At 12:01 am New Year's Day I was flying somewhere over the Bay of Bengal on my way to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. For those awake there were a few cheers, but mostly from the Westerners. The travelers from Asia were saving their celebrations for the Lunar New Year, the year of the Rooster, on January 28.
Vietnam has a special draw because, after living through the nightly news of the war during the 1960-1970's and then the vast immigration of refugees through the 1980-1990's, I wanted to see how the country has fared. I learned quite a bit about Vietnam from the perspective of locals and guides. It was interesting to learn (though it did make sense) that what we in the US refer as the Vietnam War, they refer it as the American War . Also, that ancestral "worship" or reverence has had a stronger impact than Buddhism since the mid 1940's famine.
It is amazing what peace can do for a country! Vietnam is vibrant, with a strong middle class, socialist government, mostly well-developed infrastructure of good roads, transportation, utilities, and a finely-tuned tourist industry. All that and a population of over 93.4 million in a country slightly smaller than California with a population of almost 39 million. North Vietnam has 11% of its population below the poverty line while the US has 15%. In spite of development, the culture and traditions seem to be surviving and not caving in to an all-Western model.
My goal was to see as much of the country as possible during my one-month visa; to travel by land from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Sapa in the north. After a quick 2-nights in HCMC to get oriented I took off on a 7-hour daytime sleeper bus to the south central highlands and the city of Dalat. The sleeper bus is a comfy option for very long trips - rather than being packed in like sardines, each person has their own cushioned "lounge chair" that stretches 3/4 length to accommodate sleeping. There are 3 rows, double-decker & even a bathroom on some of the buses. Well timed rest stops allow passengers time to eat and take a bio-break. The Vietnamese call the bathroom a "happy room".
The country side of Vietnam is lovely - lots of very steep mountains covered in varying degrees of tropical foliage of bamboo, palm, & ferns or forest of pine & hardwood trees. Interspersed are small valleys covered in rice paddies and small villages with personal vegetable gardens. Water buffalo do the heavy lifting. Papaya, mango, pineapple, guava, lychee, coconut, and other tropical fruits can be found just about everywhere and are delicious. Vietnam is also a country of rivers and small lakes where fisherman casting their nets adds to the beauty and charm of the countryside.
Dalat is known for its mild climate and is famous in Vietnam for production of flowers and even wine. I'm drawn to temples so I spent my time exploring the two main Buddhist sites. The Linh Phuong Pagoda, built in the early 1600's is a beautiful complex that is completely covered in mosaics of broken ceramics - it's really flamboyant but seems to exude the cheerful and whimsical nature of Buddhism. I found the most scenic way to get there and back to Dalat was to take the restored 1930's French built train, a short, sweet 20 minute clickety-clackety ride past hillside homes and gardens.
The second stop was Thiền Viện Trúc Lâm Monastery, completely different in tone and architecture. It is a modern Zen monastery built in the early 1990's that provides a home to a couple hundred monks and nuns who also lecture on the teachings of the Master Trúc Lâm and offer guidance on meditation.
I had such an incredible visit to this Zen monastery. I wandered into what I thought was a little restaurant on the grounds & was served a delicious lunch only to find out the monks provide food to guests if asked. Wanting to reciprocate in some way I asked the Guest Master, Thich Tinh Dam, the monk who is charge of public relations with guests to the monastery, what I could do and he was more than glad to accept my offer. I ended up spending over 2-hours with him suggesting vocabulary & grammar edits to the English translation of a spiritual guidebook he was creating, "Lightly Open the Door to Zen". What a thrill to see his translations of Buddhist teachings intended for novices studying Zen Buddhism at this large monastery. Typical to the communication style of many monks, he laughed quite a lot when explaining the Zen parables that were not always so easy to put into simple English.
A gondola takes visitors to/from the monastery. My late, solitary gondola ride back created a perfect time to reflect on the experience. As the gondola flew over the tops of a beautiful pine forest, I thought back to the simple, yet poetic life & teachings of the kind, charming monk I had spent the afternoon with.
