We are out of the cities and in the countryside. Our destination today was Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and to arrive there when drove parallel the limestone mountain range that separates Vietnam and Laos. Part of the drive was the Ho Chi Minh Trail that was used to move soldiers from the North to the South. This was the first time anyone asked Troy if he had served in Vietnam. fortunately the answer was no. Vu our guide said that recently former GI’s were returning to Vietnam to do volunteer work and that it was a healing process for everyone. The road led us through rice paddies which had been harvested and turned over to the water buffalo to feed. They shared the space with red Brahma and cattle egrets. They water buffalo had their young along side them and small farmers use them like we would a small John Deere tractor. They animals range freely, but he never saw any buffalo on the roads as they are so valuable.

These villages all had small Catholic churches. This area was settled by the Portuguese about three hundred years ago, and like the Spanish in Texas left their faith behind them. All of the churches had the same architecture and looked strangely out of place in these very Asian villages. Children were in school and many of the schools had open air classrooms. They go to class from seven until eleven, break for lunch and come back at one and stay until five. I wish that I would visit a classroom.
Again the villages were full of activity. Scooters transported everything and everybody. Young girls in short skirts and fancy shoes, delivery boys with flowers, pigs going to market. You name it and it is moved by scooter.
We finally arrived at Paradise Cave and climbed I thought to Laos before we ever got to the entrance. We huffed and puffed and got nearly to the top of the mountain and then started down into the cave. I thought we will surely emerge in Laos and We have no passports. Troy and I looked around and we were the only old people there.. Everyone else was under thirty. The formations were awe inspiring and worth the trip. We left drove about 30 minutes for lunch. Pork, fish, shrimp, soup, cabbage, rice beer and bananas. I managed to eat everything with my chopsticks except the beer and bananas. We then traveled down the Son River to another cave which we viewed from the boat. Loved again watching the Vietnamese working and living their lives. We had to leave the boats at one point, walked over some rough ground, reenter the little sampan and finally returned to our driver. This was one of my favorite days, but physically very hard. The rains set in early tis morning and we did this in a slow drizzle all day. Tomorrow more War sites and one to Hue.

Wednesday we said good bye to Hi our driver and today we said good by to Son our guide. Son was very protective of us and always knew when we needed to rest or move on to another activity. Today we spent our time in the Old Quarter looking at the shops the locals would visit. Each street sold one kind of item. Paint, tools, jewelry, cleaning supplies and no one hustled their wares. The merchants sat quietly in front of their shop drinking tea, playing on their cells and generally ignored their prospective customers. No big box stores or chains just mom and pop. We finished our stay with a bowl of pho noodles and boarded a plane for Dong Hoi. This is a small city of about 500,000 and it is a charmer. Each street and intersection is decorated with brightly lit flower signs. The broader streets have fancy pink flashing lights and the bridges change color every 3 minutes. Nothing subtle about the Vietnamese. Mr. Vu our new guide and his enthusiastic driver delivered us to the Ocean Resort and Spa where we are staying. My supper was banana blossom salad and corn coup. Tasty and I managed to each most of the salad with my chop sticks. Tomorrow we are off to explore a cave and a river. I love the way this trip mixes things up.
Continue reading “GOOD BYE HANOI- HELLO DONG HOI”

We returned to Hanoi this afternoon and unfortunately the hotel was overbooked and they had to place us in the penthouse. Outside one bedroom we can see a bridge designed by Eiffel and it is lit by the lights of an enormous modern sky scraper. In the from of a quarters we have a balcony which gives us a glimpse of Old Hanoi that is over 800 years old. The best of all worlds. I scheduled a foot massage in a hotel about 90 seconds away from where we are staying and a young hotel employee escorted me to the spa. He held my hand the entire way sweeping away pedestrians as we moved along. I was greeted by name when we went into the lobby and he continued to hold my hand onto the elevator. At this point, I thought I was on my on, but no he continued to hold on to me until the receptionist met me and then she took me by the hand. I was seated on a pillow on the floor, no small feat and given hot tea and a tiny crunchy something. I have learned not to ask what I am eating. Soon I was taken to a darkened room, and greeted by the therapist. I undressed and was wrapped in warm towels. My feet were soaked in warm water with ginger, lime and lemon grass. She scrubbed my feet with lime and salt only the tequila was missing and then gently scrubbed them with a chamois. She then placed me on a table and put hot towels under my back and neck and over my eyes. The next 60 minutes were devoted to gently rubbing, pressing and twisting my feet and toes. From time to time she sounded a chime and in the background Vietnamese music in a minor key with bird songs intermingling where playing. She wrapped my legs and feet in hot towels and told me it was the relaxing time. I thought I was in paradise. The joy ended or so I thought. I dressed and went to pay my bill. The receptionist said that this was my happy day; I got a 25% discount. I would have paid double the price. Never once was I a customer but an honored guest. What a joy. Troy and a bottle of wine were waiting for me. I love Vietnam.

