Today was another day I dedicated to catching up on research and drafting ideas for my future there. I am making progress, but much more remains to be done - which is a good thing, because I rather enjoy it.
I am still struggling with two things that make my undertaking hard at times. First, I find that I constantly have to justify "doing nothing" to fellow travelers - and to myself. While I can explain quite well what I am doing and why, some part of me seems to think that nevertheless I should achieve more in terms of traveling.
And second, it is difficult to find suitable places to work. Some hostels have lovely sitting areas with proper chairs and tables, but most of them cater to the party crowd with a bunch of sofas and loud music playing all day. The dorms themselves are quieter, but sitting on a bed always makes me sleepy. Coffee shops are among my favorite places to escape hostel noise, but I don't really want to sit there for longer than two to three hours. So in essence, every working day is also a quest for a quiet space to work in.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Day 407: To Luang Prabang
Another day, another long bus ride: the bus to Luang Prabang in northern Laos took about 6 hours. Since the road is very bumpy and winding, buses run only during the daylight hours. While I appreciate the thinking behind this, it also meant that the better part of the day was spent crammed in a minivan, being catapulted out of the seat at regular intervals.
We passed many small mountain villages on the way. Most of the villages had a single central well where people were taking showers and filling their water canisters. Plumbing? Running water? Hot showers? All non-existent in these villages.
In the late afternoon, I walked around Luang Prabang's historical center for a while. The town is located on the banks of the Mekong river - an old acquaintance that I had already seen in Vietnam. When I got there, all the tourist boats were already parked for the night:
This is one of many temples that are scattered throughout the center:
A famous attraction in Luang Prabang is its night market. Every evening, the main street running through the historical center is roped off and hundreds of stalls are erected that sell mainly souvenirs for tourists. In some of the side streets there is excellent street food, and so I indulged in a big dinner that cost only 10.000 Kip - about 1 euro.
We passed many small mountain villages on the way. Most of the villages had a single central well where people were taking showers and filling their water canisters. Plumbing? Running water? Hot showers? All non-existent in these villages.
In the late afternoon, I walked around Luang Prabang's historical center for a while. The town is located on the banks of the Mekong river - an old acquaintance that I had already seen in Vietnam. When I got there, all the tourist boats were already parked for the night:
This is one of many temples that are scattered throughout the center:
A famous attraction in Luang Prabang is its night market. Every evening, the main street running through the historical center is roped off and hundreds of stalls are erected that sell mainly souvenirs for tourists. In some of the side streets there is excellent street food, and so I indulged in a big dinner that cost only 10.000 Kip - about 1 euro.
Day 406: Kayaking in Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng is famous for its scenery and the range of outdoor activities available. The most famous of these activities is tubing - floating down the river while lounging in an inner tube. The reason why this was immensely popular in Vang Vieng were countless riverside bars where people would take breaks to get drunk. After more than 20 tourists died in subsequent accidents in 2011, most of the bars are now closed. I'm not quite sure what will happen to the bloated tourist infrastructure in Vang Vieng once the backpacker party crowd realizes there is no more drunk tubing to be had here...
Anyway, since tubing sounded rather boring, I opted to do a kayaking trip down the same river, but starting much further upstream. Before we got into the kayaks, we visited Loup cave, one of many caves in the region. On the way to the cave, the guide suddenly pointed out a group of trees and asked if I knew what they were. I didn't - because I had never seen teak trees before. The leaves were huge, about 30 cm long and almost as wide.
The cave was a fantastic experience. Aside from two wooden ladders for the initial climb into the cave, there was no infrastructure inside: no lights, no paths, no roped-off areas where the ground suddenly disappears. We were provided with head lamps by our guide, and he also showed us where best to step. I loved discovering the rock formations in my lamp's dim light. I never had the overall views you can see in the following pictures - they were only possible thanks to my camera's flash.
It had been raining on and off all day, but just in time for our kayaking, the rain stopped for good. The clouds lingering on the mountains resulted in really beautiful views:
Anyway, since tubing sounded rather boring, I opted to do a kayaking trip down the same river, but starting much further upstream. Before we got into the kayaks, we visited Loup cave, one of many caves in the region. On the way to the cave, the guide suddenly pointed out a group of trees and asked if I knew what they were. I didn't - because I had never seen teak trees before. The leaves were huge, about 30 cm long and almost as wide.
The cave was a fantastic experience. Aside from two wooden ladders for the initial climb into the cave, there was no infrastructure inside: no lights, no paths, no roped-off areas where the ground suddenly disappears. We were provided with head lamps by our guide, and he also showed us where best to step. I loved discovering the rock formations in my lamp's dim light. I never had the overall views you can see in the following pictures - they were only possible thanks to my camera's flash.
