Vietnam at Another Level

OK, so I've published posts on food in Vietnam, a tiny sliver of the arts scene, and even where to buy some exceptional embroidered work, for you crafty types. Yet ultimately, my experience of Vietnam was a deeply spiritual one, and that is not a reality that I have touched upon yet in this blog. I suppose it took nearly two weeks back to even begin to process what the trip meant to me, and what it might continue to mean...and it will be, I can see now, an ongoing journey...

As I've said earlier, I spent time living overseas in South Korea; for me, probably my single most pivotal life experience. And I've spent years wondering where and how that experience would continue to fit into my life--a life which, pretty much, has evolved into a fairly ordinary existence, punctuated by trips overseas here and there, especially after having married a citizen of Ireland. 

I discovered in journeying to Vietnam that my life long fascination with all things Asia is really and quite simply a very deep and true part of who I am, and a part which, at midlife, I have determined to simply accept and enjoy. When I came back and announced to my husband that we need to honor this as a couple and perhaps make a journey of our own together to Asia in the next two to three years, he didn't go running for the hills. He sat and listened to me, and accepted that this was something we need to look at together. He also said he would support me in my need to keep this vital thread alive...

I discovered a new Asia from the one of my childhood; a global, vibrant, evolving reality juxtaposed with the ox plowed rice paddies, sleepy villages and open markets of my childhood. Sky scrapers and folk art, ancient operas and rap music in Vietnamese--it's all there in Asia at this point. And I met many Asians like me--people who perhaps did graduate study in the States and returned to their countries...changed. Forever alerted in who they are, by their experience of, and love for, my own Western culture. What touched me most deeply in my interactions with the Vietnamese is how many of them loved and deeply cared about the country I'm from and the culture I represent, and this coupled with feelings of ambivalence, or bad memories, or having experienced a degree of loneliness, prejudice or alienation in trying to enter into another culture--my culture! Because as anyone knows who has tried to live between or in two cultures--well, it ain't always a pretty or easy experience! It certainly is not for the faint of heart, or for those who want a black and white, well defined world...

So I continue my morning ritual of Vietnamese drip coffee here in Florida--enhanced by the little steel drip dispensers I bought in Hanoi, as well as a packet of Highlands Coffee which is quickly disappearing. And over my morning cup of coffee, I continue to listen to my heart...listening to the wonder of this beautiful experience, and listening to how I might continue to let Asia into my heart and into my life...

A Small Sample of Hanoi's Vibrant Arts Community

Original art work from Craft Link, 51 Van Mieu, Hanoi, approximately $3 and $4 each...

Hand painted "kitty" greeting cards, about $1 each...from the Museum of fine Arts Gift Shop...

More hand painted cards, this time from a store on Hang Be Street, fro about $1 each...

Traditional rural landscapes, each for about $7, purchased from an art store on Hang Be street...

Fine art in Hanoi ran the gamut from cheap and horrible, to cheap and just wonderful!--from quite expensive and just so-so to quite expensive, gorgeous and just way too big for my suit case! I had a great time just looking at the art on hand, which is everywhere! Spending very little money, I came home with some little treasures that, after I frame them, will be fine souvenirs and memories of my time in Vietnam...

Eating in Hanoi...

Morning coffee at Hapro on Lake Hoan Kiem (see my cup on the right hand table in the foreground?)
You can sample deep fried sparrows, ox and horse meat, and catfish spring rolls at Highway 4. My companion Nancy and I were happy enough to simply sample the banana blossom salad and some shrimp and pork spring rolls...
Quan An Ngon features street foods served from simulated "street stalls"--you can order off their extensive menu or walk around the restaurant and point to what you want to try...
The "dessert bar" at Quon An Ngon features tapioca and bean treats and creations, as well as plenty of fresh fruit and fruit drinks.
Food stations at Sen Buffet Quoc Te at West Lake; an opportunity to try 200+ traditional Vietnamese and southeast Asian dishes for $10 total, including whole, salt and deep fried crabs, 1,000 year old eggs, Vietnamese hot pot, gorgeous chewy shrimp pastries, dozens of salads and chilled and marinated vegetables, and a large variety of traditional fruits and desserts.

One time when we all forgot our cameras and lived to regret it--dinner at Dinh Lang Thuy Ta Restaurant on Lake Hoan Kiem. For $14 each we had what was not an exceptional (but tasty none-the-less) six course traditional Vietnamese dinner, but the real highlight of the evening was Vietnamese folk music performed by a small orchestra composed of Vietnamese musical instruments, with performers in traditional clothing. 

Arts and Crafts in Vietnam...

Right down the street from our hotel in the Old Quarter was Phuong Thao Embroidery House, a lovely little shop that sold European style embroidered items. Vietnam is full of embroidery studios where dozens of women and youth sit for hours embroidering intricate landscape scenes of the rural countryside--works that frankly weren't much to my taste. I love European folk embroidery, however, and was surprised to find this store specializing in very high quality, hand embroidered table runners, table clothes, pillows, napkins and linen sets. Many of the designs are direct knock offs of old Swedish and Norwegian linen designs, and Bui Thi Thu Huong, the woman who owns and operates Phuong Thao Embroidery, has many clients from Australia,  Japan, Great Britain and the United States who collect and treasure Northern European linens and handwork, and purchase these fine Vietnamese linen imitations. The handwork is of exceptional quality, and the studio will do commissioned work.

Phuong Thao Embroidery House

3 Hang Be, Hanoi, Vietnam

email: huongembroidery@yahoo.com

Some Memories of Vietnam

Perhaps the single most powerful reality any tourist to Vietnam gets hit with (not literally, we can only hope!) is the traffic--non-stop noise and movement, with no stop signs, no stop lights...just chaos, that somehow seems to work...

The beauty, and industrial horror (!) of Vietnam's countryside...

"Uncle Ho's" tomb, or the masoleum where Ho Chi Minh lies, open to the public most mornings...

Scenes from around Lake Hoan Kiem...

One of just dozens of exercise groups that appears every morning around 6 am at Lake Hoan Kiem to help people, especially women and the elderly, stay fit...and stay in touch with a supportive community...

A drizzling but still spectacular day out on Halong Bay...

Sightseeing Hanoi's various temples....

...and the cute kids who accosted me to practice their English.

The view from my "cyclo seat" (bicycle rickshaw) in the Old Quarter during rush hour...

My view from the boat traveling to the Perfume Pagoda...

...and every morning I sat and "processed the journey" over a cup of Vietnamese drip coffee at this little restaurant over looking Lake Hoan Kiem, just southwest of the Old Quarter where we were staying...

Back from Vietnam...with lots to share!

And who would all these bright and enthusiastic young people surrounding me be? Just some of my many English students from my two week teaching stint at the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, Vietnam. 

I will be spending the next few weeks catching up on my blogging and filling you in on my adventures in Vietnam, which not only included teaching Vietnam's next generation of leadership, but lots of adventures with third world women artisans, arts and crafts groups and hot spots, and travel throughout the region. I will have tips on where to go and what to see for those of you who might be contemplating heading out to southeast Asia on a trip. (Go now!--travel in Vietnam at this point is still relatively cheap, fairly comfortable, and Vietnam is still at the point of being an emerging nation with all the cultural richness and difference  indicative of that developmental point in their history! Don't miss seeing it!) 

For the rest of you, there'll be plenty of information on the crafts scene in Hanoi, as well as some exciting opportunities to watch some nascent craft cooperatives and women's groups get off the ground...perhaps with YOUR help. So give me another day or two to get over my jet lag, and then tune in...I promise to have some good reading, and great information, for all of you!