2013 - OCEANIA - HA LONG BAY 2

So - the last days in Vietnam.

Still around Ha Long Bay but going inland to have some Zen Buddhism instruction. Except there was no instruction, just a visit..

Passed at an actual rice paddy....

& some food for sale by the side of the road...

non-refrigerated of course...

At the Temple Sandy gets asked by some locals to have their photo taken with the foreigner. She's tickled with that..

It's around this time that I started to talk to a lady who has a cabin on my deck with her husband.

She is from Ontario & I later found out she is an Author. Unpublished as yet. Is writing a genealogical mystery. I looked her up when I got home but cannot find any trace of her. Too bad I did not get her e mail.

But a few weeks later I found her on-line & her book is now out & I bought it but I have not finished as yet.

A young girl, practising her Zen by the look...

.....and inside the temple complex which is quite extensive...

This is as close as we get to meditation....

& I get the "can I have my photo taken with the foreigner?"

Well - I guess so....

Her boyfriend taking the photo was not nearly as pretty.

Some people making offerings....

We leave the temples behind & make a stop at a farmers house where he is plowing the field....

His mother & baby...

We get shown around the house...

His wife showing us some flowers & son....She gave us all tea & sweets.

You can see the tiny tea cups on the table behind...

Their kitchen....

I think this is the owner of the property or the farmers father, or both

The wife talking about plants with one of our group. Either her or her sister was a chemist who had something to do with the invention of the light wands that you see at concerts. Or that is what I was told.

The next door neighbours....

Fairly rare to see this....

We head back to the ship...

I got back to the ship & had plenty of time before the ship departed so I took the shuttle bus into town. Out of the dock area & up & down a steep hill to a market by the ocean. Walked around there for a bit & then decided to walk back to the ship. Had a beer in a scruffy little bar then carried on up to the top of the hill where there were lots of people selling offerings for the temple.

The temple was at the top of an extremely steep set of stairs but I decided to go up anyway. One of my better temple experiences in that there were no tourists up here at all. No one really took much notice of me except to smile & giggle. It was nice. Lots of little shrines where people offered money & things. Lots of praying.

I left there & carried on down the hill & into a one street, non tourist village. I was a bit tired after walking up & down the hill & I noticed an old guy & two ladies drinking tea from tiny cups at what I took to be a cafe or food outlet of some sort. I asked if I could have a coffee & the ladies giggled & handed me a thimble sized cup of tea. I sat down on a tiny stool at a tiny table ( everyone squats down here ) & none of these people spoke English. I drank my tea & watched what was going on around me & did not pay much attention when a scooter pulled up & filled up. Then a 20 something girl arrived with 2 young girls & she asked me in english what it was I was doing there. Obviously she had been summoned by the old ladies. "coffee" says I - & then it dawned on me that I was in a gas station & I was drinking these peoples own tea.

No wonder they were giggling.

Stupid white guy.

I had a nice conversation with the girl & her older daughter who both spoke pretty good english.

As I was leaving I tried to give the old lady a couple of notes for the tea & when the old guy reached out to take it, the old lady slapped his hand away. I tried to give it to the little girl but the old lady took it & stuffed it in my shirt pocket..

On the short walk from there to the ship there were some girls selling religious offerings by the side of the road & I bought some little cakes - trying to offload some left over Vietnamese money. Got 10 times more than I expected. A whole box instead of one cake.

Further along there were 3 ladies squatting down, pruning shrubs who saw my bags of stuff I had just bought & wanted some.

I think they were just joking but I shared the cakes around anyway.

More laughter - silly white barbarian.

A good end to my time in Vietnam.