102808 Goodbye Vietnam

Our last day in Vietnam! How to sum up Hanoi...We easily spent a week here, touring the city's old quarter, French district, the lake, and the surrounding areas. The city, is, well, crazy - in so many ways. Vendors hock their wares in small stalls, but if you look closely you can see these long, straight hallways coming off the back of the stall - where families eat and sleep. At night, scooters drive up the sidewalk into the stalls and back down these dark hallways. Block by block, the type of stalls change - from tourist attractions (silk, lacquer, art, and trinkets) to household items (stall after stall of zippers and thread, sacks of grains, diapers and paper napkins, toys, clothes, etc.) Instead of going to a grocery store or department store and getting a whole bunch of stuff at once, here you travel the streets, going from area to area, stall to stall, collecting individual items. Meanwhile, trying to cross the street is a total hazard as scooters whizz by.My favorite scooter so far - it had a stick 'cage' tied to it, and inside was a live hog. Women carrying baskets of food come by - they squat down, cut and weigh (on a rusty scale) meat, grains, dried mushrooms, or seafood. Nearby, a granny will pull her baby's pants down, so the baby can pee right on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, things (buses, taxis, hotel rooms, clothes) are kept immaculately clean. Today I saw some Vietnamese boys scrubbing a White guys sneakers with a toothbrush, as the White guy stood by in his sox. When we got off the bus yesterday to tour the Perfume Pagoda, the bus driver washed the floor, even though we were returning a few hours later. We've seen lots of smiles and laughter - fisherman pulling in nets, wait staff in restaurants, and people of all ages looking at Hudson and Lila.

102808 Eating

The food is amazing...Though when you see a bunch of dead chickens tied to the back of a scooter, meat sitting out on a counter all day, you'd best not think about where it is coming from.  The staple is noodle soup or rice with chicken, pork, beef, or tofu.  The broths are delicious, as are the various noodles, spring rolls, and rice dishes.  There is always plenty of veggies served, mostly carrots, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.  Sometimes beans and the other day, we had pumpkin blossom. 

Hudson has always loved Thai and Vietnamese food, so as long as we can get him his basics, he's been  OK.  We've also gotten the occasional pizza and spaghetti - which is pretty close to the American version.  The trick has been in the snack department - we ate through our Cheerios, bars and goldfish crackers pretty quickly.  Luckily, we have managed a steady supply of chocolate milk, Oreos, and Ritz crackers.  There is a large French influence in Hanoi, so we have found lots of yummy ice cream and pastries. 

Though Lila has 4 chompers on top and 2 on the bottom, she has only ever eaten mushed up food, so she can't handle any texture at the point. She drinks formula and eats rice cereal. At our old hotel they made us porridge (potatoes and veggies all pured), which was great. In Hanoi, we have not been able to convey this, so they make her a gloppy thing of rice with some mashed pork in it. We have had to buy jars of pureed fruit and veggies for her.  We are excited to get her home so she can relish in the joys of finger foods.

October 27 - the Perfume Pagoda

Today we took a ten-hour journey to the Perfume Pagoda.   It entailed a two hour bus ride, a one-hour boat ride in aluminum skiffs up a tributary of the Day River, and a tram ride up the mountain-side and then the reverse of all that. We took the bus to a small town called Duc Khe, where female paddlers ferry tourists from the Ben Duc Wharf up the Swallow Tail (yen) Stream - a tributary of the Day River.  We asked our guide why the paddlers were all women, and he responded, "the men are all home drinking!"  In this small boat were the four of us, two Chinese guys, our guide, and the paddler - gliding across the water.  The scenery was like out of a National Geographic issue -  a craggy karst landscape of lush greenery, brightly colored flowers and water lilies, small villages, and ancient-looking fisherman in traditional boats and wearing traditional garb.  We arrived at the 'warf' below the Thien Tru Pagoda, where we walked about half a mile to catch the tram. Along the way were tables of vendors selling food, clothing, offerings for the temples, and trinkets.  The tram took us high above the rain forest canopy, where down below we saw mostly lush jungle, some pagodas, the walking path, and a couple of towns. We departed the tram and went to the Huong Tich Pagoda.  It is a Pagoda nestled into a craggy, rock grotto.  There are stone steps and paths that lead you into the cave to the main sanctuary as well as some smaller ones.  Truly spectacular. We spent some time there, before heading back to the tram. While there, Chris touched the gold and silver sacred stalagmites, so if the stock market rebounds well, you have him to thank. We also got to ring the bell at the entrance, to get Buddha's attention, so he'll listen to our prayers. We had lunch at one of the cafe's along the path, and then visited the Thien Tru Pagoda, which was also beautiful. Apparently, this is one of the most holy areas in Vietnam. There are over 50 pagodas in the area, and just before the new year, tens of thousands of Vietnamese make pilgrimages here. Then, back to the water, onto the boat, and then the bus.  Hudson did great the entire day, and Lila only broke down on the boat ride back.   As we write this entry, Hudson is watching old episodes of Pink Panther, and Lila is naplessly wired to the hilt. 