From Dalat I continued on by bus northward, descending over 5,000 feet through incredibly steep lush mountains to the seaside town of Hoi An. Hoi An is one of the major tourist attractions in Vietnam and, though crowded with international and local tourists, it is old-worldly and lovely. The small old-town is a World Heritage site as it has kept so much of the architecture of its glory days when it was an important port. The old buildings are packed with great shopping so it was really a bit of an effort to keep looking upward at the beautiful 1600-1800 era buildings. The streets are cleared of traffic for portions of the day and evening so everyone can walk about easily under the hundreds of paper lanterns that decorate the shops and hang over the streets.
Come nightfall, all the lanterns are lit and even lighted paper lanterns are placed to float in the waterway that leads to the sea. It's incredibly charming.
The town is a center for custom tailoring, shoe-making, and very cool ready-made cotton/silk clothing. I finally found some clothes to replace the remaining few funky & well-worn Peace Corps remnants I had been traveling with. I even had a pair of simple, purple, sandals custom made for me! Finally - I felt a little more presentable!!
Vietnam has a special draw because, after living through the nightly news of the war during the 1960-1970's and then the vast immigration of refugees through the 1980-1990's, I wanted to see how the country has fared. I learned quite a bit about Vietnam from the perspective of locals and guides. It was interesting to learn (though it did make sense) that what we in the US refer as the Vietnam War, they refer it as the American War . Also, that ancestral "worship" or reverence has had a stronger impact than Buddhism since the mid 1940's famine.
 |
| Streets of Ho Chi Minh City |
My goal was to see as much of the country as possible during my one-month visa; to travel by land from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Sapa in the north. After a quick 2-nights in HCMC to get oriented I took off on a 7-hour daytime sleeper bus to the south central highlands and the city of Dalat. The sleeper bus is a comfy option for very long trips - rather than being packed in like sardines, each person has their own cushioned "lounge chair" that stretches 3/4 length to accommodate sleeping. There are 3 rows, double-decker & even a bathroom on some of the buses. Well timed rest stops allow passengers time to eat and take a bio-break. The Vietnamese call the bathroom a "happy room".
The country side of Vietnam is lovely - lots of very steep mountains covered in varying degrees of tropical foliage of bamboo, palm, & ferns or forest of pine & hardwood trees. Interspersed are small valleys covered in rice paddies and small villages with personal vegetable gardens. Water buffalo do the heavy lifting. Papaya, mango, pineapple, guava, lychee, coconut, and other tropical fruits can be found just about everywhere and are delicious. Vietnam is also a country of rivers and small lakes where fisherman casting their nets adds to the beauty and charm of the countryside.
 |
| Linh Phuong Pagoda |
The second stop was Thiền Viện Trúc Lâm Monastery, completely different in tone and architecture. It is a modern Zen monastery built in the early 1990's that provides a home to a couple hundred monks and nuns who also lecture on the teachings of the Master Trúc Lâm and offer guidance on meditation.
 |
| Thiền Viện Trúc Lâm Monastery |
From Dalat I continued on by bus northward, descending over 5,000 feet through incredibly steep lush mountains to the seaside town of Hoi An. Hoi An is one of the major tourist attractions in Vietnam and, though crowded with international and local tourists, it is old-worldly and lovely. The small old-town is a World Heritage site as it has kept so much of the architecture of its glory days when it was an important port. The old buildings are packed with great shopping so it was really a bit of an effort to keep looking upward at the beautiful 1600-1800 era buildings. The streets are cleared of traffic for portions of the day and evening so everyone can walk about easily under the hundreds of paper lanterns that decorate the shops and hang over the streets.
 |
| Hoi An at night |
Come nightfall, all the lanterns are lit and even lighted paper lanterns are placed to float in the waterway that leads to the sea. It's incredibly charming.
