It was hot and humid in Hanoi, the kind of humid that is wet the moment you step outside. The kind of humid that makes everything go in slow motion. Hazy, oppressive, hot humidity where dehydration is a real concern. We were exploring the city on foot. The previous day we had seen pretty much all of the old quarter. Our hotel had given us a map that highlighted "walking streets," of which we had walked all and then some.
Feeling confident from yesterday's safe and friendly exploration of Hanoi and the fact that so many Vietnamese there could speak English, we just went with it, walking wherever we pleased. We simply walked, following whatever was interesting. We followed meandering roads, where the streets became narrower and narrower. Each street is named for the good it sells and all of the sellers of that particular good are located on that Hang (street). We went down the woodworker's hang, the toy hang, candy hang, lantern hang, instant noodle hang, until we found ourselves on fruit hang. We continued to follow the ever narrowing non linear paths deeper and deeper into the heart of the city.
At potato hang we simultaneously realized something had changed from 15 minutes ago. We weren't in Kansas any more. The street was so narrow and crooked a car could not fit through it, and thinking of it- I hadn't seen any in a while. There were potato vendors everywhere, their traditional baskets filled to the brim with sweet potato, red potatoes and many others. How could their carrying stick take the weight of all those potatoes? The vendors were squatting on the ground, their pointy straw hats covering their heads and flimsy flip flops on their feet, if any shoes at all. And no one was calling to us; no one asking if we wanted to look in their shop, no one offering us food; no one speaking English.
Time slowed. Chickens were running around. Some of the squatting vendors noticed us with a quizzical look. The haze made it all so surreal. If ever we were foreigners, it was now. People clearly noticed us as out of place, their upturned glances lingering until they registered what was different about today's scene. Had we entered a worm hole? The world was different now, it had all changed. Time was slow, the picture hazy. Where were we? What year was this? Things were haphazard- it was hard to even move in all the chaos. Chickens, people, potatoes, baskets. If the motorbikes had been bicycles I might have been convinced we had slipped through a stargate and had transported back in time.
"Where are we?" Lindsay turned to ask.
"I don't know- we are in the real Vietnam, I guess." There were no street signs. We looked around for a hint of modern civilization- anything that would point us back to the year 2012; cars, ATM's a mini mart. In the distance, a steady stream of cars. "That way" Lindsay instructed- she had taken on the role of map keeper. When we got there, after carefully weaving through the baskets of potato vendors we were perplexed to see only a highway. We had to turn around and slip back through the stargate to get out. We followed potato hang a little ways back until we again saw signs of modern life- cars. We followed the cars until they brought us to a street with a sign and we located it on the map. We hadn't actually gone that far- our hotel was a short walk away, yet we had,we had gone far- to the other side of the Earth. A place where two white American women rarely went; through the stargate to the real Vietnam.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Imagine
Yesterday I went to the daily meditation available at the Spa. There were four of us plus the teacher. It was relaxing and of course better than no meditation, but very secular.We were relaxing, imagining ourselves on a beach..but why not go to the beach, then? It's right there- I can see it from where I am sitting.
Today I went again, determined to take advantage of daily meditations in the paradise like setting overlooking the beach. I would get something out of it even if it was not the style of mediation I prefer.
To my surprise it was a new teacher, a stocky white man with glasses and a four inch long white beard in the ancient Chinese style, that is, long and pointy. He greeted me warmly and invited me to lay out my mat which ever way I felt comfortable. While we waited for the others he began to chat with me. Since I was the first person there, I got to choose a lucky number. Guess what I chose? 7, of course. Common, I know but it is my birthday so it is truly lucky for me, I didn't choose it for gambling reasons. The teacher would read the seventh story in Moon by the Window later.
"Change starts within you. If you want the world to change you must change yourself, that is it. When you do that the world shifts and a slight change occurs. A change can be as simple as not watching tv. If you are a peaceful person, one who does not like violence, does not practice it, does not watch violent or disturbing movies than you can turn off your tv and a shift in the world has occurred" Each of us in interconnected in more than one way; physically perhaps, but spiritually as well. We are all one choosing to take this life journey together in our individual roles. We cannot change the external world without changing our internal world. When we change our internal world, that is, ourselves we shift our reality, shift our focus and instantly, the world changes because our world view changes. If I no longer subscribe to something, say violence, than I refuse to partake, refuse to watch it, practice it, than it is not a part of my world.
I found this man and his conversation interesting. Obviously I had found my non- secular meditation guy, although he was careful to claim that this session was of no particular faith, that all faiths were welcome here.It was spiritual none the less. He went even further in his examples of nonviolence. "If you are against violence than you should not take any part, don't practice it, don't watch it on TV, and this includes our animals, they are spiritual beings as well. Animal slaughter houses, they are violent. So if you say you are against violence, please think of the animals as well."
Wow, I was into this. It's like this guy was here for me. The universe felt my wish for a more spiritual meditation and gave me more than I could have hoped for. It was soon 7:30am and it was clear no one else was coming so we began the hour long session. Wow! A private mediation session overlooking the beach! The universe was looking out for me. The teacher had a gong like bowl which he rung and the session started with some breathing techniques to facilitate the meditation and then a bow, with hands in prayer position to give thanks for meditation and to recognize all the other mediators around the world, many of whom are meditating with us now, at this very moment, somewhere in the world.
After there was a reading, the message of which was this- as the sun shines through the clouds and breaks them free, this will come to you as well. Soon all the sunshine you have been seeking will come down on you all at once. All has been prepared and readied for you it is time to let your sunshine bring what it will.
We then meditated for a little before another reading of several quotes from who other than Lao Tzu and Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you know me well, truly well, then you know that Emerson is one of my favorite authors- a man well ahead of his time, maybe even ahead of ours. His words are enlightened and enlightening.
More meditation and more relevant quotes continued for the remainder of our session. There was a good one about seeking approval and how doing so takes our power away. I am only accountable to me and seeking approval from outside of myself gives power to another and they can hold that power over me. We should not seek to be the best in someone else's eyes, only our own.
At one point we put one hand on our stomach and one on our hearts. Doing so, you can feel your breath moving in and out and your heart beating. These are the two things that give us life in these bodies; the heart and the breath. The teacher instructed to "feel your heart beat. It is the power of your body." Perhaps this is the explanation to the 'echo chamber' at Angkor Wat. When we were there I found it curious, but powerful. What was this room for? It was a small room with a high ceiling and and two tall doorways on either side. When you stood against one of the two walls and thumped on your heart with your fist the echo was amazing. It was a drum beating and reverberating through space and time, deep and pounding like the beat of an ancient war drum. "It is an echo of your heart" the guide explained.
The chamber, like what we were doing now, was a reminder. A reminder that although we are currently in this body we are only an echo of something much larger. Yes, we have this life here on planet Earth, but we have more in the beyond we are bigger than we realize.