It had been raining on and off all day, but just in time for our kayaking, the rain stopped for good. The clouds lingering on the mountains resulted in really beautiful views:
Day 405: To Vang Vieng
Vientiane may be the capital of Laos, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a small town with a limited number of things to see. So today I took a bus northward, to the even smaller town Vang Vieng. I was quite annoyed that it is next to impossible to book accommodation online in Laos - walking around town with my backpack, I seem to be unable to make sensible housing decisions. I'm definitely not the kind of backpacker who is comfortable lugging a pack through town while comparing guesthouses.
To make up for the stress of having to find a guesthouse, I treated myself to a traditional Lao massage in the evening. Massages are incredibly cheap in Laos: I paid 70.000 Kip (about 7 euro) for a 90-minute massage. On the scale of painfulness, Lao massages range somewhere between Swedish and Thai massages. A very nice touch was that the massage included the application of hot herbal stamps that further relaxed the muscles after the painful bit ;-)
To make up for the stress of having to find a guesthouse, I treated myself to a traditional Lao massage in the evening. Massages are incredibly cheap in Laos: I paid 70.000 Kip (about 7 euro) for a 90-minute massage. On the scale of painfulness, Lao massages range somewhere between Swedish and Thai massages. A very nice touch was that the massage included the application of hot herbal stamps that further relaxed the muscles after the painful bit ;-)
Day 404: Pha That Luang
When I woke up in the morning, it was pouring down - so much, in fact, that it poured straight through parts of the hostel's roof. I didn't let the weather irritate me, ate breakfast and worked on my applications for a while. Around noon, the rain and clouds had completely cleared away, and so I used the perfect weather for a visit to the Lao national symbol: Pha That Luang stupa. This is the stupa seen from the huge open square outside its main gate:
To the left and right of the stupa were temple buildings that were almost as splendid as the golden stupa itself, for example this one:
To be able to enter the stupa compound, every woman had wear a traditional Lao skirt. Luckily, there was a skirt rental nearby that also helped with dressing. The result, however, was that I wore two additional layers of cloth over my long trousers - on a very hot and humid day. I was sweating like a pig, but I think the closeup view of the magnificent stupa was worth it ;-)
On the way back to my hostel, I saw this world peace gong in a small park. Next to (probably) all of the world's flags, the gong was also decorated with symbols for the world's religions on the inner circle:
To the left and right of the stupa were temple buildings that were almost as splendid as the golden stupa itself, for example this one:
To be able to enter the stupa compound, every woman had wear a traditional Lao skirt. Luckily, there was a skirt rental nearby that also helped with dressing. The result, however, was that I wore two additional layers of cloth over my long trousers - on a very hot and humid day. I was sweating like a pig, but I think the closeup view of the magnificent stupa was worth it ;-)
On the way back to my hostel, I saw this world peace gong in a small park. Next to (probably) all of the world's flags, the gong was also decorated with symbols for the world's religions on the inner circle:
Day 403: Vientiane
I spent my first full day in Vientiane exploring museums and temples. My first stop was the Lao National Museum which, I have to say, was one of the worst national museums I've ever seen. One of the reasons for this may have been that English descriptions were available for only on about a third of all exhibits, making it appear a little disorganized and confusing for a non-Lao-speaker. Another reason was the feeling of propaganda that permeated parts of the museum: especially the section on 20th century history seemed to present events very much from the communist party's viewpoint. As a consequence, the US were always referred to as "imperialist", as in "US imperialist government", or "US imperialist army", etc.
The museum's worst part, however, was the current developments section. From its makeup and the few dates I saw on descriptions, the section's last update was more than twenty years ago. The section basically consisted of one display case for each ministry. Above the display case were pictures of the ministry's members, and the display cases had a few seemingly random exhibits: the ministry for health had an assortment of pills; a few others had selections of old reports; the ministry for trade had some silk samples; and so on. Despite (or maybe even because of?) my growing feeling of bewilderment, I found it quite interesting to wander through the museum, and the propaganda parts were almost funny.
Next, I walked to Patuxay, a building resembling the Arc de Triomphe. From afar, the arch and the surrounding park look quite nice, but once you get closer it gets increasingly obvious that the building is a concrete monster that lacks a few finishing touches. Ironically enough, that is almost exactly the description you can read on a sign inside the arch.
After lunch, I went to visit Hor Phakeo, a temple-turned-museum that exhibits Buddha statues in sizes from 2 centimeters to 5 meters. The building's layout and decoration are typical for Buddhist temples in Laos - beautiful, isn't it?
The gallery running around the temple's single room was decorated by Buddha statues placed in regular intervals. There were many local people who stopped to pray at every single one of them.
Directly opposite Hor Phakeo was Sisaket, the oldest temple in Vientiane. All the other old temples were destroyed in one of many wars and invasions. The reason why Sisaket survived is simple: it was used as administrative building by the occupying army.