Hue Citadel
From Hoi An I traveled by train along the steep cliffs of the coast to the next stop of Hue - an historical capital with a Citadel with palace and administrative center, and several important religious sites and emperor tombs. Then on to the Phang Nha national park known for caves. Supposedly the world's largest known cave is in the area but only very high-end private tours are allowed to enter. I made friends with a German couple & we rented motorbikes for a day of exploring the park and the caves available to the public. It was great to be out on quiet roads & passing through small villages and away from cities at last.
 |
| Phang Nha |
 |
| Ninh Binh |
From the peaceful countryside I traveled on to old-town Hanoi. What a great place old Hanoi is!! Narrow winding streets congested with motorbikes, sidewalks packed with street-side eateries (noodles galore!), and shops teeming with locals and foreigners. The Vietnamese keep all the coffee houses & restaurants full throughout the day & into the late evening. The street around a central lake (a bit smaller than Merritt Lake in Oakland) really comes alive at night as families and young singles go out to stroll, visit, and eat. The Vietnamese don't seem affected at all by tourists & foreigners - they take it all in stride and get on about their business. Sure they are kind & willing to help but in no way impressed by the multitude of foreign languages and personalities of us travelers.
Since I had to traverse part of the city to get to the Indian Embassy to apply for a visa I had to take a motorbike taxi. I was able to see quite a bit of Hanoi from the back of a motorbike & experience the sensation of gliding through the crush of motorbikes. The city has its own rhythm and flow that just seems to move without chaos or even too much noise - Sri Lanka & Lesotho have so much more noise.
 |
| Tet Festival Preparation - Hanoi |
I made Hanoi my hub so I could take a couple of short trips out to Ha Long Bay in the east and Sapa in the north. It was great to leave my suitcases in a Hanoi hotel & just carry a daypack. Ha Long Bay is gorgeous. Though I was there in winter with mist and fog it was still absolutely enchanting.
 |
| Ha Long Bay |
The trip to Sapa meant more cold and more mist and fog but it was charming. Sapa is one of the regions that is home to various "hill tribes" such as the Hmong.
 |
| Sapa Trek with Hmong |
I joined a small group for a 2-day trek up and down pretty steep and muddy trails to several villages in the remote countryside. Hmong ladies typically follow along with the trekkers and are ready to jump in as "porters". I had no problem hiring a porter to help me keep upright along the slippery trail. I was one of the few who made it without earning a badge of "shame" - a big fat swath of mud on my rear from falling! We spent one night in a village guesthouse where I had the best dinner yet. It was a lot of fun for me to join a group of travelers (all 20-something) from the Netherlands, Germany, and France. The guesthouse served us plenty of homemade local rice wine that made us all toasty! After the wine wore off I still survived the cold night by filling up 7 plastic water bottles with hot tap water and putting them in my bed - a trick I learned in an even colder guesthouse in Tibet!
 |
| 70 year old Hmong woman along for the trek |
And so, after 25 days, I had traveled overland more than 1,600 miles from south to north and now back again to see the beautiful lowland countryside, the highlands and mountains, beaches, and bays. I even reached my 6-month mark of travel since leaving my home in Lesotho. Tired of travel you may ask - well no actually! So on to the Philippines!
Vietnam… a few stats from the 2014 Census, INDEX Mundi
Population (of 242 countries): ranks 14, over 93.4 million (USA ranks 3, almost 320 million)
Population density (of 242 countries): ranks 44, 282 people per sq. km; (USA ranks 176, 33 people per sq. km)
Poverty (of 215 countries): ranks 138, 11% (USA ranks 127, 15% ), population below poverty line
Literacy (of 215 countries): ranks 118, 93.4% (USA ranks 45, 99%)
HIV adult prevalence (of 169 countries) ranks 84, 0.4% (USA ranks 62, 0.6% )
Life Expectancy at birth (of 221 countries): ranks 127, 73 yrs. (USA ranks 41, 79 yrs.)
No comments:
Post a Comment