Last night we took the overnight, "sleeper?" bus from Hanoi to Hue. We were informed that we would be picked up from our hotel by the bus, but when the two gentlemen on motorscooters arrived saying they would take us to the bus, we were unprepared. With both Rich and encumbered by a large hiking pack and a day pack, the moto drivers took the hiking packs and placed them in front of themselves and asked us to mout the rear. This was the first motorcycle ride in my life, and it was in the crazy streets of Hanoi (see earlier pictures)! I decided to relax and found I did enjoy the ride, but likely will not repeat this experience for health's sake.
We did arrive safely and entered a bus created for Asian people who most likely average 100 lbs and scape heights of 5'1. It was a tight fit for me and each time I moved the upright seating situation reclined into sleeping space. Both Rich and I drifted off from time to time as we were ambiened, but it was not a restful night.
Arriving in Hue it was pouring, and has not ceased since our arrival 12 hours ago. Having now dried 2 sets of clothing from our in town forays for nourishing soups to stave the wet kitten state, we are settling into bed soon.
I am writing tonight from the middle of a family party hosted by our hotel owners, and it is raucous. If the rain ceases, we will explore the citadel and the environs of the old empire capital. On Sunday morning we leave for Laos, a bus ride to Savannaket.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Ha Long Bay Excursion
On Saturday evening, Rich and I decided we would spend the first part of the week on an excursion to Ha Long Bay. On Monday morning we left early and after a 3.5 hour van trip, arrived at the city of Ha Long. Once there, we boarded a boat which took us to our floating hotel. My word, it was opulent. Upon arrival we were served tea and then taken to our room, a lovely one with a large bath, full shower, king sized bed, and large windows overlooking the scenery and providing access to the floating hawkers of food, drinks, batteries, etc. One did have to remember to close the curtains when changing clothes, as the bay was quite busy.
We ate a lovely lunch, and entered a smaller travel boat to our first excursion. We were taken to the “surprise cave”. He hiked with our fellow travellers among stalactites and stalagmites, remnants of pools, and flowing limestone draperies. The surprise, well, I’ll let those of you who want to travel see for yourselves.
After hiking, we got back on the smaller boat and travelled to a spot to go kayaking for about 40 minutes throughout the small islets which are the salient feature of Ha Long Bay. Rich and I saw small caves, got up close and personal with the rock, and then returned, wet, cold, and happy.
We returned to our cruise hotel for hot showers, and then to dinner with our lovely group of 10 passengers. We went to bed for a restful evening, eschewing the Karaoke offered in the lounge, as did the other passengers, making it an early restful night, moored with a plethora of similar vessels nearby, and dotting the seascape with twinkling lights.
The next day, I awoke to my birthday, and a memorable one it was! We once again took off on an execution to go cycling on Cat Ba Island for a few miles through the fields and jungle like terrain, until, once again, we climbed back onto the smaller touring boat to find a lunch spot. Here we went to a beachfront property and had another sumptuous repast, and spent several minutes walking the beach and challenging a female dog sized ape, who growled at us, and was willing to sit still in exchange for sliced bread.
After lunch we sailed around Cat Ba Island and arrived at the town of Cat Ba where we were ushered into a grand hotel and had the afternoon off to sightsee, nap, etc. Later we reconvened for dinner, and then Rich and I chose not to go out drinking and went to the hotel for an evening of downloading pictures and rest. What a wonderful birthday it was!.
The next morning we awoke to a beautiful breakfast buffet, got back on the boat by 7:30 and were off to return to Ha Long. After 4 hours on the bus, we returned to our hotel for a brief respite, and on to making plans for moving south to Hue and then over to Laos.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Hanoi Touristing
It is now Sunday morning and we have had two more eventful, chilly days in Hanoi. After intense warnings to bring light clothes and to prepare for the heat, we hearty Minnesotans are shivering in our cotton clothing. With record low temperatures of the 45 - 50 degrees and highs in the humid 50's, we were unprepared for the weather.
On Friday we visited the Temple of Literature, the oldest university in Viet Nam, starting in 1070 CE. As an academic, I had a sense of eerie pride in the veneration of scholars. This was an amazing complex, with eight increasingly ornate gates and courtyards, all with ponds, large outdoor bonsai in exquisite planters, and finally moving into a large temple building which once housed the students on the top floor. The complex was immense, intricately planted, and well renovated.
The academic process there was somewhat different from what we have in the western world. The emperor was the one who gave the final exams and those who passed created a treatise venerating the monarch. The homages were incised into stone and placed on the back of carved turtles, one of the four national symbols of Viet Nam (the other three being dragons, cranes, and something I can't recall).
