Everything Has At Least Two Spellings!

Pom Coong (Poong Coong) Homestay

We had an early breakfast and left Hanoi with only the things we needed for a week in the countryside.  Our big bag was checked at the hotel to claim upon our return.  The bus ride was about three and a half hours west of the city and up into the mountains.  The tour is called Hill Tribes of VietNam.  Most of the drive it rained and if it wasn’t raining it was foggy or misty.  Phil said that most often the mountain pass is closed in the clouds.  It surely was!  You could not see the vehicle in front of you or even the lights of the oncoming ones.  On the narrow, winding road it was amazing that the sharp turns and frequent curves could be navigated.  Our driver was really remarkable. 

Mai Chau Valley where we were heading for our Homestay.

Once we were over the peak the weather cleared as we drove lower and lower into the Mai Chau Valley.  Here fruit orchards abound and we stopped to sample oranges along the way.

We arrived at the village of the White Thai People.  This is their name because they wear white but Mrs. Vuong, our hostess greeted us wearing black and with teeth that showed the effects of chewing beetle nuts.  The tiny woman of about 50 supports her family by having guest experience the culture of her people by staying overnight.  Homestays are popular in some of the villages we will visit.

 

The classic stilt house was large.  Beneath is the kitchen. It is eating and entertaining area and a place where Mrs. Vuong sits at a loom to create scarves which everyone in our group, except me, bought.  Phil encourages us to support the local economy.  I have supported the local economies sufficiently with the purchase of this trip, I am pretty sure!

The stilts allow for plenty of fresh air and help to keep the sleeping area clean.  Sleeping is done up an uneven flight of steps.  Because this is a home being used for tourism, the rectangular upper chamber accommodated all of us in one big room.  Barbara and Bruno had a king sized arrangement and then we each had our own space.  Each bed had a mosquito net but it isn’t the season yet so we did not use them. The thick memory foam mattresses which rested on the Jackwood floor were separated by elegant curtains which pulled back so we could be open or they could be closed for privacy. The curtains hung from a system of bamboo poles so that the room could be configured for any size group.  This room was a teen aged girl’s slumber party fantasy!

All the way around the walls were shutters that threw open to the rice paddies beneath.  You could see a great distance.  To make Westerners more at home there was a bathroom with toilet and sink on this floor.  Downstairs were three bathrooms with showers as well. We had removed our shoes so as not to spoil that tatami mats in the house and were provided with flip flops. 

Back down to a many coursed lunch which began with a welcome toast of rice wine served in doll house cups.  Rice is served at the end of the meal as a filler if you have not been satisfied by the soup, cooked greens and the meat, fowl, and fish courses.  Dessert was always served and this time was watermelon and dragon fruit.  

 

Susie, Anna from Taos, Frieda and I had lunch together.

Then came rest time.  Phil says we will have nap time most every day so we stay healthy!  I think it also gives the ‘troop leader’ a break!  He will have long days ahead!

We took a long walking tour through the rice paddies. Along our walk we went through the village.  The stilt houses are of wood and of varying qualities of finish and decoration.  Water Buffalo and VietNamese Potbellied Pigs are in sheds that have more openness than shelter.  Watch where you step!

Water Buffalo are shy creatures and not at all threatening despite their size.  They much on grasses and are invaluable for two reasons.  They serve as the plow and the fertilizer of the rice which is grown.  Children have the job of picking up the dung and piling it in the paddy until it is time for the Buffalo to walk in the field and mulch the dung into the soil.  Then the women to smooth out the mud with the use of a board.  It is all back breaking work and the whole family participates in the growing of the money crop.  When the seedlings get about 6 or 8 inches tall, they are pulled up and bunched.  Then they are reinserted one spring at a time into the mud in neat rows.  It was not warm, we had on jackets and hats and scarves but the ladies were barefoot and barehanded as they tediously stopped and placed the transplants.

Phil demonstrated for us.