The teacher closed the session with another prayer of thanks for the gift of meditation in this world and a prayer for people to realize a shift only has to occur within them for a shift to occur within the world. "It's like John Lennon's song, imagine world where people realize we are one and begin living that way" and I remembered something he had said at the beginning of the session- If you feel love, sincere love and express your love or gratitude in that exact moment that you feel it, you have changed the world in that moment. Indeed, if everyone did this- imagine.
Today I went again, determined to take advantage of daily meditations in the paradise like setting overlooking the beach. I would get something out of it even if it was not the style of mediation I prefer.
To my surprise it was a new teacher, a stocky white man with glasses and a four inch long white beard in the ancient Chinese style, that is, long and pointy. He greeted me warmly and invited me to lay out my mat which ever way I felt comfortable. While we waited for the others he began to chat with me. Since I was the first person there, I got to choose a lucky number. Guess what I chose? 7, of course. Common, I know but it is my birthday so it is truly lucky for me, I didn't choose it for gambling reasons. The teacher would read the seventh story in Moon by the Window later.
"Change starts within you. If you want the world to change you must change yourself, that is it. When you do that the world shifts and a slight change occurs. A change can be as simple as not watching tv. If you are a peaceful person, one who does not like violence, does not practice it, does not watch violent or disturbing movies than you can turn off your tv and a shift in the world has occurred" Each of us in interconnected in more than one way; physically perhaps, but spiritually as well. We are all one choosing to take this life journey together in our individual roles. We cannot change the external world without changing our internal world. When we change our internal world, that is, ourselves we shift our reality, shift our focus and instantly, the world changes because our world view changes. If I no longer subscribe to something, say violence, than I refuse to partake, refuse to watch it, practice it, than it is not a part of my world.
I found this man and his conversation interesting. Obviously I had found my non- secular meditation guy, although he was careful to claim that this session was of no particular faith, that all faiths were welcome here.It was spiritual none the less. He went even further in his examples of nonviolence. "If you are against violence than you should not take any part, don't practice it, don't watch it on TV, and this includes our animals, they are spiritual beings as well. Animal slaughter houses, they are violent. So if you say you are against violence, please think of the animals as well."
Wow, I was into this. It's like this guy was here for me. The universe felt my wish for a more spiritual meditation and gave me more than I could have hoped for. It was soon 7:30am and it was clear no one else was coming so we began the hour long session. Wow! A private mediation session overlooking the beach! The universe was looking out for me. The teacher had a gong like bowl which he rung and the session started with some breathing techniques to facilitate the meditation and then a bow, with hands in prayer position to give thanks for meditation and to recognize all the other mediators around the world, many of whom are meditating with us now, at this very moment, somewhere in the world.
After there was a reading, the message of which was this- as the sun shines through the clouds and breaks them free, this will come to you as well. Soon all the sunshine you have been seeking will come down on you all at once. All has been prepared and readied for you it is time to let your sunshine bring what it will.
We then meditated for a little before another reading of several quotes from who other than Lao Tzu and Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you know me well, truly well, then you know that Emerson is one of my favorite authors- a man well ahead of his time, maybe even ahead of ours. His words are enlightened and enlightening.
More meditation and more relevant quotes continued for the remainder of our session. There was a good one about seeking approval and how doing so takes our power away. I am only accountable to me and seeking approval from outside of myself gives power to another and they can hold that power over me. We should not seek to be the best in someone else's eyes, only our own.
At one point we put one hand on our stomach and one on our hearts. Doing so, you can feel your breath moving in and out and your heart beating. These are the two things that give us life in these bodies; the heart and the breath. The teacher instructed to "feel your heart beat. It is the power of your body." Perhaps this is the explanation to the 'echo chamber' at Angkor Wat. When we were there I found it curious, but powerful. What was this room for? It was a small room with a high ceiling and and two tall doorways on either side. When you stood against one of the two walls and thumped on your heart with your fist the echo was amazing. It was a drum beating and reverberating through space and time, deep and pounding like the beat of an ancient war drum. "It is an echo of your heart" the guide explained.
The chamber, like what we were doing now, was a reminder. A reminder that although we are currently in this body we are only an echo of something much larger. Yes, we have this life here on planet Earth, but we have more in the beyond we are bigger than we realize.
The teacher closed the session with another prayer of thanks for the gift of meditation in this world and a prayer for people to realize a shift only has to occur within them for a shift to occur within the world. "It's like John Lennon's song, imagine world where people realize we are one and begin living that way" and I remembered something he had said at the beginning of the session- If you feel love, sincere love and express your love or gratitude in that exact moment that you feel it, you have changed the world in that moment. Indeed, if everyone did this- imagine.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The Twilight Zone
I should have expected this. The time warp was a sign we were danerously close to the twilight zone. Where are we? What is happening? In the last 24 hours we have experienced some strage events for sure. Beware, sometimes nothing is as it seems.
I guess it all started when we arrived in Phuket afer a flight which was delayed by an hour. Or maybe it was beore that, at the Bangkok airport when we discovered the airline had an awesome louge with free wifi, magazines, food and drink for econmoy passengers. Yup. You read that right. Strange, I know.
Anyway, so we arrive in Phuket and decide to take the $5 mini bus to our hotel. We wait and wait for it to leave. When we do the driver has not asked us where we are going and when I try to speak to him I realize he does not speak English. We end up stopping at a tour agency where we all have to get out and they try to sell us tours or hotels (for those odd traveler people who don't book anything in advance). Luckily, no one wants to buy so we are off. A fourty minute drive later our hotel is the fourth stop of the mini bus, but we realize we could have been the first- the driver has gone an extremly round about way for whatever reason. What the hell?
Our initial impression of the town is not good- it's tacky, touristy, a little run down and there are bars and flashing lights everywhere, and I mean everywhere- on signs, taxis, toys on the street, even people's shirts. So we check into the hotel and despite excellent reviews it is really not that nice. It was cheap, but it's the low season here, so everything is. It is clean and late so we go to sleep vowing to switch in the morning. After much reasearch and a little bit of walking we learn that we can get a nicer hotel, but the island itself is pretty much the same wherever you go. We cannot get a refund or credit on the room either, so after much debate we decide to stay. We spend the first day walking around and hanging on the beach. The beach is not so bad after all.
For day two we are going to be gone all day anyway, on a tour of the Phi Phi islands by boat. We book a great 10 hour tour through the hotel. The boat is small, only taking 12 passengers, has an English speaking guide and stops at many beaches and lagoons. When we take out our money to pay, the front desk receptionist tells us there is no need to pay now, he can put it on our room tab. We offered a down payment. No need, we are told.
