The title is the first line of the poem “Drought” by Trần Tế Xương, a Vietnamese poet and satirist (1870 - 1907). In the poem he uses dry weather as a metaphor for the French colonial conquest of Vietnam.

The last line of the poem literally reads: “Now they do nothing but worry about nước nổi”, which means both water and country [Chapter 8, Việt Nam, a History from Earliest Times to the Present (2017), by Ben Kiernan].

I have a couple of weeks to plan a journey to Vietnam arriving in Ho Chi Minh City. This post is just to have some background information for myself. A rough theme is shaping itself: water. When during the Qin dynasty the Chinese ventured south, they noted the local preoccupation with aquatic life. “People carry out few occupations on land and many on water”, it was written in the text Huai nan zi in 135 BCE.

There are three distinct cities I want to visit, Ho Chi Minh City, Huế and Hanoi. Each city was the administrative capital of a French colonial administration: Cochinchina (Saigon), Annam (Huế) and Tonkin (Hanoi).

The Mekong flows from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, south of Ho Chi Minh City. The city Cần Thơ in the Mekong delta is about 3,5 hours by car from HCMC. In Thailand I spent a short time on the Mekong river taking a boat to Laos during a down pour.

The city Huế has Perfume River (Sông Hương). In autumn flowers from upstream orchards fall into the river and give it a pleasant scent. Or so the story goes. This river is only 30 kilometres long.

Through Hanoi flows the important Red River connecting China's Yunnan province with the Gulf of Tonkin. This led the French to establish the French protectorate Tonkin to gain control over the river.

The French protectorate Annam encompassed the territory of the Nguyễn dynasty. The French did not gain control over the territory in one campaign but it was gradually absorbed by France with several treaties.

Saigon was taken by the French during the Cochinchina campaign (1858 - 1862). The campaign ended with the founding of the colony French Cochinchina. In 1887 the French colonies and protectorates were grouped together as French Indochina or: Union indochinoise in French. French Indochina included Cambodia and Laos (from 1899) and even the Leased Territory of Guangzhouwan in China until 1945.

This lasted until 1954. The last years of French rule were marked by the First Indochina War (1946 - 1954) in which the French fought the Việt Minh, a national independence coalition formed by Hồ Chí Minh. This war led to the division of Vietnam between Viet Minh-controlled North Vietnam and State of Vietnam- controlled South Vietnam. The Vietnam War (1955 - 1975) emerged directly from the First Indochina War.

Another theme will certainly be Anthony Bourdain’s travels to Vietnam. From A Cook’s Tour: Season 1 (2002) and season 2 (2003) to No Reservations: Season 1 (2005), season 5 (2009), season 6 (2010), Parts Unknown: Season 4, Episode 4 ‘Vietnam’ (2014) and Season 8, Episode 1 ‘Hanoi’ (2016).

It’s hard to believe Bourdain committed suicide in 2018. Sometimes you need more in life than a low plastic stool, a tiny plastic table and something delicious in a bowl.