A couple weeks ago, we went with one of our friends to Chua Thay, the Teacher’s Pagoda, just outside Hanoi. It’s amazing how quickly the density of the urban cityscape gives way to the open rural rice paddies. It’s almost as if you’re traveling back in time. Except, the honking of horns and motorbikes whizzing by constantly reminds you you’re in a decidedly modern setting.
Our friend, the tour guide, knew how to get to Chua Thay. The driver of the taxi did not. As with most taxi drivers, the driver did not pay attention to the directions of the people in the car who actually know where they’re going, and instead continued on, missing the road leading to the village and requiring a 10 or so minute detour. What’s 10 minutes in the big scheme of things? Nothing, really. But we have to pay for the pleasure of the driver’s reluctance to take our directions. When you add up every time a taxi driver has driven you some crazy way to a place you know well, it just get frustrating.
Swiss Town in Vietnam
Lucky for us, the perfect solution to the frustrations of worldly life lay ahead of us in the blissfully serene Chua Thay. We drove through a rice paddy just off the main highway, past a sign advertising a massive, cookie-cutter development reminiscent of huge housing developments in the US, and into a town with a pond and a limestone mountain in the center. Our friend and guide told us this place is where the first water puppet show in Vietnam took place.
Toaist Buddha
Walking into the temple, rather than find the quiet respite from a busy world, we found a lively celebration. The temple was not just a museum piece, people actively came to pray to the Buddha, Vietnamese hero deities, and Toaist gods. Our friend explained the iconography, symbolism, and bits of history about how the Buddhist, Confucian, animist, Toaist, and ancestral spirit worship practices wove themselves into a mutually beneficial religious tapestry. In this image (on the right), you have a Toaist representation of the various things that happen to you in hell. But right in the middle are two golden Buddhas.
Mountain Shrine
Moving up the mountain, we saw a few other shrines. I can’t remember to whom each of the shrines were dedicated, but I do remember thinking about how green and peaceful the place is. From two spots, you can look out from the hill top into the countryside. What better place to focus on another world with views of rocks, rice, and life below?
Also in the mountain was a massive cave. Light filtered through a few holes cutting through the darkness and humidity like a laser. I could see why this cave would be a great place to meditate in the summer time because it was about 10 degrees cooler inside.
Lasers
After we made our way out of the cave, through the town, past the new temple, and back to the taxi, we passed through many different worlds. There was the spiritual world, the tourist trail, normal village life, and then back to our own lives. When you’re trapped in your routine, it’s hard to picture another way of living or doing things. Trips to places like Chua Thay break that routine. The monks who lived, taught, and died there for hundreds of years worked to create a tranquil environment that could help the mind focus on detachment. Even though I don’t understand the meaning of the symbols, scenes, and statuary in the pagodas and shrines, I could still benefit from the tranquility.
It’s obvious what I should write about now. Marjie and I went to Ninh Binh this past weekend to enjoy the luxury of a soft opening at the Ana Mandara. I’d put a link to their website, but I can only find reviews and articles about the resort.
Tub with a View
Let me be clear, the weekend was a blast, but there was always something nagging me. We paid a fair to high price for what got. Can you complain about a bathroom with a view like this? Probably not, aside from the fact that anyone on the second floor of that building in the distance can look in, so … nice try. The buildings for the Deluxe Bungaloos had intricate wood carvings and traditional looking ceilings with exposed cross beams. Despite the initial appearance of luxurious elegance it only takes a few attempts to open or lock the bathroom door, the one call to maintenance to show you how hard you have to pull to unlock your door, and seeing water stream into the room during a heavy rain storm to realize the resort was not necessarily designed with attention for certain environmental factors that seem to afflict Vietnam – heat and rain. See, when it rains, you’d like to think your room is not at risk of flooding because the door doesn’t really seal when it closes. And, you’d like to think for the money poured into the wood and carvings that the designers also thought about perennial power shortages and high electricity prices, resulting in a beautiful, highly energy efficient bungalow. Not really, there were many holes to the outside where A/C could escape and bugs could enter. For the days when the weather encourages you to open the window, the lack of screens and mosquito nets coupled with pools of standing water making you decide between saving the planet or getting malaria.
Alright, enough griping. OK, well almost. The food was really expensive and there wasn’t much variety. It tasted good, but it just wasn’t worth what we had to pay.
That was it. All the little quirks aside, we loved our weekend there. We took a tour of the area to visit the three caves – Tam Coc – a few temples, the green pagoda – Bich Dong – and took a long bike ride around the Van Long Nature preserve.
Did I mention it rained all weekend? Well it did. And I think we loved what we did even more. Marjie was hell bent on taking a tour to see the caves. I was less than enthusiastic – another tour? in the rain? really? I could tell this was not a battle that could be won, so I went along. She was excited and loved it. I loved it, too. I’m glad she was unwavering in her determination to brave the fringe weather of a tropical storm to check these places out.
The River and Karsts
We were rewarded with lovely views of a karst lined river. We saw old temples. While not trying to be Theroux poo-pooish, the sites were only slightly marred by the stream of tourists, buses, and tourist service facilities that surrounded each of the attractions. The whole series of attractions was like a theme park for Vietnamese history. Think of Bush Gardens in Williamsburg, but much more legit and filled with locals trying to sell you all sorts of souvenirs.
I have to say, my favorite part of the weekend was riding around the Van Long preserve because we were on our own, didn’t need to listen/talk to a guide, and we could just go at our own pace. Aside from getting soaked in the last 20minutes of the ride, the other two hours took us through some ruddy roads, jungle, and around the big mountains. Next time we’ll actually get into the preserve with our own inflatable kayaks.
Though this may not be the most well thought out, insightful piece, I want to get back into the habit of writing. My one observation, confirmed during a conversation on the shuttle on the way to work, is that land use here in Vietnam leaves much to be desired. There’s no coordination across the country, so you wind up with massive concrete plants in pristine places that sit idle. You have massive industrial parks that are connected to no major economic center because the roads are terrible. You have massive resorts that likely employ local people, but they’re right smack in the middle of traditional rice paddies.