Sisaket also houses many, many Buddha statues, but in a separate gallery that surrounds the temple building at a few meters' distance. All of the statues were clothed with an orange scarf - orange being the traditional color of monks' clothing.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Day 402: To Vientiane, Laos
My trip from one nation's capital (Hanoi) to another's (Vientiane) was a long one: the sleeper bus took around 20 hours, plus another two hours getting from my hostel in Hanoi to the bus station. The trip was quite enjoyable actually - not least because the Vietnamese sleeper buses are the most comfortable ones I've experienced so far for overnight trips: their seats recline to about 150 or 160 degrees, which makes it possible to get a good night's sleep.
We arrived at the border at around 5:30 in the morning but were left to sleep until the border opened at 7 am. The border formalities were quick and painless, provided you were equipped with the right amount of US dollars and passport photos for the Laos visa on arrival.
My first impressions of Laos were the beautiful mountain scenery and the scorching heat at our lunch break.
Also, the houses in Laos seemed to be much bigger than Vietnamese houses. This might be correlated to Laos' population-to-land ratio: Laos is about two thirds of Vietnam's size, but has less than one tenth of its population. This means there is much more land to go around, which allows for bigger houses. There also seemed to be many more cars around. This could be due to a different taxation policy in Laos: with the 200% tax on car purchases in Vietnam, most people can't afford to buy a car; a different taxation in Laos would naturally lead to more cars.
We arrived at the border at around 5:30 in the morning but were left to sleep until the border opened at 7 am. The border formalities were quick and painless, provided you were equipped with the right amount of US dollars and passport photos for the Laos visa on arrival.
My first impressions of Laos were the beautiful mountain scenery and the scorching heat at our lunch break.
Also, the houses in Laos seemed to be much bigger than Vietnamese houses. This might be correlated to Laos' population-to-land ratio: Laos is about two thirds of Vietnam's size, but has less than one tenth of its population. This means there is much more land to go around, which allows for bigger houses. There also seemed to be many more cars around. This could be due to a different taxation policy in Laos: with the 200% tax on car purchases in Vietnam, most people can't afford to buy a car; a different taxation in Laos would naturally lead to more cars.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Days 400 + 401: Research Days
Travel-wise, these two days were exceptionally unproductive. I felt quite productive in the areas of research and job applications, however.
By now, I've identified which jobs and job titles I want to apply for. Believe it or not, I've never before been certain of the exact job I wanted to have. I've also never before felt confident that the job would be right for me, and I've never before felt qualified for a job when I read job announcements. All of this has changed now: I know which job I want, I know it's the right thing for me, and I know I can do it.
So my task now is to convince potential employers of this. The applications I've sent for postdoctoral positions so far are quite strong, I think. However, I also want to apply for lecturer or assistant professor positions - and these require a research statement, i.e. a statement of my past, present and future research. I've never before written such a statement, and that means it's a lot of work initially. But, strange as this may seem, I'm excited and really happy to do that kind of work now (even if that earns me strange sideways glances from my fellow travelers).
This realization has made me change my travel rhythm. I'm still figuring out what exactly to aim for, but I'm thinking a ratio of two days of travel and one day of research/application work could work quite well. Although, I have to say, it feels a little disorienting to combine travel and work in this way. I often get into a state of flow working on an application, or researching a certain point, and when I resurface from my concentration, I find that I'm not sitting at a nice desk but at a table I've never really seen before; my back aches from sitting on a bad chair, slumped over my tiny netbook screen; there is music playing and people are partying around me; and it's suddenly dark when it was broad daylight just seconds ago. And I have to think for a moment about where exactly I am and where I might find food and drink in this strange place... ;-)
Day 399: Back to Hanoi
The third day of my Halong Bay exploration was relatively boring. After breakfast, we went on a bus to return to the boat, then sailed back to Halong harbor. The views of Halong Bay were radically different from the first day, though, because it was very hazy and all but the closest islands were disappearing in fog.
Day 398: Cat Ba Island & Monkey Island
The second day of my stint into Halong Bay brought us to Cat Ba island, the biggest of Halong Bay's many islands. The weather wasn't as perfect as yesterday - but since we had some hiking to do, that was all for the best, at least temperature-wise. The hike took us into Cat Ba national park, and up a small peak to a lookout tower. The views were nice, if a little hazy:
After lunch, we got on another boat to visit Monkey Island. For me, this trip was a little ambiguous. For one, there was a little hike up to one of the islands peaks. However, nobody had told us that it was more of a climb than a hike. Consequently everybody was wearing flip-flops, which made the entire adventure really quite dangerous.
Then there were the monkeys, the reason for Monkey Island's name. The guide said that only about 70% of visits actually get to see monkeys, and so I was expecting wild monkeys that may or may not be around. His warning turned out to be entirely misleading though, and I'm pretty sure that every single tourist who sets foot on the island gets to see the monkeys. The reason for this is rather sad: the monkeys are not wild monkeys anymore. They are not quite pets, either, but they are totally dependent on tourism. They hang around the beach, going through the rubbish left behind by tourists, and when tourists show up, they do their best to steal any food or drinks people were incautious enough to bring.