Later, when we want to double check the pick up time the front desk receptionist (now someone else) tells us we never confirmed, so there is no tour for us. When we explained that we did confirm she told us the tour has no more space. We really want to go on this tour- staying in the crappy town for another day was just not an option. We asked the front desk to find another tour for us, comprable to the one we wanted to go on, which we were told was "the best."
We wait for about 30 minutes while the front desk girl looks into it. She fianlly comes out and tells us she has another tour, we have to pay cash now. The tour, she says, is essentailly the same but the boat is bigger and the trip is a few hours shorter. We want a small tour so we ask how many people. We are told there will be thirty, with an Englih speaking guide and the same itinerary as the other tour, but a faster boat.
Fast forward to the next day and the mini bus to pick us up is 15 minutes late, no biggie. We get to the station and get shuffled onto a boat which is pretty big. You cannot see out any of the windows from the seats so we sit near the back so we can look out that way. The boat has a lot of people. The tour guides (there are two) count 79! One of the tour guides comes on the microphone to greet us "ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Sea Angel number 5" and after that I don't know becuase her english is not good, even 'sea angel' was hard to distinguish; if I hadn't seen it written on the boat I would not have known. So much for the English speaking guide, she's not going to cut it. Wait- it's not a her. It's a he. It's a he-she, or as they say in Thailand, a "ladyboy." She is Jennifer (or did she say Jane?) and she has on a very loud dress with clashing shirt and giant fake boobs which she flashes around while play flirting with the guys. She is flamboyant and fun and likes crude jokes and probably 'crosses the line' (by American standars) with some of the men. Okay, well we have another guide, a tall man. He gets on the microphone and says.... I have no idea. He was not speaking any of the languages I know- English, Spanish or ASL.
Personal space on the boat is extremely limited. There are so many people on it and one person has 4 seats. One for her bag and another three so she can lay down and drape her legs over her boyfriend. People just cram in and no one says anything to her.
We start off with an hour ride to our destination during which a boy of about 7 starts puking all over. We get to our first spot, the male guide says something and a lengthy diembarqument takes place. People seem afraid of the water- or the boat. The destination is beautiful. They filmed the beach here. We get back on the boat and the male guide gets on the microphone and talks more. We wait for an English translation- there is none. Instead the male guide gets back on the microphone again. This time I catch the word lagoon and some hand gestures and realize we are on our way to a larger lagoon with more cliffs surrounding it. Still no English translation. What the hell is going on here?
Lindsay and I begin watching the guide to see if we can catch any more- we want to know the information too- when we notice the guy is wearing makeup. Foundation, concealer, maybe a little blush. "I think he has on eye liner, too" I say. Lindsay says he does. A closer look and I see his eyes are lined with black rhinestones. Lindsay and I give each other the look. What the hell is going on here? We depart and are off to the next lagoon, then a monkey hang out, which we only knew about beause everyone else was standing to take pictures. There was some strage cave hangout area too, we don't know what, I don't speak the mystery language.
There is another boy on the boat, about 10, a speaker of the mystery language and on vacation with his mother. They are sitting near us. On the beach his mother poses in her bikini for some very sexy shots, as if she is actually a super model, while he acts as photographer. Again, Lindsay and I give each other the look- what the hell is going on here? The mystery language boy is very rude on the boat. He boses the other passengers around, pointing to us to give him more space (we are packed like sardines, except the girl and her boyfriend who are taking four seats). His towel touches my leg and he snatches it up as if I might have lice. While we travel to the next beach his mother examins her sexy pictures by zooming in and checking herself out. This lasts a good 25 minutes.
The four seat girl is still laying down and now her boyfriend is gropping her and, though all the gropping it becomes appearent she is wearing a thong bathing suit. The barfing child is two people down. Turns out she enjoys showing her ass as much as possible. I think it's even in one of my pictures.
We stop for snorkeling, which I know because the "English" speaking guide demonstrates how to put the mask and snorkel on then offers the one that was just in her (his?) mouth to several people, who decline. I'm really not into seeing what I am swimming above, I'd rather pretend they are not there so I decline and so does Lindsay. We stand up and look over the boat. The thong girl's boyfriend is following her closely with his mask trained on her ass. When he tires of this he stares another woman down, the sexy picture mom, who is totally oblivious to the fact that he is following her around underwater watching her.
I decide to take a swim so I line up at the back of the boat. Everyone has life vests on. I look around to see if there are any dangers. Well -I'll line up without one and see if they make me put it on. It is taking a long time. A few Chinese people with life vests on are afraid of the water.They stick their feet in, take them out. Stick their feet in again, try going down the ladder, come back up again. They don't know how to use a boat ladder. They are just standing there, speaking Chinese to each other. I've had enough so I say "What's the probem, just jump in! Go, go, go or get out of the way" and gesture. A crew member thinks I'm pretty funny. The lady slowly walks in only to decide instantaneously that she wants to get back out, totally screwing up the line of people who want to get off. I just want to get off so I go to the other line. Why does this always take so long? When I'm finally in the water the crew member gives me a thumbs up. I know how to do this!
Almost immediatly someone swims by me and touches my ass. That pervert ass man! I'm going to kick him in his...well you know. I yelled to Lindsay "someone just touched my butt!" This is when I knew for sure almost no one else spoke English becuase not a single soul save for Lindsay looked at me. But it wasn't ass man. It was an Indian man in his underware. He was wearing a life vest but looked like he was about to drown. He couldn't swim. Neither could his friend, also in his underware. His girlfriend was a little better; she was swimming in life vest, jeans and a t shirt.
The water was nice and I decide to come in early so I don't have to wait behind all the life jacket jack asses trying to get on the boat later. Lindsay and I stand on the boat watching the people sorkle and discuss the depth of the water. It's about 5 and a half feet at best, shallower in places and there is a lot of coral on the bottom. A man decides to back flip off the top of the boat. "oh, my god, not a good idea" I say. Someone else sees this and must think it's a good idea so he does the same. We argee he's going to get hurt. Luckily it's only his feet which slam into the coral and he comes up grabbing his bleeding feet. Lindsay and I look at each other. What the hell is going on here?
We are standing on the seats looking at the water like many other passengers, but Lindsay gets reprimanded (with body language) for having her shoes on the seat by another passenger we nicknamed Miranda. Apparently Miranda does not like the looks of Lindsay's flip flops on the seats. The seats are hard, waterproff plastic and by this time are soaked with sea water. What the hell us up with her? I am sure to wring out my hair over her seat.
To make this long story short, suffice it to say all the other beach and swimming excursions are the same- everyone is wearing a life vest even in the most shallow of waters, only a handful of us can actaully swim. Later we learn the only people who can actually swim and know how to use a boat are the few of us who also speak English, about 9 people- me, Lindsay and an Australian family. Nearyl everyone else speaks the mystery language and seem new to this whole ocean thing.
