VIETNAM IN A NUTSHELL

A red banner, a five-pointed star and a hammer and sickle…These are the first things to catch your eye as you arrive in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Just like it was in the Soviet Union. Roman numerals on the posters report about congresses of the Communist Party and a row of pioneers in red ties proudly marches through the streets like "masters of their vast Motherland". You are sure to visit the Mausoleum of the great leader Ho Chi Minh, which is almost identical to Lenin's tomb in Moscow. And Vladimir Ilyich himself poses for tourists from his high pedestal in a park nearby.

But don't be in a hurry to make conclusions. Today's Vietnam, if one may use the expression of a well-known comedy act of stars of the Soviet stage, is not just all about socialist symbols, memorials to leaders, Vietnamese balm and the celebrated "flip-flops". Although Vietnam is, indeed, a socialist republic, along with state ownership private capital is widespread in the country.

The Vietnamese are an enterprising people and almost everyone in the country owns their own, albeit small, business. Everyone produces, sells or provides services of some kind. Like us in Azerbaijan, the first floors of many Vietnamese homes are occupied by shops, restaurants or workshops. Here, Asian and European cultures happily coexist. Buddhist monasteries in Vietnam stand alongside European architecture. The influence of French colonialism is evident, and globalization has not been ignored.

Azerbaijan-Vietnam

Some people in Azerbaijan are familiar with this country not just from films about the tragic Vietnam War. Back in the 1970s and 1980s citizens of Soviet Azerbaijan worked in Vietnam's oil and gas sector and many Vietnamese oil workers were educated in Baku. And today, dozens of students from this far-off country study in Azerbaijani universities. So, traditional ties are still being preserved.

Even trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Vietnam, despite the long distances, is showing a trend towards rapid growth. According to Vietnamese figures, whereas in 2012 the volume of mutual trade turnover was scarcely 30m dollars, in 2014 it had increased 14 times, reaching 422m dollars.

Incidentally, it was during last year's visit to Vietnam by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that the foundations were laid for full-fledged cooperation between the two countries. This was the first top-level contact between Baku and Hanoi, which was continued in May this year by Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's visit to Baku. During the visit, a document was signed on cooperation between SOCAR and Petrovietnam and the sides also agreed on cooperation in the field of agriculture and the need for mutual encouragement of investments was stressed. And the Azerbaijani president singled out tourism as one of the main spheres of this cooperation. "…We must step up ties between people. The tourism sector is, of course, of major importance here. Specific forms of cooperation can be organized in this sphere. We must present our tourist opportunities in such a way that people can learn more about what we have to offer," Ilham Aliyev said. The Vietnamese president, for his part, urged Azerbaijanis to invest in the tourist business in that country.

Visa for Vietnam no longer required

In Vietnam, tourism is one of the main sources of the state's revenue. Hanoi has set itself ambitious plans to develop this sector and to attract tourists to the country. Less than a month ago, the Vietnamese government decided to abolish visas for those who arrange holidays there through local tourist companies. A group of Azerbaijani journalists, for whom Qatar Airways, with the support of the Vietnamese National Administration for Tourism, organized a media-tour to that country, probably knew about this decision before their Vietnamese counterparts. Nguyen Quy Phuong, head of the Travel Division under the Vietnamese National Administration for Tourism, told us this news on the very day that their prime minister signed the decision on the lifting of visas for tourists. The new decision of the Vietnamese government does not come into force until 2016. However, an impressive number of tourists from all over the world come to Vietnam every year. They are mainly visitors from Europe, Australia and the neighbouring Asian countries. This year alone, according to provisional reckonings, about 8 million people will visit Vietnam, whereas in the relatively recent 1990 their number was barely 200,000. "Some 25-30 years ago there was no elementary infrastructure in the country, and there weren't even ordinary roads. Now there are roads, buses, everything we need. Almost all brands of the international tourist industry are operating in the country. In other words, we have all the preconditions to attract a much larger number of tourists," Nguyen Quy Phuong said.

He said that today Vietnam has no rivals in standards of service in the region in the tourist sector, although neighbouring Cambodia is perhaps currently a rival. The long-term objective is to turn Vietnam into a country of de-luxe tourism. And we are not just talking high prices, but a high level of service. And Azerbaijan, too, is on the list of prospective markets for attracting floods of tourists to Vietnam.  

A stone's throw to Vietnam

However, if in some magical way Vietnam were to suddenly find itself close to Azerbaijan, say neighbouring on Turkey or Georgia, Azerbaijani tourists would not think twice about travelling to this amazing country. Unfortunately, the distance is too great, you will say, and you'd be right. This is probably the only downside to people wanting to visit Vietnam. But it is not by chance that one of the compulsory elements of most Oriental fairy tales is the magic carpet.

Qatar Airways has now undertaken a magical mission to bring the distance between Azerbaijan and Vietnam that much closer. Before you know it, Qatar Airways planes will whisk you off to the far ends of the world. These liners have a carpet under your feet, a magic tablecloth and running water from a spring to quench the thirst of travellers. And the lovely, smiling Oriental stewardesses will charm you so much you'll feel you are in a real fairy tale.

Incidentally, Qatar Airways has been described as the world's best airline, according to the ratings of World Airline Awards in 2015. As the Daily Mail reports, the rating was compiled by the British company Skytrax, based on the results of a poll of 19 million passengers. Qatar Airways took first place for the third time. Qatar Airways has been among several five-star airlines for several years now.