Some people even bring bags of fruit along with the purpose of feeding the monkeys, and as a result the monkeys are very capable of opening plastic bags and going through the contents.
They were really cute and funny to look at, of course, but what made the experience really sad for me was seeing them drink the last drops out of discarded soft drink cans. That's most definitely not monkey food and I don't think it can be healthy for them. Strangely enough, none of the other people in my group seemed to share my feelings: with plenty of emphasis they opined that the visit had been amazing. Are these the kind of people who enjoy going to the zoo?
After lunch, we got on another boat to visit Monkey Island. For me, this trip was a little ambiguous. For one, there was a little hike up to one of the islands peaks. However, nobody had told us that it was more of a climb than a hike. Consequently everybody was wearing flip-flops, which made the entire adventure really quite dangerous.
Then there were the monkeys, the reason for Monkey Island's name. The guide said that only about 70% of visits actually get to see monkeys, and so I was expecting wild monkeys that may or may not be around. His warning turned out to be entirely misleading though, and I'm pretty sure that every single tourist who sets foot on the island gets to see the monkeys. The reason for this is rather sad: the monkeys are not wild monkeys anymore. They are not quite pets, either, but they are totally dependent on tourism. They hang around the beach, going through the rubbish left behind by tourists, and when tourists show up, they do their best to steal any food or drinks people were incautious enough to bring.
Some people even bring bags of fruit along with the purpose of feeding the monkeys, and as a result the monkeys are very capable of opening plastic bags and going through the contents.
They were really cute and funny to look at, of course, but what made the experience really sad for me was seeing them drink the last drops out of discarded soft drink cans. That's most definitely not monkey food and I don't think it can be healthy for them. Strangely enough, none of the other people in my group seemed to share my feelings: with plenty of emphasis they opined that the visit had been amazing. Are these the kind of people who enjoy going to the zoo?
Day 397: Discovering Halong Bay
Halong Bay has been designated a World Natural Heritage site by the UNESCO, and as such it is one of the biggest tourist magnets in Vietnam. Exploring the bay independently is virtually impossible: it consists of nearly 2000 small limestone islands, so without a boat you don't have much of a chance to see the bay properly. Consequently, there are hundreds of tour operators in Hanoi that offer 1-, 2-, and 3-day cruises. I didn't even bother to compare programs and prices, and just went with my hostel's recommended operator. They picked me up at the hostel in the morning, and after a four-hour drive we arrived at the bay and boarded our boat. The weather was nothing short of perfect, giving us one gorgeous view after the other:
After some cruising and lunch on the boat, we stopped to visit the Surprise Cave. I really loved exploring the cave - small wonder, really, when you consider the spectacular views that each new chamber revealed.
The cave is a dry cave full of tastefully lit stalagmites and stalactites, and a very interesting formation making up the ceiling:
At some points, the cave opened to the outside, creating a wonderful contrast between the yellow artificial light and the blue-white daylight.
After the cave visit, we went kayaking. We started at a nearby floating fishing village and then went around a few of the bay's islands. The guide was setting an ambitious pace - until, about ten minutes in, he suddenly said he had a hole in his boat and would sink if he didn't return immediately. He explained which way we had to go, and for the rest of the kayaking we were guide-less and able to go at our own, much slower pace. At one point, we met this boat that was towing four smaller ones behind - a little like a duck and her ducklings, very cute ;-)
The sun goes down very early in Vietnam at this time of year - it's dark around 5:30 pm - so the sun was already quite low towards the end of our kayaking trip.
After we returned the kayaks, we quickly got on the cruise ship again and went to another island - tea house island, if I remember correctly. This island had a small climbable peak with a pavilion aka tea house on top. This house provided a prime lookout point for watching the sunset. Of course, all the other cruise ships knew about this as well, and so the tea house was really crowded. Nevertheless, I managed to shoot a few nice pictures:
The view towards the east was quite interesting as well, just to give you an impression of the number of cruise ships in Halong Bay at any given time (and remember, it isn't high season, and many of them were anchoring at tea house island at this point):
The island also had a small beach with a roped-off swimming area, to prevent tourists getting run over by cruise ships, I guess. Swimming in the post-sunset twilight with the moon shining above and the horizon still glowing was magical:
Equally magical was the hot shower afterwards: the ocean was relatively cool, and without a sun to warm me after the swim I was really grateful we had hot water on board.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Day 396: Museums in Hanoi
Hanoi has quite a few good museums to offer, and so today I picked three of them to visit. When I arrived at the Ho Chi Minh museum in the morning, I discovered that the museum is part of a greater complex including his mausoleum and the house where he used to live. I had heard from people in my hostel that Ho Chi Minh was not currently in the mausoleum - apparently he is shipped off to maintenance once a year. I was all the more surprised to find a queue waiting at the entrance to the complex that, after a short wait, was guided directly to the mausoleum entrance:
Seems maintenance was done, and I was lucky enough to see the actual body of Uncle Ho! Visiting the mausoleum was an interesting experience. There were honor guards in white uniforms lining the entrance, the steps up to the burial chamber, and the chamber itself. We were guided through in single file; neither stopping nor photography were allowed. If anyone let the distance to the person in front of him become too big, he was ushered along by the guards. Ho Chi Minh himself looked very much like the pictures you can see everywhere - definitely not like a body that has been dead for more than forty years!