Our trip through the happy pagoda land ended with an over night and the most sumptuous breakfast ever.  For the French guest there were cheeses, marmalades, crepes, omlettes, crepes and café au lait, for the Japanese, jelly fish salad, fresh vegetables, calamari and squid,  for the locals goat soup again and more veggies and pho noodles.  We tried it all except the jelly fish.  Then on to the cruise.  It has been the most relaxing part of the journey.  A small boat with about twenty passengers.  Delicious meals, tai chi in the morning and for the younger set a trek up on of the cliffs to visit the site where Uncle Ho met with the Soviet leaders.  We watched them from afar.   Last evening ladies rowed along side the ship selling goodies to the passengers.  They had pearls, wine soda and Oreos.  The Vietnamese are very enterprising.  I am impressed with their absolute politeness and their work ethic as well.  This would be a beautiful place to spend a longer time.  Back to Hanoi tonight and then our journey south begins.

 

We left Hanoi today after the hotel staff gave Troy a tiny birthday cake a joyous rendition of Happy Birthday   and encountered the commuters coming into the city.  Again dad and mom with youngsters tucked between them on scooters, laborers balancing poles and equipment on their shoulder as they soldiered through the traffic, sleeping buses, cars and tuk tuks were making their way into or out of the city.  Our first stop was the famous Vai Dinh pagoda which honors the monks who have become Buddha.  A long pathway takes the visitors past their statues and each rendering is unique.  We were touched to see the statue of the monk who died in 1973 when he burned himself in Saigon protesting the war.  Vivid memories of that horrible event came rushing back to each of us.  An enormous bell and drum and temples filled with Buddhas in every form and fashion are on display.  Altar tables with fruit, water, cookies, and flowers offer a rich display and joss sticks burn lifting up the prayers of those who come to pray.  There is a hotel on the grounds for those who wish to have a longer spiritual visit.  We were exhausted and eager to get to lunch and iced green tea. Troy and I obviously have not reached that happy nirvana.  The second stage of the journey took us through the countryside on long boat trip down a river, through four caves, around a pagoda with a live concert of beautiful Vietnamese music.  The trip took us by workers bringing in building materials on these tiny boats most of which were paddled by women.  These women in the country work hard doing farm work, roadwork and other labor intense jobs.  Most of the harvest is over so they do what ever work is available.  One crew was sweeping up a load of rice that had spilled on the road.  The roadways are full of cattle, horses and goats.  They roam freely and manage to survive the onslaught of scooters.  Our last stop was a visit to the pagoda honoring the first king of Vietnam.  His symbol was the water buffalo and a gorgeous buffalo wearing a bright red ribbon stood proudly on the grounds.  We headed out past barbeque goat stands, pineapple and mango salesman to a lovely hotel in the middle of nowhere.  Our guide and driver are giving Troy his second birthday party of the day.  We are blessed.

 

Hanoi assaults the senses in every way.  We woke up to the sound of traffic outside our window and those noises spent the rest of the day with us.  Car horns, the sputter of scooters, the roar of buses and the clang of bicycles bells surrounded us all day.  Small children three deep on a scooter ride behind their mom on their way to school and granny clutches the back of the drive with one hand and holds on to a bag of groceries with the other as the makes her way home on a Grab a Scooter which is Hanoi’s answer to Uber.  Our first stop this morning was to the old prison known to most Americans as the Hanoi Hilton.  We learned first hand of the suffering of so many men and women.  The political prisoners who were held by the French and the American pilots who were shot down over Hanoi and  held by the Vietnamese.  The prison was designed to bring suffering, fear and death to its inmates.  The second stop was a happier place, the Museum of Ethnology.  This place honors the many different ethnic groups who came to Vietnam to escape hunger and war.  The museum was a collection of their crafts and clothing and the outside was a collection of their homes and villages.  My favorite was a house designed for the family to live upstairs and their elephants to live under the dwelling.  Sorts of like an American beach house.  Just when we thought we were on sensory overload when visited the Temple of Literature which is the oldest university in Hanoi.  Today was graduation day in Hanoi and the custom is for graduates to come to the temple for group pictures, individual pictures and  to celebrate their accomplishments.  They burn joss sticks when they pray and show their gratitude to the spirits.  We stopped by to pay our respects to Uncle Ho and to visit his stilt house.  He was not at home, but is in Moscow being reembalmed.  It was ok with us to miss him.  We spent time in a local park where two 12 year olds practiced their English and Troy let them use his camera to take pictures.  A water puppet show and a rickshaw ride back to the hotel ended the day.  The puppet show was wonderful and the rickshaw bicycle ride scared the daylights out of us.  Now it is time to recharge for tomorrow.

• Troy and I left Clear Lake at   3:30 am November 2 and arrived in Hanoi at 10:20 pm on November 3.  The trip was long and tiring, but uneventful.  Troy got part of the ear bud stuck in his ear and a coffee stir stick took care of that, he got pulled from the VISA line and had to deal this an immigration officer, don’t know what that was about, but the good thing was our luggage and driver were waiting for us at the airport.  Tomorrow the real
• adventure begins.  Sally

Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Halong Bay, Dong Hoi, Hue, Danang, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City.

Reservations have  been made and we are ready to go to Viet Nam in November.  We can hardly wait.

When we return, we plan to go to Mexico City for Christmas.

Not sure when, just beginning to make plans.