thanks to jen's mad research skills and tour leading expertise, we had an amazing customized tour of vietnam and cambodia through haivenu tours....I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS LOCAL TOUR COMPANY! we were able to choose exactly what we wanted to do (visit a nuns' temple for a day, take a cooking class, go sailing on ha long bay, etc...). also, this tour company exhibited values that coincided with ours around environmental conservation and responsible tourism - making sure our money went into the local economy.
our first stop was hoan kiem lake....legend has it that long, long ago an enormous turtle came up from under the water with a special sword in its mouth for the king....in the middle of the lake this pagoda marks the spot.the pollution hanging in the air did not lift until the end of our visit.
this is actually a very mild clip of the traffic in hanoicheck out the powerlines
many of the buildings in hanoi are very narrow and tall because property tax is based on how much ground a building covers, not how high up it goes.
there are no traffic lights or pedestrian crosswalks to speak of so to cross the street, our guide told us to "be like fish in water...don't run or make any sudden movements...walk slowly....when in rome, do as the romans! the bikes will go around you." right, ok...right. much of the time we held hands, closed our eyes and simply hoped for the best.
the maze of streets in the old quarter each bear a theme....below is a photo of "candy street." there's t-shirt street, shoe street, silk street, flower street, etc...
produce market
the ho chi minh mausoleum...the russians helped to build it, as you may notice a stark similarity between it and lenin's tomb in red square. ho chi minh made it clear that he wanted his ashes to be scattered in the countryside of vietnam when he died ("not only is cremation good from the point of view of hygiene, but it also saves farmland," he once said). but those in charge went against his wishes and shipped his body off to russia, as the russians had the technology at the time to embalm. still to this day ho chi minh's body lies in this building on display. many vietnamese seem to revere him with a god-like honor, but at the same time there is a down-to-earth, endearing quality as many fondly refer to him as "uncle ho."
here we are at this lovely pagoda built over a lotus pond....a many-armed golden kuan yin inside...a breath of fresh air amidst the many monuments to kings, male warriors, and monks that we saw all over the place
fresh lotus blossoms and incense prayers burning outside the pagoda...our guide informed us that many people come to this particular pagoda to pray for a son....despite the influence of the new generation, patriarchy in vietnam seems very much intact.
all i could think of the leaning tower of pisa!!
the opera house....in the french quarter
after that first day out in hanoi, i remember wondering to myself how i would make it there for a week....the over-stimulation of the traffic, the cacophony of noise, the smells, the extreme poverty at every turn, the state of acute alertness one had to be in at all times just to not be run over by a motorized vehicle. and i felt like i was literally choking on the air....the pollution like a dense fog....never had i seen or experienced such a thickness in the air that never seemed to lift. it was extremely sobering. it turned my thoughts very seriously to the present state and the future of this planet...to drastic changes that i will undoubtedly see in my lifetime. no longer was this level of pollution and poverty some sort of reality i had only read about or seen in films....i was in the middle of it, no blind eye left to turn.
before coming to hanoi, we were told that people in northern vietnam were not very open and friendly. there being various reasons for this, but after experiencing the level of traffic and pollution that everyone who lives there must deal with day in and day out, i wonder if the human body must shut down to a certain degree in order to survive it.....not to mention the history that the vietnamese people have with immense suffering and war.
"...and the palm trees grow (the air is thick)
like you said they do (i stick my finger)
and the water here (in it, tastes like)
is freon blue (rotten sky)
so i'm calling you (i think i might)
from a curtained stage (be sick)
in a strange cafe (i think i might)
on the strangest day (die)..."
(part of the lyrics to "freon blue" by copperwimmin)
my blog entry from january 8, 2008:
i am traveling through vietnam, cambodia, and thailand for the month of january. it is my hope to be able to post, but do not know how much access i will have to the internet....so far it's been minimal. i flew from seoul to hanoi on the fourth and met up with my peeps. we are on a guided tour through vietnam and cambodia (thank goodness, otherwise in our state of shock and overwhelm we'd most likely be on the first flight out).
this time in vietnam is clearly not going to be a relaxing vacation...rather it is an immensely educational, consciousness-raising experience....one that pushes my nervous system and psyche to the edge. i had no idea it would be like it is here. i had an idealized, rather ignorant view of things. the pollution alone is beyond what i've ever seen or imagined...i thought daegu, korea was bad...well, i will have a completely different perspective upon returning there. the air hangs heavy and thick like a grey haze above hanoi 24/7. we do not see the sun. when walking on the streets of the city, dodging the 2 million motorbikes, i feel like i'm breathing in air that is pure poison....lungs and throat burning. i realize what a bubble i have lived in back in the u.s. i see what is happening here and i wonder how on earth this level of environmental devastation is reversible.
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