Once out of the mausoleum, the guards finally let everybody wander the complex on their own, and I got to visit the Ho Chi Minh museum. I had read that the museum would be odd, but this in no way prepared me for the reality of the museum's oddness. There were cars that seemed to be crashing through walls, wartime relics, sculptures, video installations and scenes from Ho Chi Minh's youth, all interspersed with lots and lots of letters and documents you could go through. This was only one of the many odd views in the museum:
Oddness aside, the museum was well done and I quite enjoyed visiting it. My next stop after this was the Fine Arts museum. It gave an excellent overview of Vietnamese arts, from its very beginnings until modern times. There was quite a bit of Buddhist art, of course, for example this statue who seems to be scratching his ear:
Among the more modern works, there were many done in lacquer. Next to silk paintings, lacquer work seems to be one of the typically Vietnamese (or Asian) techniques. I learned that lacquer is the extracted sap from the lacquer tree. The paintings done with lacquer are beautiful, often done with gold or silver color on a black background. This lady was therefore a somewhat untypical piece of lacquer artwork, having next to no black in it:
Many of the more recent works in the museum depicted some aspect of the war. This may well be due to the fact that that's what the ruling party decided to exhibit - especially because there were only paintings of glorious acts, or of the population's unwavering support of the wartime effort. Works of suffering and loss weren't really present - at least not that I can remember.
Just opposite the Fine Arts museum was the Temple of Literature. These buildings are said to have housed Vietnam's first university with a history of almost 1000 years. The Temple of Literature was the place people came to to prepare themselves for the national and royal exams that were held regularly. Today, people come here to pray for luck in upcoming exams, and to make pictures on graduation day. My visit seemed to coincide with a graduation day: there were girls in traditional dresses, boys in suits, and photographers carrying huge SLR cameras. I felt like I was walking into somebody's shot with every single step - but it seemed people were already used to that and kept friendly throughout.
The royal examinations were roughly at the level of a doctorate. The names of successful candidates were engraved on stone stelae which were standing on the backs of stone turtles, and then erected in one courtyard of the Temple of Literature. Today, these doctor's stelae are still there:
My last museum for the day was Hanoi's women's museum. The museum had three sections. The first floor explained typical events in a woman's life: marriage, childbirth, family life. Since Vietnam has more than 50 minority cultures, the museum did not only provide explanations for the mainstream culture, but also for several of the minority people, grouped into patrilineal and matrilineal cultures.
Many of the old marriage customs are still practiced today. I found it fascinating to learn more about who joins who's family, and how this exchange is somehow paid for in wedding gifts from one family to the other. Many of the exhibits were traditional wedding dresses, and also samples of the typical gifts exchanged. This, for example, is a mainstream Viet wedding outfit:
The most interesting part regarding childbirth were the different naming customs. In at least two minority peoples, the kid gets a say regarding the name he or she is going to receive. For this, the family relies on a ritual master. About a week after the birth, he is called to do some kind of ritual, and then say the intended name out loud. If the child cries upon hearing the name, a different name has to be chosen. I like the idea of the child being part of the naming decision, but I have slight doubts whether the child can be fully aware of the ritual's consequences at this young age. Plus, nobody bothers to explain the rules, so how should the kid know when to cry?
The second floor covered women in war, and this felt like propaganda again - especially because it had sections for women in both north and south before the war, and women in the north during the war, but conveniently left out women in the south during the war.
The third floor then had an exhibition of women's fashion across all the cultures in Vietnam. Something I didn't know before was that at some point it was considered beautiful for women to apply black lacquer to their teeth, like in this picture:
Today, the fashion has changed and only older women still have black teeth.
The museum's final exhibit was this gorgeous dress, in the typical traditional mainstream Viet fashion. These dresses combine long pants with a top/dress that has slits up to about the hip or navel on the sides. I really like these dresses: they look great, but are also very practical.
Seems maintenance was done, and I was lucky enough to see the actual body of Uncle Ho! Visiting the mausoleum was an interesting experience. There were honor guards in white uniforms lining the entrance, the steps up to the burial chamber, and the chamber itself. We were guided through in single file; neither stopping nor photography were allowed. If anyone let the distance to the person in front of him become too big, he was ushered along by the guards. Ho Chi Minh himself looked very much like the pictures you can see everywhere - definitely not like a body that has been dead for more than forty years!