 

This is what is pulled up and separated to replant.  

Seeing all the intense manual labor makes you really appreciate that cheap box of Minute Rice, or a five pound sack for just a few dollars!

We stopped in the village to visit in the home of a Veteran of the American War.  We have quickly realized that the welcome always includes tepid green tea or rice wine but is genuine and friendly.  He answered our questions and Phil guided the conversation so that Mr. Nguyen could tell us of his experience.  He went to the war because they were starving and wanted to have new hope. 

We passed the home of a family who was working in the field.  The 12 year old daughter was tending the 18 month old and was preparing dinner in their kitchen - this open fire in the front of the house.  Bruno asked if he could give the baby a piece of candy.  We always ask first. 

Our group sort of split up with some of us following Phil and others followed the local guide who went a different way.  When we all finally regrouped our local guide tried out a new route that proved awkward for Anna, Frieda, and me.  It ended with a narrow, not much wider than your two feet balancing act on a rutted grass path on a wall above the paddy.  Frieda and I were willing to try it but Anna would not have made it and Phil was nervous.  Her balance is not good and she needs a walking stick for normal paths.  He brought us back around another way.

We were late getting back to dinner which began with a performance of ethnic dancing and music. But first we soaked our feet in a warm bath of herbs to make them more comfortable and so we would sleep better. 

Here Glenda and her daughter Leah join Barbara soaking their feet.  Bruno is next in line!

Each song portrayed a story of the White Thai People.  The cutest one was a story of courtship that involved the young girl twirling her umbrella and teasing her beau by first showing her face and then hiding from him.  Susie and Barbara and Bruno joined in the bamboo dance.  When that began we could easily tell who had been Girl Scouts!

 Dinner was another multi-coursed meal.  I can see there will plenty of food on this trip and the toast this evening was with Rice Whiskey.  I think there will be a lot of that as well.   

We are all still getting to know one another but seemed to have bonded already.  Everyone was courteous and modest in our communal bedroom and yet there was a lot of joking and kidding around.  It is good that there were thick comforters on the beds as it was quite cool.  It is also good that we had noticed at Rest Time that some of the shutters did not hook closed and that we told Phil. While we were gone the family had already fixed those and so the ‘cabin’ was a little less breezy.  We talked and laughed and gradually you could hear fewer and fewer voices until we were all fast asleep huddled under the colorful down comforters.

Beep Beep!

Beep Beep!

No we are not in the American West hunting Road Runners!  We are in the Old City of Hanoi dodging motor scooters!

Our day started without the aid of an alarm clock at about 6:30.  We took our time getting ready and went to the ground level floor for the included buffet breakfast.  Waffles and eggs to order were together with bacon and sausages on the hot table. Along the long wall was toast, rolls, fruit, yogurts, tofu and ‘jellys.’  Of course coffee and Jasmin Green Tea were the beverage choices.  It was not busy when we got to the long, narrow room and we easily found seats.

I also found, as so often I do, a lovely couple from the Australian Gold Coast.  Michael and Pamela are partners since each spouse died of cancer five years ago.  They actually met at the hospital during the crisis.  They love to travel and he is bringing his grandchildren to the US in a few years to see some of the parks and also Disneyland.  I suggested that they might all enjoy Disney World a great deal more!

After breakfast we gathered cameras, water bottles, guide book and marked map of the area.  Phil had shown us where the hotel was on the map, as well as the Hao Lo Prison.  When we return here next week the prison, the Hanoi Hilton, is not part of the tour.  Probably because it is controversial and especially because it is focused on the Vietnamese Liberation Struggle.  This was the effort of the ‘people’ to free themselves of French rule and oppression.  What was first known as the Indochina War, or Indochine, I did not realize is what became the Vietnam War.  I thought the first was further back in time and indeed the early struggle began in the late 19^th century.