Following our tour we found a little street lunch spot, where we had fried rice for lunch before spending the afternoon at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum. The museum is housed in an ornate French colonial mansion with exquisite grounds and houses an historical collection of Vietnamese art. We were transfixed by the work surrounding the revolution which provided an alternative narrative to the one we heard in the United States. As history, along with art history, is written by the victors, we saw moving portrayals of the liberation of the peoples of Vietnam from their colonizers, and the veneration of Uncle Ho, who understood and loved the peasants.
Following the exhibits, we walked back to our hotel where I needed to corral Rich into walking, rather than photo shooting the traffic. When we arrived back in the afternoon, we fell into bed and slept until the next morning, only being distracted by the raucous party our hosts we having in the main floor below our chambers.
The next morning we decided to go to the Ho Chi Minh Museum and complex. The museum itself is strikingly beautiful, with exhibits illuminating the life of Ho and the influences on his mission. The museum presented artifacts of Ho's life as well as moving exhibits of the Spanish Civil War, the Russian Revolution, the Native American genocide and the Holocaust. All were portrayed in a moving modern art style, and were exquisitely executed.
Following our tour of the museum, we scurried to find Ho Chi Minh's resting place as we had read that it was about to close. We were ushered into the mausoleum by white clad guards, who were very deliberate in waking us past the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh. The body was lying in a bed, was chalky white, and to me a bit gruesome to encounter, as I do not do dead bodies very well.
After viewing the body, we viewed the stilt house where the deceased revolutionary leader lived while president and during the war. It was a beautifully simple structure and was raised on stilts with a secluded view of a serene lake vista. Paradoxically, when leaving the house, we looked across the lake and saw an edifice serving drinks with a Pepsi awning over its outdoor tables. What would Ho think!?!
The museum closed at noon and so we took off to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. After a harrowing taxi ride, where I think we may have been taken on a tour to increase the rate, we arrived. The museum traces the fifty four ethnic groups in Vietnam which are centered in five ethnolinguistic families. There were two parts to the museum, an inside area featuring artifacts of the differing groups and an outside area with recreations of the housing types for each ethnic area of Vietnam.
There was a major exhibit focused on destigmatizing HIV/AIDS. This exhibit was co-sponsored by the Vietnam department of health and the University of Washington, Seattle. HIV seems to be a significant challenge here, and the government seems to be taking the struggle on directly. There are laws promoting condom usage for all sexual activity (I don't know how they can do this). The stigma of HIV appears to be intense. There is some indication that there are education efforts in the schools to stem transmission. Other efforts are working to confront the prejudicial attitudes through the dissemination of accurate information about the transmission routes of the virus.
Barb's pics are here
Rich's pics day 2 are here
Rich's pics day 3 are here
On Friday we visited the Temple of Literature, the oldest university in Viet Nam, starting in 1070 CE. As an academic, I had a sense of eerie pride in the veneration of scholars. This was an amazing complex, with eight increasingly ornate gates and courtyards, all with ponds, large outdoor bonsai in exquisite planters, and finally moving into a large temple building which once housed the students on the top floor. The complex was immense, intricately planted, and well renovated.
The academic process there was somewhat different from what we have in the western world. The emperor was the one who gave the final exams and those who passed created a treatise venerating the monarch. The homages were incised into stone and placed on the back of carved turtles, one of the four national symbols of Viet Nam (the other three being dragons, cranes, and something I can't recall).
Following our tour we found a little street lunch spot, where we had fried rice for lunch before spending the afternoon at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum. The museum is housed in an ornate French colonial mansion with exquisite grounds and houses an historical collection of Vietnamese art. We were transfixed by the work surrounding the revolution which provided an alternative narrative to the one we heard in the United States. As history, along with art history, is written by the victors, we saw moving portrayals of the liberation of the peoples of Vietnam from their colonizers, and the veneration of Uncle Ho, who understood and loved the peasants.
Following the exhibits, we walked back to our hotel where I needed to corral Rich into walking, rather than photo shooting the traffic. When we arrived back in the afternoon, we fell into bed and slept until the next morning, only being distracted by the raucous party our hosts we having in the main floor below our chambers.
The next morning we decided to go to the Ho Chi Minh Museum and complex. The museum itself is strikingly beautiful, with exhibits illuminating the life of Ho and the influences on his mission. The museum presented artifacts of Ho's life as well as moving exhibits of the Spanish Civil War, the Russian Revolution, the Native American genocide and the Holocaust. All were portrayed in a moving modern art style, and were exquisitely executed.
Following our tour of the museum, we scurried to find Ho Chi Minh's resting place as we had read that it was about to close. We were ushered into the mausoleum by white clad guards, who were very deliberate in waking us past the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh. The body was lying in a bed, was chalky white, and to me a bit gruesome to encounter, as I do not do dead bodies very well.
