Vietnam

The first day we were in Sapa we could hear music. It seemed to be going on all day, so after our walk I went to find it. It was at the temple, right below where we were staying. The music was drumming (and some other instruments) and chanting/singing. At first I just sat outside and listened to it. It moved me to tears. Then someone invited me in, so I stood just inside the doorway to watch, and a bit later another person invited me in to sit down. I must have been there for about 2 hours, swept up in their ceremony. It was extraordinary, and colourful, and very moving. Again and again I was moved to tears and smiles.

I can best describe it as Shamanism dressed up in the most gaudy of Chinese glitz. The Chinese were in Vietnam for 1000 years so the influence of their culture is strong, and apparently Confucianism is quite strong here, but I read something at the Ethnology museum that makes me think this was a more shamanistic ceremony. From what I gathered from the man who invited me in (in his somewhat limited English) and this (from the Ethnology Museum) "The Religion of the Four Worlds, a northern popular folk religion. In this religion the system of spirits is imagined like an imperial court that rules the four worlds: Sky, Earth, Water, and Forests" I think that's what I witnessed.

Anyway whatever it was, it was extraordinary. There was a crazy colourful huge Chinese style altar towering in the front of the room made up of lanterns and huge vases, and flowers, and gold statues, and huge candles and a great pyramid of coke cans on one side and a great pyramid of beer cans on the other, each pyramid with a green candle on top of it.

In front of the altar were 3 people - the shaman (a woman) and her 2 attendants (both men). She wore a basic white silk outfit of top and pants, but the ceremony consisted of her attendants dressing her in more and more elaborate glitzy and sparkly Chinese-style robes and head-dresses - first green, then aqua, then blue, then yellow, then white. (And this was just during the couple of hours that I was there!) The dressing in each outfit took some time. Some of the head dresses were really elaborate and required lots of folding of cloth and colourful pins and brooches, and then there was the robe, and the sashes. It was all done with the three of them sitting until the final putting on of the waist sash. During it all one of the attendants kept filling a shot glass with something from a bottle in a bag for the shaman to drink, and she also smoked cigarettes through it all.

When she was dressed she stood to dance in front of the altar often waving flaming incense sticks, and flashing sparklers in each hand. And then one of her attendants gave her a huge pile of money fanned out in each hand. She danced with the money for a while and then threw it into the crowd and everyone dived for it. After a bit she stopped dancing and sat down again. Then a red and gold cloth was thrown over her head for a couple of seconds, and then the next outfit was put on her. And so it went on. Money being thrown to the congregation, and all kinds of goodies being handed out like packs of cigarettes, and boxes of cookies - just handed out at random throughout the crowd. And the whole time the fabulous music is going with new music for each outfit/dance. Twice various attendants, directed by the Shaman, handed out small paper flags each with money taped to it. Some people received a handful of flags, many only one. During the second handing out of flags a woman sitting in front of me indicated to the person handing out the flags that one should be given to me. And one of the times the shaman hurled notes into the crowd one of them landed right next to me. And at another time a woman sitting a little bit away from me passed a small bill over to me. I felt so privileged - to be seen, and included in this way.

While the shaman was sitting she would, from time to time in a very languid way, pick up a large note and give it to one of her attendants, or indicate it was to be given to the musicians. Actually I can best describe the whole demeanor of the Shaman as languid, amidst all the shiny metallic glitz of the altar and her outfits, and the busyness of those in the crowd who were handing out the gifts, and the haunting and enthralling music. It sounds so hokey with all the sparkling glitz, and the Shaman smoking and drinking, and the coke and beer cans on the altar, and yet there was a depth to it, a real feeling and conviction and joy. All day this ceremony went on. I can only imagine I stumbled into what seemed to be an annual ceremony for prosperity and good luck. I was completely transfixed, and feel really lucky and privileged to have been there.

I have no photos. The woman sitting next to me pointed at my camera and seemed to indicate that it would be OK to take pictures, but it just didn't feel appropriate, so I hope my words can give some idea of what I experienced.


On our return to Hanoi we took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda, one of the most important of the Mahayana Buddhists. It's about 60km from Hanoi and was a complete surprise. It is unlike any pagoda we could have ever imagined.

We had a car and driver and guide for the day. We drove for about 2 hours to get to the Perfume River, and then were rowed in a sampan for an hour and a half up the river to get to the start of the walk to the pagoda.






Images of our trip on the Perfume River

We then had a 4km uphill hike to get to the pagoda - it was pretty brutal in the 40 degree heat, but we are intrepid travelers! Even though we drank gallons of water all day I still got a bit dehydrated and finished the day with a headache. It was still worth it.






The path up to the Perfume Pagoda

The pagoda itself is a cave! An enormous cave, with stairs going down into it, and an outer altar set up in front of a huge stalactite/stalagmite column. Such a natural and obvious place for it.


Looking down into the cave towards the outer altar


The outer altar

As you go further into the cave there is a much more elaborate inner altar. The altar and the cave itself are extraordinary. People always find sacred places. And this cave is certainly one of them and has been used for spiritual practice for hundreds of years. I was awed by the cave, and the energy there. No photos are allowed of the inner sanctuary and altar.


Walking into the inner sanctuary


Inside the cave


In front of the outer altar looking out

There are actually a whole series of pagodas in the area, and we went to one other. This one is a more traditional building, and like the cave pagoda has a rich and elaborate and gold encrusted altar. Once again completely gobsmacked! Thank you Ruth for making sure we got there!