You can travel from Azerbaijan in transit via Doha. Qatar Airways operates from Baku to Doha and back every day and the airline says it may be increasing the number of flights. It takes two and a half hours to the Qatari capital and then about eight hours to any Vietnamese airport. And if the connection at Doha is delayed, you will be put up free of charge at a hotel in this international airport while you wait.

The participants in our media-tour to Vietnam did not have to wait long for their connection. We had hardly landed in Doha than it was time to check in for the flight to Ho Chi Minh, the most popular Vietnamese city among tourists. Many Vietnamese are still in the habit of calling it Saigon, although the city was renamed in 1975 in honour of Vietnam's first president, Ho Chi Minh. This noisy metropolis in the south of the country is regarded as the spiritual and financial capital of Vietnam. It was here that we faced another hour's flight to the island of Phu Quoc. We shall be staying separately in this paradise corner of Vietnam, with its famous plantations of pearls and salt. But for now it's time to share some more useful information about the tourist opportunities of this amazing country.

Vietnam has no bad weather

Vietnam has a tropical climate. There is no clearly defined winter and summer. Vietnam's seasons may be roughly divided into wet and dry. In the south of the country, it rains from May to October, and the dry season, strangely enough, lasts from November to April. The northern resorts are attractive in spring and autumn, and the tropical rains fall in the summer. A climate which is relatively more normal for us Azerbaijanis can be found in the central regions: wet in the summer, cool in winter and warm and dry in spring and summer. Although even a dry and wet climate in Vietnam is also a relative concept. So you can holiday in this country the whole year round.

The spirit of prisoners and the secrets of Vietnamese puppets

There are a lot of places in Vietnam steeped in secrets and legends. There is Ha Long Bay, where a dragon landed, the Lake of the Returned Sword, and the Temple of Literature - the country's first university which has become a place of pilgrimage for modern college graduates. In this country of ancient traditions tourists can visit Buddhist temples, imperial palaces and ancient villages, which have recently become prison-museums of the times of the Vietnam War.

Trying to capture on camera everything that might be of interest to our Azerbaijani readers, our colleagues and I did not even notice how far we had come from our hotel - on a lake in the centre of Hanoi. This was the famous Hoan Kiem Lake, or the "Lake of the Returned Sword", onto which John McCain baled out of his stricken aircraft during the Vietnam War. Yes, the same American senator who was a naval bomber pilot in that war.

Incidentally, the whole flying suit and parachute of the future senator and US presidential candidate, who was taken prisoner in 1967, are carefully preserved in the former prison-war museum at Hoa Lo, which translates as "Fire Stove".  This prison was built at the end of the 19th century by French colonialists. The French name "Maison Centrale" above the entrance to the museum is still there. During the Vietnam War the prison was used to keep American prisoners-of-war, which gave it the nickname "Hanoi Hilton". John McCain was the most well-known inmate of that dark prison. Here you can handle exhibits, be locked in a cell and put on leg-irons: in short, sense the horrors of confinement. And even the background music in the museum is accompanied by the moans of the prisoners, dummies of which still "suffer" in chains. It's not the happiest of spectacles, of course, but this is a museum, not a puppet theatre. The spirit of the prisoners lives on here, and if you want to wind down and feel the spirit of the Vietnamese countryside, you have to visit the world famous Water Puppet Show. Vietnamese villagers have believed in spirits since ancient times. They link them with bad weather and with a poor harvest, and in order to please the spirits they arranged puppet shows in flooded rice fields. Today this once rural entertainment has become a symbol of the whole of Vietnam.

Special aspects of tourism in Vietnam

Tourism forms the bulk of Vietnam's revenue, and therefore the budget of an ordinary Vietnamese family. That is why you will always be received as welcome guests. Tourists in this country can have absolutely no fears about their safety although our hospitable hosts did advise us to be aware of pickpockets and petty thieves in crowded places. But what drew our attention on the streets of Hanoi was the chaotic traffic, most of which comprises motor-cycles and mopeds. They wind around the streets like colourful shoals of fish along the ocean bed - their movement is so synchronous, but their direction unpredictable. Traffic lights and road signs are ignored, and highway patrol cars are a rarity on Hanoi's streets. But, strangely enough, there are few road accidents.

Another feature of Vietnam's towns and cities are the cafes that sprawl on to the pavements. The townspeople come here in whole families and groups to dine and chill out after a hard day at work. The distinctive aroma of exotic seafood heating on a gas stove right on the tables will accompany you everywhere on your evening stroll.

But if you are planning to combine business with pleasure, don't get carried away: the shops close at 9 p.m. Incidentally, in Vietnam leisure won't be hard on your pocket. Although thanks to the hospitality of your hosts, we didn't have to pay for our bills in the restaurants, we heard from the locals that food is generally inexpensive here. And the prices in supermarkets are acceptable. It is relatively more expensive, of course, in the specialized shops in the tourist areas. Of special demand among tourists are the Pacific pearls, articles made of crocodile skin, silk and palm leaves, pictures embroidered from silk, Vietnamese tea and also all kinds of bags made from mollusc shells. By the way, when you are in Vietnam, you don't have to carry the local currency - the dong - in your pocket. The American dollar will help you - even the prices of goods in many shops are marked up in USD. Euros are less in favour in these parts. But don't be in a hurry to spend all your money straightaway. You will find many interesting purchases and attractions in Vietnam. One tourist excursion is clearly not enough to know the secrets of this Oriental country. As the hero of the film "The Quiet American" put it: "They say you come to Vietnam and understand a lot in five minutes, but the rest has got to be lived."