Culture

Had a bit of a cultural 24 hours since our last post. Last night started off fairly typically. Mike found a "locals bar" where they sold cheap draft home brew. We sank a few there to offset the cost of our five star hotel, the Melia Hanoi. Then Mike decided to order "what they're having" (i.e. the locals on the next table) for a light snack. Then we decided that the giant fish in the metal tray on the other table looked interesting as well so we ordered one of them. It came with a lot of green vegetably-looking things and a pile of noodles and tofu, plus a gas burner. It became apparent that we weren't supposed to eat it straight away but let the fish and vegetables cook over the burner until the fish disintegrated and provided a soup in the metal tray. That meant we had to have some more home brew while we waited . . . and you can guess the rest.


Unfortunately, we had booked seats at the local theatre for 9:15 to see the Roi Nuoc or Water Puppet Theatre. Difficult to explain, this one. The orchestra and Vietnamese singers were off to the left and the "stage" was actually a lake. The puppets appeared on the surface of the water or, in the case of fish, snakes and god-turtles, in and out of it). It looked as if they were operated by rods from behind the curtains at the back (indeed they were as we found out at the end -- the operators are also waist-deep in the water). Didn't have a clue what was going on but it looked very colourful.


The next day we were up early for a CavTours special to see the "perfumed pagoda" a name that had little bearing on the actual experience. Our coach took us 70km south on the main Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh road (itself 1,700 kms long and takes 22 hours to do by local bus) and then off into the countryside to a small village. The countryside was everything I expected the Vietnamese scenery to be: flat, wet landscapes tiered into paddy crops with mountains dimly seen through the haze on the horizon. We debarked the bus and had to be rowed to the ancient Buddhist site further up a wide, peaceful river. This in itself was an event. The village has been making these steel canoes and ferrying tourists and pilgrims for decades. The problem is that most of their menfolk had died during the war so the women do all the rowing. There appears to be a lot of internal politics to determine which of the females are allowed to do this each year and the ones that do seem incredibly young and tiny. Oh yes, and the trip to the shrine takes over an hour each way so they have to row three or four fat farangs non stop at a time. The trip was unbelievable: the river wide and calm, surrounded by mountains either side, and the boat itself only a centimetre or two out of the water. It's "pictures speak a thousand words" again so, rather than try and describe it, this picture should cover it. The shrine itself we reached by cable car (the Buddhists are getting organised now) and accessed by a number of deep stone steps into a cave. To be honest, this did not have the impact that the journey itself had, but I guess that's the Way.

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We have to leave the Melia early tomorrow. We are supposed to be living on a junk for the next two nights (a boat, that is, not the Hanoi rubbish tip!). Not sure where I'll find a reliable Internet cafe but you never know . . . Thanks for all the feedback. Cya!