We are now back in Vancouver, but I will do one more blog post sometime in the next week to finish up the journey - more of our experiences in Hanoi, and our trip to Ha Long Bay.

West Australia, Vietnam

Just to put our tree climbing into perspective, it was the equivalent of climbing up the side of about a 16-18 storey building!

Continued our road trip to Bunbury and then on to Perth. We took a ferry down the Swan River and across to Rottnest Island just off the coast for a fabulous day at a very special place. Rottnest is a sanctuary and there are no vehicles allowed there except service vehicles and the bus that goes around the island. We took the bus as far west as it goes and then walked the 3km to the most western point of the island. It was a beautiful sunny day and the island is absolutely gorgeous. We saw quite a few quokkas. They are only found on Rottnest and are related to the kangaroo. They are very small hopping marsupials about the size of a cat. When the Dutch first discovered the island they thought they were rats - hence the name Rottnest.


Rottnest shoreline


Quokka

We also saw lots of pelicans, and from the jetty 4 huge stingray swimming around. Huge - about 6ft across and about 8ft long.






I am genius traveller! We are in Hanoi and I have found free, air-conditioned internet within walking distance of "home". Sitting in air-con heaven. It is about 40 degrees outside! There is a smile on my face :) I wandered into the Sheraton the other day to use the bathroom and noticed several computer stations in the lobby. This morning we discovered (by doing it) that you could just walk right up and use them :)

We are staying in Hanoi with our friend Ruth who is living here for 2 yrs (but she had to go away for a few days).

Hanoi is just about beyond words - a wild cacophany of noise and smells and people and traffic and crowded busyness that never stops. The traffic is beyond belief. The roads are crowded with cars trucks busses motorbikes bicycles pedestrians and the odd horse and cart. And out in the rural areas add in water buffalo. There doesn't appear to be any road rules, or if there are no-one follows them. Everyone just gets where they want to go however they can. One way streets become 2 way because a motorbike can squeeze down the wrong way, 2 way streets become 3 way because a motorbike can squeeze down the outside of oncoming traffic. And people on foot or bicycle are just as much a part of the traffic as any motorized vehicle. It's crazy. And yet somehow it all just flows. Like a river. Everyone is super attentive. Because they have to be. And crossing the street is an art in itself. You don't barge out, or hold back, but just ease slowly and purposefully out into the traffic and keep going as it flows around you. Sometimes you stop mid street for a vehicle to pass, sometimes they stop for you, and eventually you find yourself on the other side of the street. I've never been afraid crossing the street here, even as I'm surrounded by traffic. It all has it's own flow. Oh and you walk on the street because the sidewalks are filled with parked motorbikes and overflowing shops and people making things or cooking or eating.


Fisherman in Ho Tay (West Lake) near Ruth's place







I am a bad traveller. I don't know much about Vietnamese water puppets at all except it started as an art form in the rice fields and it is a puppet show in which all the puppets are in water and it is quite ancient. And quite wonderful. We went to a show. It was just delightful - fish puppets splashing about and children playing in the water, and dragons, and rice planting and harvesting, and special ceremonies - all puppets in a big tank of water. We had front row seats.


Water puppets

Before Ruth had to go away the 3 of us took a 4 day trip to the mountainous Sapa region of northern Vietnam up near the Chinese border - an overnight train trip, then 2 nights in a fabulous hotel that Ruth knew about, and then an overnight train trip back. There are several ethnic minorities in Vietnam. I will know more about it after I go to the Ethnology Museum tomorrow :)
The region we went to is the home of the Black Hmong, the Red Zao, and the Flower Hmong.

I think all the following pictures will tell their own story. We went to the local markets, and hiked all over the region. We did an all day hike with a Black Hmong guide who took us up and down the mountains and rice paddies from village to village. She was a delight. Only 20 yrs old, married and 6 months pregnant with her first child. Very knowledgeable about the area and the Hmong way of life giving quite detailed descriptions of the indigo dying process for their clothes and how they make the cloth from hemp, and just about anything else we asked about. There are lots of bright orange butterfiles there. She told us she didn't like them because they are dirty because they eat poo! Sure enough we came upon a bunch of them eating poo. She also said she'd like to leave not only her home village, but Vietnam, because life is too hard there. She said she'd learned English from the tourists 3 yrs ago. She said she found it easy to learn English, but harder to learn Vietnamese. When people asked her how she learned English she used to say she learned it from the toilet. We all laughed. She hadn't quite got yet the difference between the words toilet and tourist.


Hotel balcony and view - Sapa


Black Hmong


Sapa market


Red Zao woman


Red Zao women


Don, Ruth, and Black Hmong women


Hmong farm and terraces


Terraces and mountains


Water buffalo wallowing

We drove about 2 hours from Sapa to Bac Ha for the Sunday market, and that afternoon did a short hike out of town to where the people have their farms. All the people of this region have incredibly hard lives. Subsistence farming is a hard life anyway. In the mountains even harder. They are very very strong and fit.



Bac Ha market


Bac Ha market


Flower Hmong women choosing skirts at the market


Flower Hmong child

We're off to Ha Long Bay soon to stay on a junk and go kayaking in amongst the islands.

That's it for now.