October 26 - Water Puppets

This evening, with Hudson in his rain coat, Lila strapped to Rachel and covered in a poncho, and Chris with his Tilly hat - we walked in a downpour to Thang Long, Hanoi's water puppet theatre.  This is a thousand-year old Vietnamese performance art, which used to use the paddy water of a rice field or a communal pond as the stage. Today, the theatre is inside, but the stage is still a pool of water.  Sixteen-inch puppets made from painted fig wood, are controlled by submerged rods and strings operated by puppeteers standing in thigh-deep water behind a stage. The puppets enact skits drawn from Vietnam' folklore. Though it was all in Vietnamese, and we didn't understand a word of it, it was mesmerizing to watch, and we definitely recognized the story of Hoan Kiem Lake - and the giant tortoise who seizes a sword from the emperor.  With hands over his ears (the music was a bit loud and the theatre a bit dark), Hudson watched the puppet characters - fire breathing dragons, dancing birds, swimming fish, fishing boats, a music parade, and a royal procession.  We lucked out with isle seats, so we took turns holding, bouncing, and jiggling Lila through the one-hour performance. 

October 26 - Temple of Literature

This morning we went to Van Mieu - the Temple of Literature.  Between 1070 and 1919, Vietnam's brightest gathered in this 14-acre compound of temples, pavilions, courtyards, dormitories and to study Confucius' teachings.  Hudson led the way on the stone paths around the reflecting pools, climbed in and out of the temples, and jumped from stone turtle to stone turtle. Our favorite moment was noting how he was enjoying a fudge-ice cream while looking at sacred statues of Confucius and the other scholars - no signs, nobody saying otherwise, and no nasty looks.  Vietnam is truly a culture that love, love, loves children and finds their antics funny.

October 25 - Happy Birthday Celebration

An afternoon outing took us to a toy stall (why, of course) and then on a cyclo ride around Hoan Kiem Lake.  Chris and Lila in one cyclo, and Hudson and Rachel in the other, we cheered our peddlers on, as they wove in and out of car and scooter traffic.  When not death-defying, the ride was quite exhilarating.  We were dropped off at a lake-side cafe, where Hudson made a birthday wish, blew out a candle, and we had ice cream and pastries (again,  a benny of French occupation).

October 25 - The Museum of Ethnology

Happy Birthday, our 6 year old BIG brother, BIG kid!  Today, for Hudson's birthday, he chose an outing to the Museum of Ethnology.  It is an outdoor, open-air exhibit of the art and culture of Vietnam's ethnic minorities of the highlands.  Meandering paths led us to a bunch of different houses, made of primarily of bamboo (and other wood).  Hudson (and us) got to scramble up these narrow, steep, rudimentary ladders and go into replica houses. Inside were fire pits and eating areas, sleeping sections with simple straw mats and weaving looms, tools, and other things they used to make their 'trade' items.  The villagers live and meet in these houses for war councils, rituals and celebrations.  For lunch we had ice cream in an outdoor cafe, where we could hear live Vietnamese music playing in the background.