Later when we are on the beach the boat company has soda and fruit for us. I grab a cup and start unscrewing the cap. I have a piece of pineapple in the other hand. As soon as I get the cap off mystery language boy with the sexy mom grabs the bottle out of my hand to pour his soda. I say to him "Oh my god, seriosuly? You just took that out of my hand. You are so rude!" He does not understand and ignores me anyway. We rant about this group of assholes and decide they might be French, but we have not heard any 'oui ouis.' What the hell is going on here?
When we get back on the boat to return home we are even more packed in somehow. Maybe more people joined us? The mystery language boy who stole my soda bottle gets on and jestures to a whole row of people to move down. He starts talking his mystery language to the people and this time some of his native speakers explain to him (although its blatently obvious) that there is no room here. I just tell him "no" and shake my head. What the hell is going on here?
The 4 seat thong girl and her boyfriend are laying in their usual spot with their bags all over and someone asks the girl to move the bag. "This is my space" she says, in English. The person walks away. An 11 year old Australian boy wants to sit near his father, who is across the isle so he squeezes next to the boyfriend. The girl put her feet over her boyfriend's lap. Her feet are now also on the boy. The boy's mother asks the girl to move her feet. The girl says "This is my space." The mother asks her to move her bag a little so her son can have more space. She refuses. The boy's father appeals to the boyfriend in a very nice and friendly way."We here first, boy move" and makes some gestures The father tries to reason with him and the man says "you make (points to the boy) move my space"
I'm so pissed at these people so I say " Can't you give the little boy an inch? Just an inch of space?" No, they cannot so the mother appeals to them again. The girl's feet are still on the boy so his mother tells him to push her "dirty feet" off. He does. She puts them back, he pushes them off. This happens a few more times. The father gets in the man's face and I wonder if there will be a fight. The man is a total pussy, and his English is not good so I'm not sure he got it all. The father give his son his seat and tells the guide what is going on. The male guide asks the girl to move and she ignores him. The guide says in English "This woman, she she take three seat and vill not move" Me and Lindsay hope she will fall overboard, or at least her bag will. The Australian mother tells the girl she is a "selfish, filthy pig" and something else that must be Australian slang. I wonder if a fight is coming. That girl will be sorry. We tell Australian mother the girl is a bitch and end up having a nice conversation with her. She had the same problem with her hotel booking this tour, and where is the English speaking guide anyway? They could not understand her either. "Do you know what Nationality these people are?" Lindsay asks her and the mystery is revealed. They are all Russian. "That explains a lot!" Lindsay comments. We all decide we must have entered the twilight zone, and we miss Vietnam.
I guess it all started when we arrived in Phuket afer a flight which was delayed by an hour. Or maybe it was beore that, at the Bangkok airport when we discovered the airline had an awesome louge with free wifi, magazines, food and drink for econmoy passengers. Yup. You read that right. Strange, I know.
Anyway, so we arrive in Phuket and decide to take the $5 mini bus to our hotel. We wait and wait for it to leave. When we do the driver has not asked us where we are going and when I try to speak to him I realize he does not speak English. We end up stopping at a tour agency where we all have to get out and they try to sell us tours or hotels (for those odd traveler people who don't book anything in advance). Luckily, no one wants to buy so we are off. A fourty minute drive later our hotel is the fourth stop of the mini bus, but we realize we could have been the first- the driver has gone an extremly round about way for whatever reason. What the hell?
Our initial impression of the town is not good- it's tacky, touristy, a little run down and there are bars and flashing lights everywhere, and I mean everywhere- on signs, taxis, toys on the street, even people's shirts. So we check into the hotel and despite excellent reviews it is really not that nice. It was cheap, but it's the low season here, so everything is. It is clean and late so we go to sleep vowing to switch in the morning. After much reasearch and a little bit of walking we learn that we can get a nicer hotel, but the island itself is pretty much the same wherever you go. We cannot get a refund or credit on the room either, so after much debate we decide to stay. We spend the first day walking around and hanging on the beach. The beach is not so bad after all.
For day two we are going to be gone all day anyway, on a tour of the Phi Phi islands by boat. We book a great 10 hour tour through the hotel. The boat is small, only taking 12 passengers, has an English speaking guide and stops at many beaches and lagoons. When we take out our money to pay, the front desk receptionist tells us there is no need to pay now, he can put it on our room tab. We offered a down payment. No need, we are told.
Later, when we want to double check the pick up time the front desk receptionist (now someone else) tells us we never confirmed, so there is no tour for us. When we explained that we did confirm she told us the tour has no more space. We really want to go on this tour- staying in the crappy town for another day was just not an option. We asked the front desk to find another tour for us, comprable to the one we wanted to go on, which we were told was "the best."
We wait for about 30 minutes while the front desk girl looks into it. She fianlly comes out and tells us she has another tour, we have to pay cash now. The tour, she says, is essentailly the same but the boat is bigger and the trip is a few hours shorter. We want a small tour so we ask how many people. We are told there will be thirty, with an Englih speaking guide and the same itinerary as the other tour, but a faster boat.
Fast forward to the next day and the mini bus to pick us up is 15 minutes late, no biggie. We get to the station and get shuffled onto a boat which is pretty big. You cannot see out any of the windows from the seats so we sit near the back so we can look out that way. The boat has a lot of people. The tour guides (there are two) count 79! One of the tour guides comes on the microphone to greet us "ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Sea Angel number 5" and after that I don't know becuase her english is not good, even 'sea angel' was hard to distinguish; if I hadn't seen it written on the boat I would not have known. So much for the English speaking guide, she's not going to cut it. Wait- it's not a her. It's a he. It's a he-she, or as they say in Thailand, a "ladyboy." She is Jennifer (or did she say Jane?) and she has on a very loud dress with clashing shirt and giant fake boobs which she flashes around while play flirting with the guys. She is flamboyant and fun and likes crude jokes and probably 'crosses the line' (by American standars) with some of the men. Okay, well we have another guide, a tall man. He gets on the microphone and says.... I have no idea. He was not speaking any of the languages I know- English, Spanish or ASL.
Personal space on the boat is extremely limited. There are so many people on it and one person has 4 seats. One for her bag and another three so she can lay down and drape her legs over her boyfriend. People just cram in and no one says anything to her.
We start off with an hour ride to our destination during which a boy of about 7 starts puking all over. We get to our first spot, the male guide says something and a lengthy diembarqument takes place. People seem afraid of the water- or the boat. The destination is beautiful. They filmed the beach here. We get back on the boat and the male guide gets on the microphone and talks more. We wait for an English translation- there is none. Instead the male guide gets back on the microphone again. This time I catch the word lagoon and some hand gestures and realize we are on our way to a larger lagoon with more cliffs surrounding it. Still no English translation. What the hell is going on here?
