Conclusion jumping

In Hué in central Vietnam we set off early on the bikes to visit the old citadel and former seat of power of the last emperors of central Vietnam. The court and temple buildings looked fantastic from pictures taken during the French period of rule. They fell into disrepair after the abdication of the last Nguyen emperor in 1928, were burnt during the violent insurrections against French rule in 1945, further damaged in 1969 when the Viet Cong briefly held Hué for 25 days and again in 1975 when it finally and permanently fell to North Vietnam. Although there is a programme of reconstruction underway most of the central citadel is evocative open space and stones.

Bikes were a good way of getting around in Hué, although we were vary careful at the major intersections and often got off we soon got the knack of drifting through the shoals of scooters and getting in the right place at junctions. Actually there's no right place at junctions, just ones that increase or decrease the probability of meeting a scooter going your route across at 90 degrees or even heading completely the wrong way against the flow. 

As we wheeled across the bridge made with a steel structure suspiciously like the Eiffel Tower the unmistakable sound of military music reached our ears. On closer inspection the parade ground next to the Flag Tower was the source of the noise and it contained about 500 teenage children in coloured shirts being excitedly harangued (to our ears) from the PA on stage. "Oh good, at last some proper communist flag waving and marching" I thought.

Vietnam is a communist country, not really in your face communism but a more subtle kind. Like in China there are a lot of men in oversize military caps wearing olive drab uniforms on the street and more national flags than I've ever seen. The vietnamese flag is red with a yellow star and it's everywhere, on government buildings, along the streets, outside houses and hotels. Cities in the central zone (Hué, Da Nang) are busy celebrating 40 years since liberation and they are all flag-bedecked, there are even a number of hammer and sickle flags from a previous era that have been pressed into duty.

The youths assembled into their groups and shapes (lots of red Viietnamese flags being carried here too) and the tone from the stage got even shriller and more excited. Just as I expected them to launch into the Red Flag (or at least the Vietnamese National Anthem) the sulky tones of Kylie Minogue blared out and the dancing was under way, next on were One Direction ....

Just goes to show, don't presume to know anything about a country until you experience it. The traveller's motto.