Once out of the mausoleum, the guards finally let everybody wander the complex on their own, and I got to visit the Ho Chi Minh museum. I had read that the museum would be odd, but this in no way prepared me for the reality of the museum's oddness. There were cars that seemed to be crashing through walls, wartime relics, sculptures, video installations and scenes from Ho Chi Minh's youth, all interspersed with lots and lots of letters and documents you could go through. This was only one of the many odd views in the museum:
Oddness aside, the museum was well done and I quite enjoyed visiting it. My next stop after this was the Fine Arts museum. It gave an excellent overview of Vietnamese arts, from its very beginnings until modern times. There was quite a bit of Buddhist art, of course, for example this statue who seems to be scratching his ear:
Among the more modern works, there were many done in lacquer. Next to silk paintings, lacquer work seems to be one of the typically Vietnamese (or Asian) techniques. I learned that lacquer is the extracted sap from the lacquer tree. The paintings done with lacquer are beautiful, often done with gold or silver color on a black background. This lady was therefore a somewhat untypical piece of lacquer artwork, having next to no black in it:
Many of the more recent works in the museum depicted some aspect of the war. This may well be due to the fact that that's what the ruling party decided to exhibit - especially because there were only paintings of glorious acts, or of the population's unwavering support of the wartime effort. Works of suffering and loss weren't really present - at least not that I can remember.
Just opposite the Fine Arts museum was the Temple of Literature. These buildings are said to have housed Vietnam's first university with a history of almost 1000 years. The Temple of Literature was the place people came to to prepare themselves for the national and royal exams that were held regularly. Today, people come here to pray for luck in upcoming exams, and to make pictures on graduation day. My visit seemed to coincide with a graduation day: there were girls in traditional dresses, boys in suits, and photographers carrying huge SLR cameras. I felt like I was walking into somebody's shot with every single step - but it seemed people were already used to that and kept friendly throughout.
The royal examinations were roughly at the level of a doctorate. The names of successful candidates were engraved on stone stelae which were standing on the backs of stone turtles, and then erected in one courtyard of the Temple of Literature. Today, these doctor's stelae are still there:
My last museum for the day was Hanoi's women's museum. The museum had three sections. The first floor explained typical events in a woman's life: marriage, childbirth, family life. Since Vietnam has more than 50 minority cultures, the museum did not only provide explanations for the mainstream culture, but also for several of the minority people, grouped into patrilineal and matrilineal cultures.
Many of the old marriage customs are still practiced today. I found it fascinating to learn more about who joins who's family, and how this exchange is somehow paid for in wedding gifts from one family to the other. Many of the exhibits were traditional wedding dresses, and also samples of the typical gifts exchanged. This, for example, is a mainstream Viet wedding outfit:
The most interesting part regarding childbirth were the different naming customs. In at least two minority peoples, the kid gets a say regarding the name he or she is going to receive. For this, the family relies on a ritual master. About a week after the birth, he is called to do some kind of ritual, and then say the intended name out loud. If the child cries upon hearing the name, a different name has to be chosen. I like the idea of the child being part of the naming decision, but I have slight doubts whether the child can be fully aware of the ritual's consequences at this young age. Plus, nobody bothers to explain the rules, so how should the kid know when to cry?
The second floor covered women in war, and this felt like propaganda again - especially because it had sections for women in both north and south before the war, and women in the north during the war, but conveniently left out women in the south during the war.
The third floor then had an exhibition of women's fashion across all the cultures in Vietnam. Something I didn't know before was that at some point it was considered beautiful for women to apply black lacquer to their teeth, like in this picture:
Today, the fashion has changed and only older women still have black teeth.
The museum's final exhibit was this gorgeous dress, in the typical traditional mainstream Viet fashion. These dresses combine long pants with a top/dress that has slits up to about the hip or navel on the sides. I really like these dresses: they look great, but are also very practical.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Day 395: Hanoi
I used this morning to finalize and send my first job application, and start work on another one. In the afternoon, I strolled around Hanoi's old quarter for a bit. The traffic in Hanoi's old quarter is crazy, especially during rush hours. At any given time, there are hundreds of motorbikes, tens of cars and a few buses competing for space on the relatively narrow streets. The sidewalks are occupied by shops displaying their goods, and by parked motorbikes. So the only option for pedestrians is to join in the space competition and walk on the street. The motorbike drivers seem to be used to the situation, however, and generally avoid running over pedestrians.
