David and Karen Journey – DNKJOURNEY

The Aussie guy who built the farm stay married into the Viet family that owns the farm.  It is his tradition to deliver bags of candy to all the village kids, large and small, for Xmas.  But Ben spent this Xmas in Australia so there was an extra Santa suit for the annual event.  David fit the description, and the suit, a plan was hatched.  Early Xmas morning American David, Aussie Dave on staff and Tie one of the kids in the house delivered gift bags.  We took some snaps of the event, little kids are the same over all the world and the adults offered to invite us in for tea.  What a fun way to start your Xmas morning . . . . . Merry Christmas one and all.

We are spending the Christmas holiday in Phong Nha, a farming community in western Vietnam and 40 km from the Laos border.  It is home to the world heritage site and national park containing the largest and most spectacular cave system in Vietnam.   We found refuge in a farm who opens its doors to visitors.  Wonderful family and the warm company of 7-8 other nationalities each with their own travel stories to share another adventure.  One of our colorful fellow travelers is going around the world snapping pictures of people wearing bunny teeth, he had us at first bite . . .That’s right doc!

 

We reached the dong Ha caves first by scooter like many Viet people use then by boat, and wandered through a couple of spectacular caves with ribbons and other formations That I don’t know the names of but were really cool.  Then we went to paradise cave, the one featured by National Geographic as one of the worlds longest caves: 31 km long!  It has only been open to the public since 9/2010 so only the first km is prepared for visitors.  To say it was spectacular is an understatement.  It deserves the title world heritage the acorn looking structure is one million years old near its base.  We asked the guide what it was like beyond the current public space, and he replied it just gets better.  This will become a destination, glad we got here early.

Mamma and papa, the hotel staff calls us that . . . . . Is it because we are 30 years older than all the other people at breakfast? Probably. They are so intrigued by us riding our bicycles!!!! Where are you going today they ask and today was a great ride

I found in the guide book that one of the pagodas here is maintained by the monks of Ticht Nanh Hanh, a Buddhist monk and zen master, who has written many good books and who I retreated with this summer. Gotta go even though it is located 5 km out of town in a pine forest and the monks chant at 10 am each morning. The front desk gave directions and, of course, ten minutes later we are looking at the map confused and lost. This nice lady on a scooter stopped to help and said she was going very near the pagoda, we both agree to follow.

We got to the pagoda just as the monks were singing their morning prayers. It was beautiful there, so serene, a campus set far from the road with reflection ponds and trails set for meditation. What a great way to start the day.

Back at our bikes, Roi, the nice lady from earlier, was still there and invited us to her house for tea and english conversation. It was only another 6 km. So off we went . . .

How humbled we were to be invited into Roi’s home. It consisted of one large room with the double bed and table and chairs in the front room and what must be the kids room behind a curtain with the small kitchen at the far end. Their whole house was about the size of our kitchen on Cathay. She and her husband are farmers who plant rice, corn and peanuts and they have two kids in high school. (they bicycle 30 minutes into Hue to attend) We chatted about the universal things kids, holidays, weather over green tea.

We were home as it began to rain, the staff here taking turns riding the bikes up and down our alley. We repacked the bikes into the suitcases . . . . The staff looking over our shoulders saying they could not believe the bikes fit in such a small space.

All in all a lovely day in the real Vietnam.

Hue served as Vietnam’s capital under the Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945.  The city’s regal past can still be seen today inside the walls of the Citadel and the war-ravaged Imperial City.

Having a western breakfast in the hotel with Vietnamese coffee, not sure why they call it coffee; an omelet (scrambled eggs); bread; very sweet mandarin oranges.

Back to the room to take the Bike Friday’s (fold up bicycles) out of their suitcases and put them together.  They traveled well and were easily unfolded and ready for a ride.

The bicycle ride took over the perfume river and past the Citadel.   What we thought was the road to the Thien Mu Pagoda took us thru several small villages.  We passed many locals that admired our fold up bicycles and asked us for their purchase price and of course, priceless.  After about 30 minutes of riding we realized we took the wrong turn and turned around and made the correct turn arriving at the Pagoda.

