Journey to Peace Village

I had a fantastic journey to Danang and Hue. It was a great time there and I loved the festival. But the journey home was a tough, tough road.

I decided to save money and take a sleeping bus. Big mistake. It was worse than the sleeper trains in Viet Nam!

I hoped because it was a tourist bus that it would bemore comfortable, but actually I was stuffed into a small metal cot for 12 hours. Worse, it was an upper cot in the middle, so I hesitated to get down. There wasn't really any room to move in the bus, anyway. My backpack was bulging with souvenirs, I had a conical hat and a painting, so I couldn't even try to turn over. It's another one of those experiences I never would've imagined before I came here. (And I wouldn't think I could get through it, either).

To make matters worse, the bus took off with my luggage when we finally arrived in Ha Noi. I had to visit four different offices of the tourist company to retrieve it. By the time I got home I was exhausted and basically just zoned out the rest of the day.

This brings up a bit of advice for first time travellers to Southeast Asia. I would always advise going to Thailand first. The overnight train ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was a breeze compared to this (or the VN train). The seats converted into beds so you weren't lying down all the time. The buses in Thailand in general are comfortable and very cheap. And the mixup in the baggage? There's very little chance this would've happened, and retrieval would've been much easier. (although I have heard that there are problems with stolen baggage on long haul buses from Bangkok to Phuket/Krabi. In general, the infrastructure is better in Thailand and things are better organized. Vietnam is still very much a barter economy as opposed to a service economy.

But even with this rough return, my trip to the center of the country was fantastic. Once you get your feet wet and are ready for the adventure, come to Viet Nam!

Labels: Travel, Viet Nam

The second day at the Hue Festival was even more incredible than the first. I went to 3/2 park and saw an art exhibit. All the paintings were done by disabled children and were on the subject of fairytales. Here Tam met Sleeping beauty and superman shook hands with King Huong.

The colorful paintings were hanging from clothes lines and I shopped around, finally deciding on a beautiful rendering of Tam, the Vietnamese Cinderella.

That evening I went to the Citadel for more events at the musical festival. The Citadel was astonishingly beautiful at night, the paths being lit by candles and Chinese paper lanterns. The stage I wanted was at the back, but I sampled some Thai music and dancing on the way. Finally I arrived at the stage, which was set inside the ruins of a small house. One mahogony chiar sat in the orange lit frame while we sat on plastic stools waiting for the show to start.

First came the Ao Dai Fashion show. Both older and younger women modeled versions of the Ao Dai, the Vietnamese long dress. The styles varied from daring new designs more like evening gowns to the century old classics. The fashion show was followed by Co La, an all women's Vietnamese folk group that uses traditinal instruments to play everything from Celtic to jazz music. They were incredible musicians.

After Co La I was going to leave but there was a fireworks show. Then at another part of the Citadel I stopped to watch a Cambodian dance troupe. This was unique performance as they were backed by Vietnamese traditional musicians. After leaving the Citadel I went back to the hotel. This was perhaps the highlight of the night. A French street band called S.N.O.B. (System for clearing the ears) was playing at a bar next to the hotel. The brass band was brilliant with their takes on everything from Jewish folk music to Led Zeppelin. I went back to the hotel after playing some air guitar and just kicked back and enjoyed the tuba!

Labels: Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture

Friday afternoon I finally arrived in Hue! It was so exciting to finally make it to the Festival. This is something I wanted to see since I heard about it this January!

The Hue Festival is held every two years and celebrates the cultural heritage of Hue. Music groups from Vietnam and around the world are invited to participate. I specifically came to see American jazz singer Coco York. For months I'd been dying to hear some music from back home.

Coco York was worth the wait. The Los Angeles based singer gave Vietnamese music lovers a quick introduction to jazz through her versions of classics such as On a clear day. Backed by a highly talented trio of musicians from Sai Gon, Coco gave all of us a lesson in scat and showed that jazz is one of the great gifts of America to the world.

The Union of Young Vietnamese in France gave an innovative dance performance. Combining traditional elements with hip hop, they brought East and West together. Through it all were kids in the audience with "Mr. Yellow Cat" masks on. Mr. Yellow Cat is the logo of the fest. He was created by Thoma Vuille from Switzerland and has made appearances all over the world.

Labels: Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture

One of my most intriguing experiences in Danang was visiting a Cao Dai temple. Cao Dai is a religion that is unique to Southern Viet Nam. It was founded in 1926 and combines elements of all major religions: including Christianity, Buddhism and Taoism. Like Buddhism, followers of Cao Dai seek to break the cycle of rebirth through prayer and ascetic practices such as vegetarianism. They also practice seances to relay divine information.

The most striking symbol in the temple is the "Divine Eye." The Divine Eye is the symbol of God.

Cao Dai was important in the politics of South Viet Nam during the war years. It still has many followers (about 8 million) and with recent liberalization policies in Viet Nam it has again become a vital cultural force in the country.

for further info you can check this link:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cao_Dai

Labels: religion and culture, Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese history

I spent the first few days of my latest trip in Danang. (Including my birthday). It was a surprisingly nice city. Danang is overlooked on most tourist trips, if anything a quick pause between Hoi An and Hue. But it has a lot of charm in its own right.

Called Tourane by the French, Danang is the third largest city in Viet Nam and the principal city of the center of the country. It was important during the Viet Nam war because it is very close to the DMZ, (the dividing line between the old north and south). A lot of American troops were stationed in and around Danang, and I saw some of the remnants, including a large, decaying army base and helicopters, etc., on display. Danang is also home to "China Beach" which was an R& R center. China beach is pretty empty these days and I only got to lounge around in a beach chair, as I couldn't find anywhere to secure my belongings and change into my swim suit. That's how empty it is. There's one high end resort near the mountains on China Beach and there are more being developed, so it may not be this pristine for long.

I also went to the "Marble Mountains" a chain of mountains which are a geographical break between North and South Vietnam. It was absolutely beautiful with spectacular views of China Beach and greater Danang. There's a spectacular pagoda on the top of one of the mountains(actually several located in caves within the mountains). My guide for the pagoda was Nga, an elderly Vietnamese who has the flexibility of an eighteen year old. She helped me to climb and shimmy through the caves to some of the hidden treasures such as a reclining Buddha cut out of the rocks. At one point she even pulled me up a difficult to navigate rock ledge.

My room was a restful retreat from the activity. It afforded a spectacular view of the mountains and the "rooster church" an old pink cathedral built by the French. Every morning I was awakened at 4:30 a.m. by the church bells calling the faithful to prayer!

I'm glad I got delayed in Danang on my way to the Festival in Hue!

Labels: Viet Nam, Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese history

ON my second day in Chiang Mai I went to Doi Su Thep, a mountain about half hour out of the city. It's an important sacred site in Thailand. The story goes that a holy man from India came to visit the king of Lanna (the first kingdom of Thailand) with two relics, tiny pieces of bone from the Lord Buddha himself.

The king wanted to honor these relics the best he could. He placed the first relic in the pagoda near the royal cemetary. He couldn't decide what to do with the second relic. Finally, he decided to put it in the pack of one of his elephants, and the animal would decide where to put the relic. The animal climbed the highest mountain near Chiang Mai, circled the top three times, and then laid down and died. Thus the king decided to have the temple built at the top of the mountain.

Many people from all over the country visit this sanctuary, and it's the custom to circle the main temple three times, then place lotus flowers and incense by the shrine. I followed the custom and took in the spectacular views and wonderous art such as the Hindu influenced statue of the Earth goddess.

Labels: Buddhism, religion and culture, Thailand