Crossing the streets, just like in Saigon, is a matter of simply starting to walk and expecting traffic to part around you. Funnily enough, my guidebook warned to look in all directions before crossing - left, right, front, back - but I have found that looking is almost not necessary and mostly serves to freak me out. So by now I have the routine of barely glancing at the next meter, only in the direction where most motorbikes come from, and then simply walking on. I'm still glad every time I'm not run over, though ;-)
After a while, my wanderings took me to Hoan Kiem lake, a big lake in the middle of the old quarter. The small temple of the jade mountain is built on an islet, and there are nice views of the lake from the temple grounds.
The temple also seems to be a popular spot for older men gathering to play board games - Xianqi, most likely. Just imagine this taking place on the steps of a Catholic church... kinda hard to imagine, isn't it?
Crossing the streets, just like in Saigon, is a matter of simply starting to walk and expecting traffic to part around you. Funnily enough, my guidebook warned to look in all directions before crossing - left, right, front, back - but I have found that looking is almost not necessary and mostly serves to freak me out. So by now I have the routine of barely glancing at the next meter, only in the direction where most motorbikes come from, and then simply walking on. I'm still glad every time I'm not run over, though ;-)
After a while, my wanderings took me to Hoan Kiem lake, a big lake in the middle of the old quarter. The small temple of the jade mountain is built on an islet, and there are nice views of the lake from the temple grounds.
The temple also seems to be a popular spot for older men gathering to play board games - Xianqi, most likely. Just imagine this taking place on the steps of a Catholic church... kinda hard to imagine, isn't it?
Day 394: Hue
After spending five nights in Hue and not really seeing anything of the city at all, I decided to book a city tour today before moving on to Hanoi with a night bus. The tour was especially convenient because many of Hue's sights are located a few kilometers outside of the city.
In the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Hue was Vietnam's capital and seat of the emperors of the Nguyen dynasty. Many of them had magnificent mausoleums built for them, and these were all located at particularly beautiful or spiritually significant places in the countryside surrounding Hue. We visited three of them during the tour. The first was the tomb of Minh Mang, the dynasty's second emperor. He was apparently very concerned to not let the exact whereabouts of his body be known - the body thereby being 'available' for theft, or so he thought - so that it is only known that he was buried somewhere in an underground palace located in a walled-in area. The total area of his mausoleum encompasses more than 20 hectares!
The next tomb was that of Khai Dinh, the twelfth emperor. Area-wise, it was much more modest: just a hectare or two.
The interior decoration, however, was over the top. Just look at how many pieces of small, painted porcelain were used to decorate the walls:
This extravagance led to much higher building times and cost, of course. Our guide explained that Khai Dinh's son imposed a heavy tax to raise funds and demanded 20-hour days from the construction workers, and many of them died from hunger and illnesses.
After visiting the tombs, we made our way back into the city to visit the citadel. The Hue citadel, I had read before visiting, was modeled after Beijing's famous Forbidden City. I was therefore prepared to see grandeur and magnificence (and a lot of it), but instead, there was this:
Apparently, Hue had been the target of massive bombings during the Vietnam war, and about 90% of the citadel were destroyed. Restoration and reconstruction work is in progress, but expected to be completed only in 2035.
A few of the palaces have already been finished, however, and one of them was the king's mother's palace. To explain the importance of the king's mother, our guide explained the system how the Nguyen emperors chose their wives and successors. When someone became emperor, he initially didn't have a wife, only several concubines - up to a few hundred concubines, according to the guide. The king therefore had plenty of opportunity to produce offspring and potential successors. When he at some point decided to choose a successor, he chose one of his sons and simply married that son's mother. That mother didn't become queen immediately, however: the king's mother was queen. Only when the king died and his son succeeded on the throne did his widow become queen. A visit to the king's mother was therefore highly prestigious and allowed only to select persons. In addition, the king's first action each and every day was to visit his mother's palace to say good morning to her.
Another of the already restored buildings was a temple where the previous emperors were worshipped. The temple had a small altar for each of the deceased emperors, and they were prayed to at different times. Each of the emperors was known for specific qualities - wisdom, patience, etc. - and whenever a situation required one of an emperor's qualities, the current emperor would pray at his altar.
Our last stop was the Thien Mu pagoda, or pagoda of the heavenly lady. It is the oldest pagoda in Hue, and its tower the tallest in Vietnam. It is also occasionally being rained on quite heavily - during the time of our visit, for example ;-)
In the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Hue was Vietnam's capital and seat of the emperors of the Nguyen dynasty. Many of them had magnificent mausoleums built for them, and these were all located at particularly beautiful or spiritually significant places in the countryside surrounding Hue. We visited three of them during the tour. The first was the tomb of Minh Mang, the dynasty's second emperor. He was apparently very concerned to not let the exact whereabouts of his body be known - the body thereby being 'available' for theft, or so he thought - so that it is only known that he was buried somewhere in an underground palace located in a walled-in area. The total area of his mausoleum encompasses more than 20 hectares!
The next tomb was that of Khai Dinh, the twelfth emperor. Area-wise, it was much more modest: just a hectare or two.
