A villa at 20 Ton Dan Street.
French villas are legacies of the French colonial period in Vietnam. There was a time when these villas and other French-built works were considered “dangerous”.
However, history is history. From being accepted compulsorily, as time has passed, French villas have become regarded as special heritages of Hanoi.
Among Asian cities, Hanoi has the highest number of European-style architectural works. Laos and Cambodia were also French colonies but they don’t have as many distinctly European structures as Hanoi.
Villas were firstly built to serve French colonists. They were then constructed near Thien Quang Lake for rich Vietnamese traders, intellectuals and mandarins.
After that, villas appeared on some streets, called “colonial streets”, among them the present-day streets of Ly Thuong Kiet, Phan Dinh Phung, Hai Ba Trung, Tran Hung Dao, Ngo Quyen and Hang Chuoi.
In the eyes of Vietnamese at that time, Western-style houses were strange. But after a time, they realised that Western houses are comfortable. It became clear that these houses were built with new techniques and new materials so they are firmer, brighter and more hygienic than Vietnamese-style houses.
Most French villas have similar architecture, with primary and secondary houses. Houses occupy half of the total area of land and the remaining half is garden.
The major houses often have two or three storeys. The house foundation is high, with a basement. Three-storey houses often have outdoor stairs to the second floor and indoor stairs from the second to the third floor. The first floor includes the waiting room, the central room, a large dining room, library and working room.
The second and third floors are for bedrooms, toilets and wide corridors. Rooms have fireplaces and principally are framed with iron and wood.
Behind the major house is often a smaller house with a kitchen, storehouse, toilet, garage and a room for servants. The gate, yard, garden, road and fence are other indispensable elements.
These villas are designed very well to resist the rain, heat and wind of a tropical country like Vietnam.
French colonists left Hanoi in 1954. French-style villas have become public assets. And their fates have changed.
Many villas became the offices of government agencies, foreign embassies and foreign organisations. Others have been allocated to government employees as houses. Independent villas are shared by many families. Some villas host up to 50-60 people.
Used by many people, the original architecture of French villas has been changed. Users have built garrets and iron cages to take advantage of every inch of land. In the time of golden land, most old villas no longer have yards or gardens.
At the villa of King Bao Dai, the last king of Vietnam, in Ngoc Ha, the yard and garden have been used illegally by a dozen families for decades. The local government cannot move them out.
Hanoi has over 2000 French-style villas and each villa has its own history and cultural values. However, the local government has not helped to preserve them, except for making surveys and suggestions. |
VietNamNet Bridge - Twenty years after he stumbled on the discovery, a local farmer leads a British caving team to the find of the century.
A member of the caving team crosses the river which formed the Son Doong cave during the April expedition. Photos courtesy of the Joint British-Vietnamese Caving Expedition 2009/ The entrance of the Son Doong cave, which is hidden by a boulder.
A team of British cavers recently announced record-breaking news – the discovery in Quang Binh Province of the largest cave in the world.
But the presence of the British team has eclipsed one very important figure in the story – 40-year-old Ho Khanh – a local man and guide for the expedition who says he first found the cave nearly 20 years ago, but lost it again.
Back to the start
Today the forty-year-old farmer mans a tea stall in a village on the edge of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. "I first found the cave 18 years ago, in 1991," he says.
"I was out collecting firewood near the national park. My family were very poor, so I decided to go deeper into the forest to try and find some aloe. The resin is used to make perfume and it’s very valuable. Not many people went that far into the forest at the time because they were scared of the wild animals."
After walking for about 20km Khanh says he lost his way. Clouds started gathering in the sky, so he decided to look for shelter.
"I sat down with my back to a huge boulder. Then something strange happened. I heard the sound of a strong wind and running water coming from behind me."
Adam Spillane, a member of the team, in Son Doong. The expedition was assisted by the Ha Noi University of Science, the People’s Committee of Quang Binh and several other sponsors.
Khanh went to investigate and found the entrance to an enormous cave, with a wide river flowing out of it.
"I was very surprised. I thought I knew many caves in this region, but this one was so different and seemed to be untouched by man. It was pitch black, but judging by the feeling of the air, I thought I was walking into a huge space. The strong wind blowing felt like something from the underworld."
With no ropes or lights, Khanh did not venture further into the cave. A day after he’d first set out, he arrived back home.
"I didn’t have any aloe, but in my mind I had the image of a great cave."
Khanh’s story spread like wildfire, but not everyone believed him.
"I wanted to prove my word, but I couldn’t remember the way to the cave. It was a wild place, with no human tracks."
Eventually, the story became legend. Khanh quit his dream of becoming rich from aloe and went back to doing his daily chores: collecting fire wood and farming. But he never gave up on the hope that one day he would find the cave again.
All is not lost
Ho Khanh shows photos of the expedition in his house on the edge of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.
It wasn’t until one morning in early winter, 2006, that Khanh’s cave dream was rekindled. A group of cavers from Britain, on a trip to find new caves in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang region, came to ask Khanh for help, as they had heard about his discovery 15 years before.
Khanh agreed to guide the team to find the legendary cave, but after three days in the jungle, Khanh and the team were still at a loss.
"I just couldn’t remember where it was," he says.
There were some perks. On their expedition, the group did find 11 previously unrecorded caves. The British team even named one of them after the farmer.
"One of my favourite caves that we found on our trip had a lake and many beautiful stalactites that sparkled in the light. We called it Thai Hoa, after my daughter."
The team returned to the park for two more expeditions, but each time were beaten by the density of the jungle. Finally the cavers gave in and left, asking Khanh to contact them if he found it again.
In a final effort to recover his memory, Khanh headed to the jungle one cold winter’s morning in 2009.
"I stopped by a big boulder. There was the same strong wind, the sound of water running – I knew I’d found the cave at long last. I can’t describe my feelings at the time, I was so overjoyed."
The team immediately came back to Viet Nam and followed Khanh on a six-hour treck deep into the jungle. On April 14 they found what they were looking for.
Measuring 200m high and 150m wide, the new cave, named Son Doong (Mountain River Cave) by Khanh, is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder, Deer Cave in Sarawak Malaysia.
The cave is in Phong Nha-Ke Bang grotto system, which belongs to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. It is a limestone region of 2,000sq.km and borders another limestone area in Hin Nammo in Laos.
According to Adam Spillane, a member of the team, the cave is over 4km long at present but the end of the main passage continues on. The team were unable to go further because of a calcite wall more than 45m high halted their progress.
"Khanh has been a guide for the team for many expeditions in the jungle to explore caves. This year he took the team to a cave which had never been explored before, not even by local people," Spillane says.
The cave was a thing of overwhelming beauty and grandeur, spokesman for the team, Haward Limbirt says.
"We plan to return to Viet Nam later to complete our expedition of the cave and conduct a full survey," he says.
Back to normal
The cave is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder, Deer Cave in Sarawak Malaysia.
After the team returned to Britain, Khanh settled back into his everyday routine.
"I just think about how I’m going to earn enough money to feed my family. I only earn VND800,000 (US$50) per month."
His discovery has yet to reap financial gains, Khanh says.
"We are still as poor as we were before. Actually, I still haven’t paid off the VND10 million ($550) loan I borrowed ten years ago to develop our farm and animal husbandry."
Khanh’s obsession with the cave has been hard on his nearest and dearest, his wife Le Thi Nghia says.
"Sometimes I get angry because he just wants to go to the jungle and look at caves, but I understand he is very passionate about it. After all of this, I’m proud of him."
Nghia says the only thing she asks for is recognition from the Government and the press for what her husband has done for the country.
VietNamNet/VNS