Last day of vacation. Saigon and the Mekong Delta, two very different worlds only 2 hours apart. One very western and flashy, the other very poor and humble.
Between the 4th and 13th centuries a unique culture which owed its spiritual origins to Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Vietnam called the Champa kingdom. It felt plucked out of the jungle. Later, we visited the Imperial Citadel in Hue, the seat of the Nguyen dynasty in the 1800’s. A curious architectural mix of Chinese and French influence.
Hoi An was a bit touristy, like an Asian Ocean City MD. Full of lanterns and lights, bars and loud music. But venture a street past the main drag and into the dark alleyways and there was a lot more to see.
Took a 7 mile trek through the misty hills, rice paddies and villages of the ethnic minority Red Dao and Hmong people today. We were followed the entire time by 4 or 5 Red Dao women who were extremely persistent in selling us their hand knit goods (we obliged of course). The highlight was going into the house of one woman to see just how simply they live. Sacks of rice in the rafters, tools for the fields against the walls, a small mat on the ground for sleeping. I downloaded pictures from my nice camera for this post, as the portraits were so powerful.
In Sapa, the mountainous far north of Vietnam. Woke up early to go to the Coc ly market, where there was a lot of haggling over ox and goats and handbags. Took a little board down the river and walked through the villages and rice paddies. The boat driver invited us into his house for 7 year homemade ginseng hooch, a nice kick for our walk through the afternoon heat.
Hanoi is chaotic. The sidewalks are like extensions of their houses. Mechanics and merchants and multiple generations of families occupying that little sliver of valuable real estate. Food vendors tucked deep into alleyways with charcoal smoke calling you to see what smells so good.