Thien Mu Pagoda – is a historic temple in the city of Hue in Vietnam. Its pagoda has seven storeys and is the tallest in Vietnam and located just out of town along the perfume river.  The temple is often the subject of folk rhymes and ca dao about Hue, such is its iconic status and association with the city. It is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital.

Tips for riding a bike here in Vietnam: stay right; dodge other bikes; motor scooters; cars; and pedestrians.  All vehicles excluding bikes have horns and the locals use them well.

After a two hour bicycle ride, went on a 15 minute walk to receive a one hour Vietnamese and hot rock massage for $15.

Off to dinner and for a change went for Italian food at a restaurant named Little Italy.

Click on photos to enlarge.

The sea in Ha Long Bay is misty, the earth, those small islands and spirals, appear in a fog. . . . the depth of the landscapes softens and the mountainous terrain falls one layer after the other with color and shape lightening until it blends into the sky. There are 1969 Karst stones rising from this misty bay, and we just spent three days kayaking and watching the world from their point of view.

Our hotel recommended the Galaxy cruise, its main selling feature was it was brand new in May 2011. (An old junk boat sunk this summer — so new was important to me.) For three days we took hundreds of pictures trying to capture the distinctive nature of the Karst, and the mist, and the endless layers of rock and water.

On our second day, we took an outing in a small day boat, chugging over to the cave system and paddled our kayaks through caves only to find a small, calm lake or perhaps the back side of another Karst. We paddled around for a couple of hours, enjoying each minute. The look on our faces says it all.

This sounds romantic but here is a note from reality. . . Tonight’s menu choices, back in Hanoi, were steamed snakehead fish or pickled pigs ear, however, we found the safe route: wontons.

Tomorrow off to Hue….

There are few traffic lights here, just everyone going about their business, left, right and straight in the same intersection.  The instruction for crossing the street is to just walk at a predictable pace, and the cars/scooters will move around you.  It does work, but it is much easier to watch other people move around than it is to hold your breath and venture from here to there.

David and I are staying in the old quarter.  The heart of the old French city is everywhere; gorgeous architecture and little courtyards housing restaurants or coffee shops.  Everything has worked according to plan with 3 months stretched out in front of us the pace is much more relaxing than trying to stuff so much into a few weeks or a month.

We have ventured to the many highlights of Hanoi.  The standard things: water puppets, temples and pagodas.  We were at the temple of literature and we were offered a private concert (for a gift of approx $5,) but it lasted 15 minutes or so and was accomplished on the traditional instruments, bamboo pieces which were struck like a drum, and a very ancient 1 string instrument.  I took video to capture the sound – just beautiful.  We were lucky to catch the changing of the guard of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum lots of pomp — they modeled it after Buckingham Palace.  And walking through the park we came upon one couple who had just gotten married and were posing for wedding pics, the traditional dress is beautiful.

In one of the temples, offerings are made to the honored deity.   Money is appropriate, of course, and flowers and incense are appreciated.   At this particular temple it is a first to note the gift of oreo cookies and white castle shortbread.  I just had to take a picture . . . .

Tomorrow we head out for a 3 day cruise on Halong Bay, a UNESCO heritage site with karst stones jutting up from the sea.   Here is a sneak peak of our boat and the bay, and a promise of an update when we return.    But for now, it is time for our afternoon massage, yes this expat life is wonderful.

Flight from the Denver to Hanoi were great bu long. On the longest leg, San Francisco to Seoul we had paid $100 to upgrade to Economy in the exit row which we had ourselves.  The head purser for Economy was sitting opposite.  Right after takeoff he brought us bottles of wine then champagne.

All flights were great with the Asiana Airlines flight attendants being soo cute you wanted to hug them to see if they were real.   We arrived Hanoi on December 13 at 1030 pm, time change is 14 hours later than Denver.  Little Ambien allowed us to get a good night sleep.

Day 1 exploring Hanoi.