The Vietnamese people were aggressively rounded up if they were leaders against the French.  This is typical, I think, in any place where the colonial powers are being defied.  The prison was built to house some 400 dissidents and at times had as many as 2,000.  The portion which remains as a monument to the “strength of the people of VietNam” contains death cells.  Here prisoners were kept a minimum of 10 months shackled in irons on sloping cement floors so their feet were uphill.  This made even sitting up difficult if you did not rest back on your arms.  They were not even relieved of this position to go to the bathroom. The interior and exterior of the cells were tarred so there was permanent gloom.  During the ten months appeals could be made. Within three days of the always denied appeals, they were executed.  The French, being so French, used a tall, slender guillotine which is still on display.

Non death row prisoners were lined up in one long shackle system on a cement bench.  They were allowed to use a cement platform over trash barrels at the end of the chamber.  This was a privilege twice a day if they behaved. If they did not talk anything against the French or try to organize, then only one foot was in the brace.  This allowed for some ability to shift their positions a little.

During the American War, it is into this prison that the American criminal pilots were taken. The small display at the last room showcases how well they were treated.  There is a low bed with a grass mat. There were photos of prisoners playing cards, or making a Christmas party with a decorated tree.  A Christmas service photo shows smiling pilots in warm sweaters standing with hands folded while a minister preaches. 

In the other rooms we saw pictures of the “criminal operators of the aggressor’s aircraft” being shot down by the military and the people of VietNam.  Every caption included the phrase, “the people of.”  Apparently the people of VietNam shot down the planes, marched the aggressors into the city and placed them in the prison where they were “treated with respect and courtesy.”  They were given good food and clean housing.  They were allowed to raise chickens to supplement their diets. They played chess, checkers, and billiards.  Packages were delivered from their families at home and as many letters as there were could be received or sent. We do not often get to see a war perspective from the other side. 

Uniforms were exchanged for nice slacks, shirts, and overcoats when they were at last released.  Each was given leather dress shoes and a ‘fine leather bag’ to carry home their many souvenirs which were gifts from the “people of VietNam.”

The prison is not on the OAT or other tours.  I have read that Americans are not really happy to see it because it is propaganda filled in typical Communistic fashion.  I think though, it is not necessarily deliberate.  It is human nature to focus on how oppressed and evilly you are being treated.  Seldom does the Golden Rule apply when you then have a turn to be the oppressor.  Susie and I were very glad that we visited this monument to the recognition of perspective of an unwinnable war.

The people of VietNam in this year of the early 21^st century seem to be a peaceful, thoughtful, quiet generation that demonstrates respect and love for their ancestors and their elders.  They surely are hardworking!  There is a struggle to reconcile the beliefs of the past with the need to become strong through a developing economy.  While we were at the museum we stopped in the courtyard to view the mural.  A ceremony was going on during which four employees of the adjacent conference center offered prayers and wishes.  There was an altar decorated with gifts of food arranged as if by a florist.  The three young ladies and one man lit incense sticks to carry the prayers heavenward and then placed them in nearby planters to continue to burn.  

Susie and I left the Hoa Lo Prison Memorial and Monument talking quietly about the war and the sadness of the welcome these brave men and women received on their return home.  I would recommend that anyone who visits Hanoi spends the $2.50 reflect on this history.

We set out to our next stop, the Dong Xuon Market.  Susie likes to enjoy the exotic and exciting ambience of market places.  Following the carefully circled map from the hotel we found our way back to the Hoan Kiem Lake.  We stopped at the Kahlina Café where Susie choose a Raspberry Smoothie that she said was really delicious.  The nice young man there helped her pick the best one with yogurt and whipped cream.  

We crossed the street to sit on a bench and enjoy the view and just catch our breath. When she finished we strolled around the lake, stopping to buy a beautifully crafted paper pop-up card.