Lindsay and I begin watching the guide to see if we can catch any more- we want to know the information too- when we notice the guy is wearing makeup. Foundation, concealer, maybe a little blush. "I think he has on eye liner, too" I say. Lindsay says he does. A closer look and I see his eyes are lined with black rhinestones. Lindsay and I give each other the look. What the hell is going on here? We depart and are off to the next lagoon, then a monkey hang out, which we only knew about beause everyone else was standing to take pictures. There was some strage cave hangout area too, we don't know what, I don't speak the mystery language.
There is another boy on the boat, about 10, a speaker of the mystery language and on vacation with his mother. They are sitting near us. On the beach his mother poses in her bikini for some very sexy shots, as if she is actually a super model, while he acts as photographer. Again, Lindsay and I give each other the look- what the hell is going on here? The mystery language boy is very rude on the boat. He boses the other passengers around, pointing to us to give him more space (we are packed like sardines, except the girl and her boyfriend who are taking four seats). His towel touches my leg and he snatches it up as if I might have lice. While we travel to the next beach his mother examins her sexy pictures by zooming in and checking herself out. This lasts a good 25 minutes.
The four seat girl is still laying down and now her boyfriend is gropping her and, though all the gropping it becomes appearent she is wearing a thong bathing suit. The barfing child is two people down. Turns out she enjoys showing her ass as much as possible. I think it's even in one of my pictures.
We stop for snorkeling, which I know because the "English" speaking guide demonstrates how to put the mask and snorkel on then offers the one that was just in her (his?) mouth to several people, who decline. I'm really not into seeing what I am swimming above, I'd rather pretend they are not there so I decline and so does Lindsay. We stand up and look over the boat. The thong girl's boyfriend is following her closely with his mask trained on her ass. When he tires of this he stares another woman down, the sexy picture mom, who is totally oblivious to the fact that he is following her around underwater watching her.
I decide to take a swim so I line up at the back of the boat. Everyone has life vests on. I look around to see if there are any dangers. Well -I'll line up without one and see if they make me put it on. It is taking a long time. A few Chinese people with life vests on are afraid of the water.They stick their feet in, take them out. Stick their feet in again, try going down the ladder, come back up again. They don't know how to use a boat ladder. They are just standing there, speaking Chinese to each other. I've had enough so I say "What's the probem, just jump in! Go, go, go or get out of the way" and gesture. A crew member thinks I'm pretty funny. The lady slowly walks in only to decide instantaneously that she wants to get back out, totally screwing up the line of people who want to get off. I just want to get off so I go to the other line. Why does this always take so long? When I'm finally in the water the crew member gives me a thumbs up. I know how to do this!
Almost immediatly someone swims by me and touches my ass. That pervert ass man! I'm going to kick him in his...well you know. I yelled to Lindsay "someone just touched my butt!" This is when I knew for sure almost no one else spoke English becuase not a single soul save for Lindsay looked at me. But it wasn't ass man. It was an Indian man in his underware. He was wearing a life vest but looked like he was about to drown. He couldn't swim. Neither could his friend, also in his underware. His girlfriend was a little better; she was swimming in life vest, jeans and a t shirt.
The water was nice and I decide to come in early so I don't have to wait behind all the life jacket jack asses trying to get on the boat later. Lindsay and I stand on the boat watching the people sorkle and discuss the depth of the water. It's about 5 and a half feet at best, shallower in places and there is a lot of coral on the bottom. A man decides to back flip off the top of the boat. "oh, my god, not a good idea" I say. Someone else sees this and must think it's a good idea so he does the same. We argee he's going to get hurt. Luckily it's only his feet which slam into the coral and he comes up grabbing his bleeding feet. Lindsay and I look at each other. What the hell is going on here?
We are standing on the seats looking at the water like many other passengers, but Lindsay gets reprimanded (with body language) for having her shoes on the seat by another passenger we nicknamed Miranda. Apparently Miranda does not like the looks of Lindsay's flip flops on the seats. The seats are hard, waterproff plastic and by this time are soaked with sea water. What the hell us up with her? I am sure to wring out my hair over her seat.
To make this long story short, suffice it to say all the other beach and swimming excursions are the same- everyone is wearing a life vest even in the most shallow of waters, only a handful of us can actaully swim. Later we learn the only people who can actually swim and know how to use a boat are the few of us who also speak English, about 9 people- me, Lindsay and an Australian family. Nearyl everyone else speaks the mystery language and seem new to this whole ocean thing.
Later when we are on the beach the boat company has soda and fruit for us. I grab a cup and start unscrewing the cap. I have a piece of pineapple in the other hand. As soon as I get the cap off mystery language boy with the sexy mom grabs the bottle out of my hand to pour his soda. I say to him "Oh my god, seriosuly? You just took that out of my hand. You are so rude!" He does not understand and ignores me anyway. We rant about this group of assholes and decide they might be French, but we have not heard any 'oui ouis.' What the hell is going on here?
When we get back on the boat to return home we are even more packed in somehow. Maybe more people joined us? The mystery language boy who stole my soda bottle gets on and jestures to a whole row of people to move down. He starts talking his mystery language to the people and this time some of his native speakers explain to him (although its blatently obvious) that there is no room here. I just tell him "no" and shake my head. What the hell is going on here?
The 4 seat thong girl and her boyfriend are laying in their usual spot with their bags all over and someone asks the girl to move the bag. "This is my space" she says, in English. The person walks away. An 11 year old Australian boy wants to sit near his father, who is across the isle so he squeezes next to the boyfriend. The girl put her feet over her boyfriend's lap. Her feet are now also on the boy. The boy's mother asks the girl to move her feet. The girl says "This is my space." The mother asks her to move her bag a little so her son can have more space. She refuses. The boy's father appeals to the boyfriend in a very nice and friendly way."We here first, boy move" and makes some gestures The father tries to reason with him and the man says "you make (points to the boy) move my space"
I'm so pissed at these people so I say " Can't you give the little boy an inch? Just an inch of space?" No, they cannot so the mother appeals to them again. The girl's feet are still on the boy so his mother tells him to push her "dirty feet" off. He does. She puts them back, he pushes them off. This happens a few more times. The father gets in the man's face and I wonder if there will be a fight. The man is a total pussy, and his English is not good so I'm not sure he got it all. The father give his son his seat and tells the guide what is going on. The male guide asks the girl to move and she ignores him. The guide says in English "This woman, she she take three seat and vill not move" Me and Lindsay hope she will fall overboard, or at least her bag will. The Australian mother tells the girl she is a "selfish, filthy pig" and something else that must be Australian slang. I wonder if a fight is coming. That girl will be sorry. We tell Australian mother the girl is a bitch and end up having a nice conversation with her. She had the same problem with her hotel booking this tour, and where is the English speaking guide anyway? They could not understand her either. "Do you know what Nationality these people are?" Lindsay asks her and the mystery is revealed. They are all Russian. "That explains a lot!" Lindsay comments. We all decide we must have entered the twilight zone, and we miss Vietnam.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Oh, the food!