After viewing the body, we viewed the stilt house where the deceased revolutionary leader lived while president and during the war. It was a beautifully simple structure and was raised on stilts with a secluded view of a serene lake vista. Paradoxically, when leaving the house, we looked across the lake and saw an edifice serving drinks with a Pepsi awning over its outdoor tables. What would Ho think!?!
The museum closed at noon and so we took off to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. After a harrowing taxi ride, where I think we may have been taken on a tour to increase the rate, we arrived. The museum traces the fifty four ethnic groups in Vietnam which are centered in five ethnolinguistic families. There were two parts to the museum, an inside area featuring artifacts of the differing groups and an outside area with recreations of the housing types for each ethnic area of Vietnam.
There was a major exhibit focused on destigmatizing HIV/AIDS. This exhibit was co-sponsored by the Vietnam department of health and the University of Washington, Seattle. HIV seems to be a significant challenge here, and the government seems to be taking the struggle on directly. There are laws promoting condom usage for all sexual activity (I don't know how they can do this). The stigma of HIV appears to be intense. There is some indication that there are education efforts in the schools to stem transmission. Other efforts are working to confront the prejudicial attitudes through the dissemination of accurate information about the transmission routes of the virus.
Barb's pics are here
Rich's pics day 2 are here
Rich's pics day 3 are here
Thursday, January 20, 2011
And on to Hanoi
We left late afternoon on Monday, and with various and sundry confusions, cancelled flights, rebookings, flew from Minneapolis to Chicago, to Seoul, to Hanoi, arriving Thursday morning at midnight. It was an adventure!
We had a 13 hour layover at the Seoul airport which boasted art museums, and traditionally dressed parades of musicians and dancers sauntering through the shopping crowds. A jarring counterpoint to this was the recognizable eateries; McDonalds, Quiznos, Dunkin Donuts, etc. The airport is a lovely building, which is quite well designed for weary travelers, boasting no cost sleeping areas, free internet, polite people, and even a hotel where we had the option to stay for 10.00 an hour, not including taxes or fees. Being cheap skates, we found a sofa and rested most of the day.
We arrived in Hanoi this morning and climbed five flights of stairs with our packs and were nestled in a delightful room where we promptly went to sleep. After 6 hours of sleep, rose to breakfast of a huge baguette along with eggs and tea. We were then asked to move our belongings to our real room on the second floor and after doing so, took a major walk around town. While I am sure the distance was not great, managing the traffic was a challenge. Traffic, mostly motor scooters, was unbelievable, with seemingly few stoplights, hectic turners, and we learned there is never a break. We learned by observing the locals that one just looks for a decrease in intensity and cross, the scooters, bikes and SUV's skirt around you. It was quite harrowing! We walked along hom kien lake, met a couple of very friendly young folks who were practicing English, and explored.
We went out to lunch at a cook it yourself hot pot restaurant, where we were the only ones who did not know what to do with our setup. We ordered too much not recognizing when I pointed out what a group of five were eating I therefore ordered a meal for five. When we finished what we could eat, we gave the rest to the servers, who had shown us what to do and who we saw finishing up the left overs from other patrons. This must be a substantial portion of their salary.
Following lunch we explored a lovely 13th century temple which is on an island in the lake we had walked around earlier. Following the lovely temple, we strode through some of the older parts of town where we saw street venders, and very enterprising salespeople, who were willing to polish our sneakers, have us buy donuts, fruit, or crafts. Alongside were shops of various varieties selling silks, shoes, crafts, mechanical equipment, plants, flowers and such.
The excursion highlighted our jetlag, so we returned to the hotel, rested, went for a short stroll and came back to blogging, reading and soon to bed. new pics here
We had a 13 hour layover at the Seoul airport which boasted art museums, and traditionally dressed parades of musicians and dancers sauntering through the shopping crowds. A jarring counterpoint to this was the recognizable eateries; McDonalds, Quiznos, Dunkin Donuts, etc. The airport is a lovely building, which is quite well designed for weary travelers, boasting no cost sleeping areas, free internet, polite people, and even a hotel where we had the option to stay for 10.00 an hour, not including taxes or fees. Being cheap skates, we found a sofa and rested most of the day.
We arrived in Hanoi this morning and climbed five flights of stairs with our packs and were nestled in a delightful room where we promptly went to sleep. After 6 hours of sleep, rose to breakfast of a huge baguette along with eggs and tea. We were then asked to move our belongings to our real room on the second floor and after doing so, took a major walk around town. While I am sure the distance was not great, managing the traffic was a challenge. Traffic, mostly motor scooters, was unbelievable, with seemingly few stoplights, hectic turners, and we learned there is never a break. We learned by observing the locals that one just looks for a decrease in intensity and cross, the scooters, bikes and SUV's skirt around you. It was quite harrowing! We walked along hom kien lake, met a couple of very friendly young folks who were practicing English, and explored.