As we were walking we noticed a small white temple and stepped to the curb to cross the street.  While standing there working up the courage to step into the traffic we noticed a small mini-bus.  The driver suddenly crossed the street and took Susie by the hand and said to come now.  We stepped off the curb and he magically slowed and stopped traffic helping us to cross the daunting deluge of dynamic motor scooters and cars.  I thought he would want us to ride his bus but we said thank you and he got back up into the driver’s seat while we entered the manicured grounds.  A woman was praying before the statue, bobbing her head and touching her classically folded hands to her forehead.  A young lady was using a short palm leaf broom to sweet intrusive dead leaves off the path into a dust pan. Susie went up the steps to the doorway of the pagoda and saw it was divided into several rooms with people praying.  Each altar held offerings flowers and of fruit, particularly Buddha’s Hand and Dragon Fruit.  

We later found out that there was a lot of visiting of the temples right now because it is the Full Moon and the New Moon.  This time of the month is of special important but in February it is even more so.  This was the first full moon after Tet, the VietNamese New Year.  Everyone is still wishing us Happy New Year.

The Dong Xuan Market.  This is in the heart of the Old City.  We followed our map to guide us through the tangled streets and alleyways.  With motorcycles taking up almost every inch of the sidewalk, with most of the sidewalk we followed each other in the gutter.  Frequently we had to choose between stepping further into the street to get around parked cars and scooters, or stepping up onto the marble squares of the sidewalk and avoiding the prosperity fires.  Little tin chimneys burned incense like ghost money.  This keeps the evil spirits away from the store keeper and to bring good luck and a lot of money to them. Ghost money is exact copies, except for coloring, of the real bills.

These are neatly parked in a parking lot. Stores and businesses hire security guards to watch them.

                                                               This is more typical.  

The streets are named for the products produced or marketed there.  We walked past store after store of shoe displays which spilled onto the sidewalks.  Then there would be women’s dresses blowing in the breeze.  This was followed by fish stores with cats tied to the lamp posts.  On every street corner men seemed to be gathered sitting on low plastic stools drinking VietNamese coffee.  This rich, dark brew is lightened with sweetened condensed milk.  

Tradition allows for everyone to have a lunch break from 11:30 until 1:30.  Men are seated at child sized plastic tables on tiny square plastic stools eating noodles with their personal chopsticks and enjoying chicken or fish and sticky rich.  The food is either being cooked right on the sidewalk over a low fire in a metal bowl or might be brought out from inside a narrow open building where young women cook large pots of the special of the day.

                                                  This lady is getting her nails done!

We continued on our way making only a few wrong turns which proved interesting and finally arrived at the three story high yellow building.  Inside seemed to be the same as the streets surrounding it.  Many sellers of one kind of item assembled together.  And it stunk horribly.  We had to pass the rest rooms and that drove us right out the other side to the alley behind the railroad station sized building! 

We made our way back using different lanes including a street of fireworks!  I enjoy seeing all the liveliness and hearing the noise of a market place but I admit I did not see much, I am super conscious that tripping and falling would create big problems for me.  Marble sidewalks of granite like deep-grey tiles are pretty but can be slippery or broken or tipped up from their setting creating a real hazard.

We had about an hour in our room to regroup.  Susie and I joined the new arrivals and Phil in the lobby for introductions.  I opted out of the Orientation Walk.  I had walked enough and felt I knew my way to the bank and the market. I was waiting on the mezzanine overlooking the lobby when they returned some 45 minutes later.  We gathered for tea in the bar and filled out some forms and got a schedule for the week. Phil emphasized the importance of everyone being on time, respecting each other, and a new rule to not talk politics. In a previous group two couples almost came to blows!

We then walked about ten minutes to the top floor of a restaurant for our Welcome Dinner and our first taste of local food.  It was quite a nice way to meet people.  But Glenda and Leah, mother and daughter who arrived a day before us, were exhausted as were we after a long walk following long flights.  The other four just arrived a few hours ago and their heads were spinning.  We trooped back through a light rain to the hotel and the comfortable rooms.  Tomorrow would be an early start.