That is the first response I got from most people when I told them about my trip to SE Asia. I wondered, what about the food? Was it really that good? I mean, what? I hadn't had much asian food. I mean I liked chinese food but what about Vietnamese, Thai and Cambodian? I didn't know what to expect, especially being a vegetarian. I assumed there would not be much for me. Don't asians love fish? Can't eat that. Sushi? gross.
My first asian meal while actually in asia was at the airport while stranded in Osaka, Japan. it was udon noodles, which I'd had before and loved. Good start, but I was most nervous about Vietnam. I'd read it was one of the hardest countries for vegetarians and that most vietnamese didn't even know what a vegetarian was. Great. I brough cliff bars and plenty of shakeology.
My second meal was in Thailand-to my surprise finding a meal was easy. I had fried tofu and called it a night after our ridiculously long ordeal at the airport. Then it happened. We arrived at our hotel in Hanoi and asked the manager if there was place we could finsd a vegetarian restaurant. "vegetarian?" she asked. gulp. Will she even know what that means? She was probably going to suggest fish. "We have a great vegetarian restaurant here" she said while pointing to a map. What?! An actual vegetarian restaurant? Was this possible? Most american towns don't have vegetarain restaurants. We ended up eating there twice and it was great. Turns out it is the number one rated restaurnat in Hanoi on trip advisor. Go figure- Vietnam does vegetarian.
It didn't end there. We ate great all over Vietnam. Vegetable fried rice, vegetabnle noodles, spring rolls, vegetable soup, tofu, they had it all and it was easy to find. I have some impressive pictures of one meal served to us on an island in the Mekong River. A cucumber man stadning atop a bed of rice holding baskets filled with rice. A cucmuber man paddling down a spring roll river on a traditional Vietnamese boat also made of cucumber.
Similar meals appeared in Cambodia- tofu, vegetable fried rice and an asian favorite, french fries. Sweet potato fries and regular fries are all over asia. So far in Thailand I've had good luck, too. Vegetarain Pad Thai and fried rice was on the menu just this afternoon. And the fruit; it is fresh and it is everywhere. You can get it cut up and served to you on the spot; banana, mango, watermelon, durian, lyche, pineapple, papya, avaocado, coconut. Fruit shakes are available nearly every block- they just throw whatever you want in a blender or juicer with ice and bam- a delicous shake. I had a coconut one for dessert today. Going to SE asia? Oh, the food!
My first asian meal while actually in asia was at the airport while stranded in Osaka, Japan. it was udon noodles, which I'd had before and loved. Good start, but I was most nervous about Vietnam. I'd read it was one of the hardest countries for vegetarians and that most vietnamese didn't even know what a vegetarian was. Great. I brough cliff bars and plenty of shakeology.
My second meal was in Thailand-to my surprise finding a meal was easy. I had fried tofu and called it a night after our ridiculously long ordeal at the airport. Then it happened. We arrived at our hotel in Hanoi and asked the manager if there was place we could finsd a vegetarian restaurant. "vegetarian?" she asked. gulp. Will she even know what that means? She was probably going to suggest fish. "We have a great vegetarian restaurant here" she said while pointing to a map. What?! An actual vegetarian restaurant? Was this possible? Most american towns don't have vegetarain restaurants. We ended up eating there twice and it was great. Turns out it is the number one rated restaurnat in Hanoi on trip advisor. Go figure- Vietnam does vegetarian.
It didn't end there. We ate great all over Vietnam. Vegetable fried rice, vegetabnle noodles, spring rolls, vegetable soup, tofu, they had it all and it was easy to find. I have some impressive pictures of one meal served to us on an island in the Mekong River. A cucumber man stadning atop a bed of rice holding baskets filled with rice. A cucmuber man paddling down a spring roll river on a traditional Vietnamese boat also made of cucumber.
Similar meals appeared in Cambodia- tofu, vegetable fried rice and an asian favorite, french fries. Sweet potato fries and regular fries are all over asia. So far in Thailand I've had good luck, too. Vegetarain Pad Thai and fried rice was on the menu just this afternoon. And the fruit; it is fresh and it is everywhere. You can get it cut up and served to you on the spot; banana, mango, watermelon, durian, lyche, pineapple, papya, avaocado, coconut. Fruit shakes are available nearly every block- they just throw whatever you want in a blender or juicer with ice and bam- a delicous shake. I had a coconut one for dessert today. Going to SE asia? Oh, the food!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Time Warp
Today was a down day. After a long week of travel around Vietnam and a day of hiking at Angkor Wat we both needed some time to rest, and what better place to do it than our 4 star hotel we got on sale for $39 a night, including breakfast? I took advantage of the pool and sauna on our first night here, but today we needed to just hang by the pool and swim. After all we are getting a little tired and run down. My legs are tired of walking and Lindsay thinks she is getting a cold. We felt great until today...I don't know there is somthing about the jungle. Being brave and eating at a local place was probably not the best idea, either, but hey, I'm okay. It was so local...only one notch above street food...in one of the poorest countries in the world. What was I thinking? oh yea, 'mmm deep fried tofu'. Also we needed to work on our tans for the next part of our trip, which starts tomorrow: the southern islands of Thailand.
While searching the web for the best hotels at the lowest rates we had some confusion over the dates. What the hell date is it anyway? What time is it? There are questions I've asked many times on this trip. Well, sitting down with a calendar we realized we don't have two nights to spend in Phuket before going to the detox spa on Samui, we have three! This was exciting news. While in Vietnam the longest we stayed ín one place was 2 nights (and that was only once) so having three is a real treat. We can afford to relax a little more.
Walking around the old market area of Siem Reap made us miss Vietnam. We both loved it there and wished we had more time. A trip back to Vietnam will have to go on the bucket list. We rested today but it does not feel like enough- we are a little ragged and worn, like our clothes which are in desperate need of lanundry service. I washed half of my things in the bathtub here but I want the rest of my clothes back! Oh yea, and washing by hand really sucks. Thank god I live in America where washing machines are handy. Well, we may be feeling washed out, but landing in the paradise that is Phuket will make it all worth while. James Bond island, here we come.
While searching the web for the best hotels at the lowest rates we had some confusion over the dates. What the hell date is it anyway? What time is it? There are questions I've asked many times on this trip. Well, sitting down with a calendar we realized we don't have two nights to spend in Phuket before going to the detox spa on Samui, we have three! This was exciting news. While in Vietnam the longest we stayed ín one place was 2 nights (and that was only once) so having three is a real treat. We can afford to relax a little more.
