A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Since yesterday was a day of leisure, today I went a-touristing in the classic manner -- Tour Bus. Through my hotel I arranged to go on a daylong trip that would include bus ride to My Son, a natural heritage site with cool ruins, and a boat trip back to Hoi An. You should know that I opted for the expensive tour, so I don't always take the low road. Taking the boat trip added an extra $2 to the $1.50 My Son tour. I paid more than double!

Since I harbor an unnatural love of ruins, My Son, an ancient Champa religious site, was my primary interest. The Cham ruled central Vietnam from about the 2nd to the 14th centuries, and were originally from Java. Their script was Sanskrit and they worshipped Shiva and other Hindu gods. Because of this, these ruins are unlike any other in Vietnam, but resemble Angkor Wat in some ways.

A 900 year series of successful kings built My Son in stages, in a large densely forested valley. Each area has slightly different architecture and was used for religious worship and as a burial place for the constructing kings. They stood relatively untouched (apart from the usual looters) and overgrown until French archeologists began excavating around the turn of the 20th century. Sadly, US warplanes bombed the bejesus (or would that be the "beshiva"?) out of the area in 1968-69 when the Vietnam was using the valley as a major staging ground. Most structures were reduced to rubble, though some remain relatively intact. I had a delightful time wandering through the jungle from ruin to ruin, and I even got someone to take a picture of me -- a special gift for Mom and Dad since I have very few pictures of myself in the umpteen rolls of film I'm sending back.

It's a good thing I had low expectations for the river trip, because it barely managed to meet even those. We drove almost the whole way back to Hoi An before boarding the boat. At the time this was annoying, but considering the tedium of the scenery on the boat trip it was actually a blessing in disguise.

The river was wide and the weather was overcast, so there wasn't even a view of distant mountains. Not much activity on the river apart from some unmanned fishing contraptions and some local ferries. Though I hesitate to call them that given the picture that comes to mind with the word "ferry", at least among northwesterners. These wooden boats were maybe 40 feet long, with half the deck covered with a low roof. All were crammed with Vietnamese, and the roof was generally full of motorbikes, bicycles and other cargo. And did I mention that the ferries have eyes painted on the front? Actually, all the boats in this area, regardless of size or purpose, have long sideways teardrop shaped eyes painted on either side of the hull.

The tour company served us a minimal styrofoam takeaway lunch of sticky rice and four greasy cold fried springrolls. Not good, but since I didn't know my $3.50 even included lunch, I didn't really mind. We made two stops along the way. The first was at a traditional pottery village called Thanh Ha, at which I believe very little pottery is made nowadays. All they had on offer were piercing little clay whistles shaped like animals, and Tet money pots, which are basically piggy banks with a slit for families to insert money all year long. At Tet (lunar new year - Feb 1st in 2003) the pot is broken and the lucky money is used to celebrate.

I never know quite what to do in these weird villages. I feel bad for just looking and taking pictures, but then again the stuff they sell is useless to me. I had already turned down little boys selling those stupid whistles at least 15 times on the streets of Hoi An. Our second stop was a woodcarving/furniture making village, at which none of the craftsmen were at work due to Tet. So it was basically a browsing/shopping visit, and heavy wooden carvings are pretty much the last thing I need at this point in my trip.

Anyway, despite the minor boat ride disappointment, it was an excellent touristy day.

© 2003 Katy Warren




posted by Katy at 1:44 AM