Since leaving Australia, we have been really busy with the family here in Vietnam, there has never been a moments rest, or down time to relax and reflect on all of the events. It is a little much at times, but I had not seen my family for so long that it was all worth it. I guess the time for reflection will come later on in the trip. Rav has been great dealing with the language barrier and trying new things (different types of food such as liver, snails, pig snout and dried squid and tackling the Vietnamese language). I on the other hand have been doing a lot of talking and translating from English to Vietnamese and visa versa…Hai Phong as a city does not have much to offer to tourists, but it was a stop for family that brought us here. We met one of my mom’s cousins, Bac Ha, who is an outstanding artist and philosopher. Derek, Krista, Rav, Arlene, Greg and I spent a morning chatting with him on many philosophical topics….we visited his home and studio and his work is amazing. He had sold most of his paintings recently to build a house for him and his wife on the outskirts of town - a wonderful piece of architecture (which he designed himself). He is an inspiration to me, as he is self taught, no real formal training in the fine arts, but is well read, and understands a tremendous amount about foreign lands and philosophies of the west. I hope to be as good as he is one day…
On the 2nd of Feb we said our emotional goodbyes to our families in Hai Phong at the crack of dawn and headed to Hanoi. We rented a bus and took as many of the family members that wanted to come. All in all, the bus departed with 24 people. We spent the day driving to Hanoi using the scenic route and stopped by one of my aunt’s friend’s house for a quick visit and some wine (of course) before heading off to a couple remote temples in the mountains.
These temples were not as well maintained and they are really too far out of the way to have any significant donations for their upkeep. Our roads to these temples were particularly dangerous, as the narrow road was not really designed for automobiles, let alone a bus of this size. On many occasions pedestrians and cyclists were forced to stop and wait at the side of the bank. The road was bumpy, the music was loud, and the bus driver was really aggressive. It made for an interesting day. (Above picture – The Dangerous Drive to the Remote Temples)
After visiting the remote temples, we mad our way into town and our first stop in Hanoi was to the temple of the 8 Kings of the Ly Dynasty. It was a very nice temple facing a pond. Along the pond was a pagoda where we sat and watched a traditional song and dance from a group of performers telling tales through songs of love and devotion. We were treated to a fanciful lunch which was our first meal away from the comforts of home cooking; it was good, but of course not even close to being as good as our home cooked meals. The one dish we found to be a pleasant surprise was the sea-snails with green bananas - a definite addition to our around the world recipe book.
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