Walking around the old market area of Siem Reap made us miss Vietnam. We both loved it there and wished we had more time. A trip back to Vietnam will have to go on the bucket list. We rested today but it does not feel like enough- we are a little ragged and worn, like our clothes which are in desperate need of lanundry service. I washed half of my things in the bathtub here but I want the rest of my clothes back! Oh yea, and washing by hand really sucks. Thank god I live in America where washing machines are handy. Well, we may be feeling washed out, but landing in the paradise that is Phuket will make it all worth while. James Bond island, here we come.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Celestial Dance: Angkor Wat
The splendor of the huge Angkor Wat complex has been well documented in blogs, photographs and documentaries, many of which I have seen. Because of this I was not sure what to expect when I actually visited the place myself. Had I taken all of the mystery out of the place by knowing so much about it? I was a little afraid I would be disappointed, although it had been very exciting seeing the famous gate on the way into the hotel.
The complex was originally built as a Hindu temple site at least 800 years ago, though there are alternative scholars who have reason to believe it is much older than that. Despite the fact that it is one of the most famous ancient cites in the world there is still so much restoration work which needs to be done on the complex. This is most obvious when visiting the famous Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is the least restored temple on the cite and is actually believed to be one of the younger temples. Ta Prohm has huge trees growing all over it and mother nature has made an easy mess of the huge carved blocks that make up the temple and its enclosures. "This is how all the cites looked before being rediscovered"our guide told us. ""The complex is the world's largest jigsaw puzzle." Indeed it is. All the cites have hundreds, or more, stones laying around on the ground waiting to be pieced back together.
The most restored of the temples is the famous Angkor Wat- the temple whose three main peaks (of 9) have celestial alignments with the sun on the solstices and equinoxes. The 9 peaks each represent one of the 9 planets. Celestial references abound at the cite, our guide ticking off different parts of the complex which relate to the number of days in the week, the number of months in a year, etc. The walls of the complex are adorned with a woman smiling playfully as she dances. Apsara, the celestial dancer. There are hundreds, probably thousands of carving of her.
Angkor Wat has only three levels, but upon approaching it, one is filled with a sense of awe and wonder at its imposing size and powerful presence. Its size and mystery makes one feel small. I was filled with a strange sense of wonder, amazement and fear while viewing this giant from the ground. We entered the temple from the back gate and, fittingly, watched a monkey descend the first set of large steps. Our guide commented that it looks like the monkey has been fighting. The story of the kidnapping of Sita from the Ramayana is carved on a huge wall on this level. From the second level the structure is still awesome, but the top does not seem so far away and dreadful but much more manageable from this point.The second level is large and accommodating.
The climb to the top level of the temple is exciting. Despite modern wooden stairs set atop the original steps (70 degrees), the steps are still very steep.The walk up them looks long and difficult but a sense of excitement overcomes me and because of this I ascend the steps quickly, and alone, to the top. The climb proves to be quick and easy and before I know it I am on top of the Cambodian jungle. The view is amazing. The top level feels small and intimate. You are on top of the world yet is is safe and comfortable. With a great sense of excitement and wonder I explore the top of the temple. It is so weathered in some places yet there are inner nooks which are filled with meticulous detailing. The patterns carved into the sandstone are repetitive but beautiful. I even stop for a short meditation.
After my descent it hits me- the temple, hundreds of years after its construction is still serving its purpose. It is ingenious and unbelievable. The mystery of Angkor Wat becomes less so while my wonder becomes more. The temple represents our soul''s journey through life on this planet, one of the nine. We come into this world small and fearful with a great sense of wonder. As we journey on we feel more comfortable and life's lessons have taught us what we once thought too difficult is still within reach. By the end of our lives we have learned many of life's mysteries and are no longer afraid of what the future holds. At our time of 'death' we realize the glory of our souls and are on top of the world with nothing to fear and only joy. It all makes sense; the alignments, the churning of the ocean milk, Apsara, the repetitive carvings,The faces of Angkor Thom, even the current state of Ta Prohm; it is all a celestial dance; the Earth and time are locked in an endless celestial dance, as is the soul and its divine creator.
The complex was originally built as a Hindu temple site at least 800 years ago, though there are alternative scholars who have reason to believe it is much older than that. Despite the fact that it is one of the most famous ancient cites in the world there is still so much restoration work which needs to be done on the complex. This is most obvious when visiting the famous Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is the least restored temple on the cite and is actually believed to be one of the younger temples. Ta Prohm has huge trees growing all over it and mother nature has made an easy mess of the huge carved blocks that make up the temple and its enclosures. "This is how all the cites looked before being rediscovered"our guide told us. ""The complex is the world's largest jigsaw puzzle." Indeed it is. All the cites have hundreds, or more, stones laying around on the ground waiting to be pieced back together.
The most restored of the temples is the famous Angkor Wat- the temple whose three main peaks (of 9) have celestial alignments with the sun on the solstices and equinoxes. The 9 peaks each represent one of the 9 planets. Celestial references abound at the cite, our guide ticking off different parts of the complex which relate to the number of days in the week, the number of months in a year, etc. The walls of the complex are adorned with a woman smiling playfully as she dances. Apsara, the celestial dancer. There are hundreds, probably thousands of carving of her.
Angkor Wat has only three levels, but upon approaching it, one is filled with a sense of awe and wonder at its imposing size and powerful presence. Its size and mystery makes one feel small. I was filled with a strange sense of wonder, amazement and fear while viewing this giant from the ground. We entered the temple from the back gate and, fittingly, watched a monkey descend the first set of large steps. Our guide commented that it looks like the monkey has been fighting. The story of the kidnapping of Sita from the Ramayana is carved on a huge wall on this level. From the second level the structure is still awesome, but the top does not seem so far away and dreadful but much more manageable from this point.The second level is large and accommodating.
The climb to the top level of the temple is exciting. Despite modern wooden stairs set atop the original steps (70 degrees), the steps are still very steep.The walk up them looks long and difficult but a sense of excitement overcomes me and because of this I ascend the steps quickly, and alone, to the top. The climb proves to be quick and easy and before I know it I am on top of the Cambodian jungle. The view is amazing. The top level feels small and intimate. You are on top of the world yet is is safe and comfortable. With a great sense of excitement and wonder I explore the top of the temple. It is so weathered in some places yet there are inner nooks which are filled with meticulous detailing. The patterns carved into the sandstone are repetitive but beautiful. I even stop for a short meditation.
