costumes to traditional musical instruments. For example, you can learn how to make the famous "Chinese hat", a cone made of latan tree leaves and bamboo that is used by women for a variety of purposes: it provides protection from the sun and rain, but also serves as a makeshift seat and a container for drawing water.
The outside of the museum features seven dwellings belonging to different ethnic groups. The Bahnar communal house, with its 20-metre-high thatched roof, is a symbol of power.
Alternative
Tam Coc
Nicknamed "Halong Bay on land", the Tam Coc region has the same type of landscape dotted with karst peaks, but immersed in the middle of rice paddies. The site is best explored in a small boat, in the company of the village women, unrivalled canoeists who are delighted to impress foreigners by rowing with their feet.
The boat glides slowly through fabulous countryside, a picture postcard of serenity enhanced by the laughter of the rowers, proud to share their corner of paradise. A complete change of scenery.
Halong Bay
Made up of some 3,000 limestone islands and islets extravagantly sculpted by karst erosion, Vietnam's jewel plunges visitors into a fairytale world of tortured buttes and craggy peaks rising out of a sea of oil.
Spread over 1,500 km2, the site conjures up images of another world, born 250 million years ago when the plains were submerged. That some of these rocks, so deeply excavated at their base and hollowed out with caves, are still standing seems supernatural, so the imagination wanders... You don't need to empty a bottle of rice alcohol to discern human or animal forms in these concretions. Legend attributes these geological vagaries to a dragon taking a dive.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a flotilla of paddle steamers cruised Halong Bay, much to the delight of the Vietnamese elite and the wealthier fringe of the colonists. A replica of one of these ships, the Émeraude now offers two-day, one-night cruises through the maze of islets in the bay.
L'Émeraude offers top-of-the-range services. This 55-metre steamer, with 39 cabins including one suite, reinterprets the charm of the colonial atmosphere. Each cabin has a personalised decor, a shower, air conditioning and an opening onto one of the two decks.
The route includes a few stops to visit a cave, discover a fishing village or a beach and take a dip in the bay's 27° water.
L'Émeraude can be fully or partially privatised and can accommodate 78 people.
Gastronomy born of imperial traditions
Vietnam is a country of gourmets. Drawing on imperial traditions, Hué's cuisine is sophisticated, with numerous stuffed dishes or ravioli (banh) and succulent crepes served with elegance. Hanoi is credited with introducing the world to its phot, a fragrant pot-au-feu broth enriched with rice noodles and thin slices of beef. Its light, inventive and inexpensive cuisine is illustrated by an impressive range of specialities and flavours. The local dish of all, cha ca is made up of pieces of grilled fish served on a stove. It is served with vermicelli, shrimp sauce and herbs.
Hue, the city of pagodas
Hue, seat of the Nguyen dynasty, is home to some of the country's most beautiful monuments. Largely destroyed by the French in 1885, then by the Americans in 1968, Hue has been living at the pace of renovation for the last ten years or so. What was the imperial capital from 1802 to 1945 conceals treasures within the walls of its citadel, which Unesco funds have enabled to be restored to their original state, bearing witness to a culture and craftsmanship of the highest refinement. Bas-reliefs and coffered ceilings in polychrome wood, lacquered wooden columns, roofs festooned with dragons, partitions embellished with mother-of-pearl, balustrades adorned with ceramics... everything here is symbolic and allegorical.
But above and beyond the masterpieces, it is the site of Hue itself that is most appealing, dotted with pagodas dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The enchanting, romantic setting has long been a rallying point for artists, poets and scholars.
Hoi An, the unspoilt city
Situated on the banks of the Thu Bon River, 30km from Danang, the town is an inspiring place to daydream. Once an important stopover on the silk sea routes, the port prospered from the 15th century onwards with the establishment of numerous trading posts. Today, it is the houses of these merchants that give the city its unique atmosphere, buildings of Chinese, Japanese or French inspiration whose colourful facades shimmer in the river. More than 800 of these buildings are listed by UNESCO, including one of the country's most beautiful bridges, a Japanese tile-covered structure built in 1593.
The decline of Hoi An, caused by the silting up of the port in the 19th century, has left the city virtually untouched since that time. Hence the peaceful atmosphere that lends itself to lovely bicycle rides.
Tumultuous Saigon
Restless and tumultuous, Saigon reflects the most westernised image of Vietnam in every way, including benefits and damages.
More money, more buildings, more shops, more traffic than anywhere else, but also more pollution and poverty, more prostitution and more insecurity. The city, renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1975, is the most densely populated urban area in the country, with seven million inhabitants.
Traditions are on the wane in this affluent metropolis, where everyone has their own hopes of making a fortune, determined to benefit from the market economy.
For the French, a tour of the city will include a myriad of buildings reminiscent of its past as the capital of Cochinchina: the Post Office, the Town Hall, and Notre Dame Cathedral, the neo-romantic beacon of rue Catinat, now Dong Khoi, once elevated to the status of the Champs-Élysées of Asia.
And then there's Chinatown, a city within a city, home to nearly a million inhabitants, the masters of local commerce. Cholon and its huge market, its temples including the one dedicated to Thien Hau, the omnipresent goddess of the sea, in gratitude for her protective role during the first Chinese maritime expedition to the region in 1680.