We went out to lunch at a cook it yourself hot pot restaurant, where we were the only ones who did not know what to do with our setup. We ordered too much not recognizing when I pointed out what a group of five were eating I therefore ordered a meal for five. When we finished what we could eat, we gave the rest to the servers, who had shown us what to do and who we saw finishing up the left overs from other patrons. This must be a substantial portion of their salary.
Following lunch we explored a lovely 13th century temple which is on an island in the lake we had walked around earlier. Following the lovely temple, we strode through some of the older parts of town where we saw street venders, and very enterprising salespeople, who were willing to polish our sneakers, have us buy donuts, fruit, or crafts. Alongside were shops of various varieties selling silks, shoes, crafts, mechanical equipment, plants, flowers and such.
The excursion highlighted our jetlag, so we returned to the hotel, rested, went for a short stroll and came back to blogging, reading and soon to bed. new pics here
Sunday, January 16, 2011
We leave tomorrow
We are leaving tomorrow and with 26 hours to go, both Rich and I are finishing up packing, rechecking lists, considering what to take and what to leave, and rearranging our packs. It feels a bit unreal to pack one backpack for six months of living in Asia.
This week illuminated some more specific information. On Thursday morning I had a conversation with Colin Mallet in Phnom Penh and his houseguest, Doreen who has been living at the Peaceful Children’s Home II in Battambang for the last two months. Speaking with them gave me perspective on some of the challenges awaiting me. The director of the Orphanage I outside of Phnom Penh died unexpectedly last week from a stroke and there will be a need for a new director there. There are also some plans for staffing changes in Battambang. It seems as if my volunteer assignment may be during a time of multiple transitions.
I also had the opportunity to become acquainted with some of the others volunteering in Asia with AJSW this spring. We seem to be from all over the United States, with quite a few from the mid-west, two from New Orleans, and a splattering from the coasts. We will actually meet together on February 13th in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I am really excited, somewhat anxious about the extended air travel. The flight from Chicago to Inchon, Korea is 15 hours. Then there is a twelve-hour layover there before we fly to Hanoi, Vietnam for our first excursion.
This week illuminated some more specific information. On Thursday morning I had a conversation with Colin Mallet in Phnom Penh and his houseguest, Doreen who has been living at the Peaceful Children’s Home II in Battambang for the last two months. Speaking with them gave me perspective on some of the challenges awaiting me. The director of the Orphanage I outside of Phnom Penh died unexpectedly last week from a stroke and there will be a need for a new director there. There are also some plans for staffing changes in Battambang. It seems as if my volunteer assignment may be during a time of multiple transitions.
I also had the opportunity to become acquainted with some of the others volunteering in Asia with AJSW this spring. We seem to be from all over the United States, with quite a few from the mid-west, two from New Orleans, and a splattering from the coasts. We will actually meet together on February 13th in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I am really excited, somewhat anxious about the extended air travel. The flight from Chicago to Inchon, Korea is 15 hours. Then there is a twelve-hour layover there before we fly to Hanoi, Vietnam for our first excursion.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Eight days to go...
This last ten days have been a whirlwind. Last Friday morning, well before the winter solstice sun considered emerging, I travelled to New Orleans to say adieu to dad, his special friend, Margo, and my sibs and their spouses, Carolyn and David and Larry and Dashka. All in all a lovely weekend where I announced my plans, explained my choices, and through the narrative, was able to clarify some of my own reasons for choosing Cambodia. Cambodia was an intriguing choice because of the history of recent genocide. Coming from a community which experienced genocide I feel compelled to confront the trauma with eyes a removed from my own experiences. I hope to facilitate some modicum of healing of the distrust and multi generational traumas which can be passed on and on.
We are in the midst of lists, general excitement and its reflective angst, and attempting to prepare for leaving home and then again for arriving in a situation which is new and unknown. We are planning what to bring and what to leave, asking how many pounds of dog food and cat food to purchase for six months, scheduling plans with our many friends who want to say their goodbyes. Ordering prescriptions for six months, assessing the best H2O treatments, saying goodbyes, its an amazing whirlwind of emotion.
All I know is we will have ready what we have ready, that it will be exhilarating and stressful, and that it will be an unbelievable, growing, learning experience.
More as it becomes know.
We are in the midst of lists, general excitement and its reflective angst, and attempting to prepare for leaving home and then again for arriving in a situation which is new and unknown. We are planning what to bring and what to leave, asking how many pounds of dog food and cat food to purchase for six months, scheduling plans with our many friends who want to say their goodbyes. Ordering prescriptions for six months, assessing the best H2O treatments, saying goodbyes, its an amazing whirlwind of emotion.
All I know is we will have ready what we have ready, that it will be exhilarating and stressful, and that it will be an unbelievable, growing, learning experience.
More as it becomes know.
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