After my descent it hits me- the temple, hundreds of years after its construction is still serving its purpose. It is ingenious and unbelievable. The mystery of Angkor Wat becomes less so while my wonder becomes more. The temple represents our soul''s journey through life on this planet, one of the nine. We come into this world small and fearful with a great sense of wonder. As we journey on we feel more comfortable and life's lessons have taught us what we once thought too difficult is still within reach. By the end of our lives we have learned many of life's mysteries and are no longer afraid of what the future holds. At our time of 'death' we realize the glory of our souls and are on top of the world with nothing to fear and only joy. It all makes sense; the alignments, the churning of the ocean milk, Apsara, the repetitive carvings,The faces of Angkor Thom, even the current state of Ta Prohm; it is all a celestial dance; the Earth and time are locked in an endless celestial dance, as is the soul and its divine creator.
 |
| Ta Prohm |
 |
| Angkor Thom |
 |
| Ta Prohm. All temples were found in this condition, or worse when 'discovered.' |
 |
| Restoration on Ta Prohm is still underway. |
 |
| The world's largest jigsaw puzzle. |
 |
| Second level, back entrance of Angkor Wat. |
 |
| A monkey descends the modern stairs of the back entrance to Angkor Wat. |
 |
| At the top. The third level of Angkor Wat has been closed for the past three years for restoration work. I was lucky to be able to ascend. |
 |
| Apsara, the celestial dancer, gracing an inner wall on the third level of Angkor Wat. |
 |
| The inner court yard on the top level of Angkor Wat. It was surprisingly windy and cool up here. A little rain had begun to fall. |
Among the Hmong
We woke early to have breakfast on the balcony below our hotel room, a VIP room which we had been upgraded to, but instructed many times not to tell anyone about. It was overcast but the view of the mountains around Sapa was gorgeous. The clouds began to dissipate and a rainbow appeared.
After breakfast we met the driver and our guide and stopped to try the famous Vietnamese coffee, which is very thick and served with sweetened condensed milk. It was very good and strong. We then got on the road for our two hour drive to the Bac Ha market, a local market of the Flower Hmong people, another tribe in the area related to the black Hmong we visited the day before. The market was wild- you could buy or sell almost anything there and our guide, Nam, insisted on showing us the local eatery there where you could get horse stew, among pretty much any other animal you could think of. Needless to say, we quickly found our way back to the women selling hats and handbags and declined lunch at the market.
The local lunch at a nice cafeteria outside the market was good and we were soon ready for our next trek through a Flower Hmong village. This village was very much like the one we saw the day before. Rice patties were everywhere and corn was grown on the hillside in places most people would consider inaccessible. The women had baskets on their backs filled with all kinds of items, things to sell at the market, things purchased at the market, firewood, etc.
The homes were small, made of local materials; wood and grass. Many had more modern roofing, not the palm tree leaves of old. Unlike the other village though, this one had one house which was very unique. It was made of mud. Nam wanted to show us around the house but the door was closed.We were disappointed. Nam had really wanted to show us that house.When we were on the ridge above the house an old woman came out from the house next door (families live next to each other) and Nam yelled something to her then pointed to the old house. "She will show us the old house" he said. We followed him in and were amazed to see such a place. Everything was dirt. There were no windows but the walls where they met the roof were open. There was really only one large room with a few beds hung off the ground and a cooking fire with a large pot. Spider webs were everywhere and there were only a few belongings in the house. It was impossible to tell how many people lived here.
Lindsay was trying to take pictures on the sly as the Hmong don't often like to be photographed, especially in this tribe. Nam and the woman were discussing something and then she took out a water bottle and a tiny bowl to be used as a shot glass and poured us a drink. Here we go again with the happy water. I didn't know why she was doing this. Was it hospitality? We each took a sip- this wine didn't have as much bite as yesterday's. Nam said he was going to buy some of the corn wine from her. He asked me to borrow some Dong and when I took it out they began to haggle. Lindsay was still trying to get her picture. Nam and the woman settled on a price and I wondered if she had seen how much money I had and upped the price....opps. Then Nam said to Lindsay "take your picture while I distract her." He continued to talk to the woman while Lindsay got her shot and Nam got his; he had purchased a whole bottle of corn wine, freshly poured from an old diesel bottle for the equivalent of a dollar. When we left we joked that he must really love corn wine, but he protested that it was for his cousin. We wanted to know what they were talking about; was it the price of the wine? Was she mad Lindsay had taken a picture? Did she want us to buy more? "I don't know what she was talking about" Nam said "she did not speak Vietnamese."
After breakfast we met the driver and our guide and stopped to try the famous Vietnamese coffee, which is very thick and served with sweetened condensed milk. It was very good and strong. We then got on the road for our two hour drive to the Bac Ha market, a local market of the Flower Hmong people, another tribe in the area related to the black Hmong we visited the day before. The market was wild- you could buy or sell almost anything there and our guide, Nam, insisted on showing us the local eatery there where you could get horse stew, among pretty much any other animal you could think of. Needless to say, we quickly found our way back to the women selling hats and handbags and declined lunch at the market.
The local lunch at a nice cafeteria outside the market was good and we were soon ready for our next trek through a Flower Hmong village. This village was very much like the one we saw the day before. Rice patties were everywhere and corn was grown on the hillside in places most people would consider inaccessible. The women had baskets on their backs filled with all kinds of items, things to sell at the market, things purchased at the market, firewood, etc.
The homes were small, made of local materials; wood and grass. Many had more modern roofing, not the palm tree leaves of old. Unlike the other village though, this one had one house which was very unique. It was made of mud. Nam wanted to show us around the house but the door was closed.We were disappointed. Nam had really wanted to show us that house.When we were on the ridge above the house an old woman came out from the house next door (families live next to each other) and Nam yelled something to her then pointed to the old house. "She will show us the old house" he said. We followed him in and were amazed to see such a place. Everything was dirt. There were no windows but the walls where they met the roof were open. There was really only one large room with a few beds hung off the ground and a cooking fire with a large pot. Spider webs were everywhere and there were only a few belongings in the house. It was impossible to tell how many people lived here.
Lindsay was trying to take pictures on the sly as the Hmong don't often like to be photographed, especially in this tribe. Nam and the woman were discussing something and then she took out a water bottle and a tiny bowl to be used as a shot glass and poured us a drink. Here we go again with the happy water. I didn't know why she was doing this. Was it hospitality? We each took a sip- this wine didn't have as much bite as yesterday's. Nam said he was going to buy some of the corn wine from her. He asked me to borrow some Dong and when I took it out they began to haggle. Lindsay was still trying to get her picture. Nam and the woman settled on a price and I wondered if she had seen how much money I had and upped the price....opps. Then Nam said to Lindsay "take your picture while I distract her." He continued to talk to the woman while Lindsay got her shot and Nam got his; he had purchased a whole bottle of corn wine, freshly poured from an old diesel bottle for the equivalent of a dollar. When we left we joked that he must really love corn wine, but he protested that it was for his cousin. We wanted to know what they were talking about; was it the price of the wine? Was she mad Lindsay had taken a picture? Did she want us to buy more? "I don't know what she was talking about" Nam said "she did not speak Vietnamese."
 |
| Flower Hmong pouring us corn wine Photo courtesy of Lindsay Bruno |
 |
| Black Hmong, left and Red Hmong, right at their village in Lao Chai Photo Courtesy of Lindsay Bruno |
 |
| Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)