The interior decoration, however, was over the top. Just look at how many pieces of small, painted porcelain were used to decorate the walls:
This extravagance led to much higher building times and cost, of course. Our guide explained that Khai Dinh's son imposed a heavy tax to raise funds and demanded 20-hour days from the construction workers, and many of them died from hunger and illnesses.
After visiting the tombs, we made our way back into the city to visit the citadel. The Hue citadel, I had read before visiting, was modeled after Beijing's famous Forbidden City. I was therefore prepared to see grandeur and magnificence (and a lot of it), but instead, there was this:
Apparently, Hue had been the target of massive bombings during the Vietnam war, and about 90% of the citadel were destroyed. Restoration and reconstruction work is in progress, but expected to be completed only in 2035.
A few of the palaces have already been finished, however, and one of them was the king's mother's palace. To explain the importance of the king's mother, our guide explained the system how the Nguyen emperors chose their wives and successors. When someone became emperor, he initially didn't have a wife, only several concubines - up to a few hundred concubines, according to the guide. The king therefore had plenty of opportunity to produce offspring and potential successors. When he at some point decided to choose a successor, he chose one of his sons and simply married that son's mother. That mother didn't become queen immediately, however: the king's mother was queen. Only when the king died and his son succeeded on the throne did his widow become queen. A visit to the king's mother was therefore highly prestigious and allowed only to select persons. In addition, the king's first action each and every day was to visit his mother's palace to say good morning to her.
Another of the already restored buildings was a temple where the previous emperors were worshipped. The temple had a small altar for each of the deceased emperors, and they were prayed to at different times. Each of the emperors was known for specific qualities - wisdom, patience, etc. - and whenever a situation required one of an emperor's qualities, the current emperor would pray at his altar.
Our last stop was the Thien Mu pagoda, or pagoda of the heavenly lady. It is the oldest pagoda in Hue, and its tower the tallest in Vietnam. It is also occasionally being rained on quite heavily - during the time of our visit, for example ;-)
Day 393: DMZ
My current base Hue is located pretty close to the 17th parallel north - the line along which Vietnam was split into two countries from 1954 to 1975. A 10-kilometer band around the 17th parallel was declared as the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. Today I joined a tour to explore the DMZ and a few other wartime relics in the area.
One of our stops was the Khe Sanh combat base - a US base in South Vietnam. Today, the area is used mostly for coffee plantations, but during the Vietnam war it was the site of bloody battles and many lives lost. A museum preserves some of the bunkers and trenches as well as a few old planes and tanks:
Next, we visited the Vinh Moc tunnels. The tunnels are similar to the Cu Chi tunnels, but a lot bigger and more comfortable to move in - I could almost stand upright. They had to be, however: they served as the home of an entire village for several years. The village was relocated to a depth of up to 30 meters because the US somehow believed this village to be in their bombers' way to Hanoi. Consequently, all of the villages activities took place underground for years: there were wells, assembly rooms, schools, and even a maternity ward that today has life-sized puppets illustrating how cramped the space was:
17 children were born in the tunnels. Just imagine - you turn five years old, and the only association you have to daylight is "danger!"
We crossed the Ben Hai river that marked the DMZ twice. There are monuments and Vietnamese flags and a modern bridge today, but back then, our guide explained, there were loudspeakers with propaganda (of both sides), and helicopter patrolling the area.
Our last stop was a cemetery where soldiers killed in the war are buried. The most shocking thing for me was to see the inscriptions on the gravestones: the vast majority of them doesn't bear a name because the body couldn't be identified.
One of our stops was the Khe Sanh combat base - a US base in South Vietnam. Today, the area is used mostly for coffee plantations, but during the Vietnam war it was the site of bloody battles and many lives lost. A museum preserves some of the bunkers and trenches as well as a few old planes and tanks:
Next, we visited the Vinh Moc tunnels. The tunnels are similar to the Cu Chi tunnels, but a lot bigger and more comfortable to move in - I could almost stand upright. They had to be, however: they served as the home of an entire village for several years. The village was relocated to a depth of up to 30 meters because the US somehow believed this village to be in their bombers' way to Hanoi. Consequently, all of the villages activities took place underground for years: there were wells, assembly rooms, schools, and even a maternity ward that today has life-sized puppets illustrating how cramped the space was:
17 children were born in the tunnels. Just imagine - you turn five years old, and the only association you have to daylight is "danger!"
We crossed the Ben Hai river that marked the DMZ twice. There are monuments and Vietnamese flags and a modern bridge today, but back then, our guide explained, there were loudspeakers with propaganda (of both sides), and helicopter patrolling the area.
Our last stop was a cemetery where soldiers killed in the war are buried. The most shocking thing for me was to see the inscriptions on the gravestones: the vast majority of them doesn't bear a name because the body couldn't be identified.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)