Kyoto

Ted. From Tokyo we traveled to the much more laid back city of Kyoto for a six night stay. This beautiful city had been the imperial capital of Japan for over a thousand years!

Our grandchildren love something called manga. To learn more about it, one of the first places we visited was the Kyoto International Manga Museum. 

Apparently, in Western countries, manga is considered to mean Japanese comics. However, the Japanese, seem to take a broader view and consider manga to be comic books and cartoons produced anywhere in the world. So, I guess they might think Batman comics and Snoopy cartoon strips are just American manga. 

We learned that the roots of Japanese manga lie in simple cartoon strips which were found in newspapers in the early 20th century. They were usually funny and were often political satire. 

Paper was expensive and books were rare so manga enthusiasts collected their favorite comic strips in simple scrapbooks. These now comprise an important part of the archives at this museum. 

We saw artists at work, children learning how to to the drawings and even an area where artists would create manga style caricatures of museum visitors. 

The most important aspect of the museum appeared to be the huge library of classic manga books which lined the walls of several reading rooms. Folks just pulled books off the shelves from their favorite series, plopped down into one of the dozens of the chairs and started reading. It was all very cool. 

On another day, we visited a famous Shinto shrine called Fushimi Inari Taisha. Built to honor a god called Inari, the shrine is know for the Senbon Torii, a path up a mountain created by a thousand traditional gates. We walked much of the way but the crowds were daunting. 

One torii

Many torii

On our last day in Kyoto we attended a tea ceremony for which the attendees dressed in kimonos - definitely a first for me! 

I found the process fascinating and worth the effort to dress the part.

Our teacher

Properly frothed macha

Someone had WAY too much fun!

Tokyo

Ted. After just three nights, we are about to leave our very nice hotel in Tokyo so it is time to jot down some thoughts on the brief glimpse we have had of one of the world’s great cities. 

Judy and I covered a lot of ground in the two full days we had here but barely scratched the surface. We explored a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine and a national garden. We saw the vastness of the city from the top of one of it’s tallest buildings (by day and by night) and watched pedestrians navigate a huge intersection. We even figured out how to use the metro and regional trains and order at little restaurants. 

Senso-ji

Judy got a good fortune from the shaker

I got good snacks from this shop

The "married" camphor trees at Meiji Jingu

Taiwan Pavilion at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Shibuya Crossing - organized and quiet!

First impressions? Paper walls! The traditional houses here were very small and had paper walls so folks lived in close proximity and could hear everything their neighbors said. The culture today reflects that fact. The Japanese people are obsessed with politeness and respect for each other, especially older people. They stand patiently at stoplights until the “walk” light comes on. Cars always yield to pedestrians. Nobody speaks above a quiet conversational tone. Everyone bows to each other and says thank you - all the time. That extends to the environment as well. There is no need for public trash cans because everyone packs their own trash home. Tokyo's metro population is over 37 million but, because of these cultural differences, it feels more like a cluster of thousands of small villages.

For me, the highpoint here was the time we spent with a very nice Servas day host named Wakaba. Referred to us by Joy Seng (with whom we visited in Singapore) she was able to meet up with us twice. We also met her son, and 91 year old mother. 

Wakaba has lived in the US and speaks excellent English. Enjoying tea in her home and eating out on two occasions, she taught us a lot about the lives of typical Japanese. We will never forget her generosity. 

As usual, the best way to experience a place is by meeting people. Thank you, Wakaba!

Farewell, Vietnam

Ted. I am writing this post in a very nice high rise hotel room in the ritzy Shinjuku neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. From our window I look out over crystal blue skies. There are no sounds of the traffic below us, you can drink the tap water, the toilet has multiple functions and you can even flush the paper. 

And yet…I don’t hear children playing in the street at night. I’m not greeted by name by smiling staff members and there is nothing within a 20 minute walk but office buildings and big hotels. I know we will have a wonderful time during our three weeks in Japan, but in many ways, I really miss Vietnam. 

What a remarkable history that country has! In just the last 100 years they have fought wars with France, Japan, Cambodia, China and the US. They have survived droughts, famine, typhoons and disastrous land reform policies. Yet, there is a sincere warmth in the smiles of most folks we have encountered. Maybe they realize the importance of the foreign currency that tourists bring to their families. Or maybe they are just proud to have replaced their bicycle with a scooter!

Is Vietnam perfect? No way! It’s a developing country with all of the negatives that entails such as dirty air and water, trash in the streets and streams and horrible traffic. The infrastructure is crying for improvements and country folk are racing to the big cities causing incredible congestion and straining limited resources. 

But Vietnam has an exuberance about it. Everyone is dreaming of a bright future and some parents probably imagine their children traveling the world soon, just like the Korean and Malaysian tourists they see on their streets everyday. 

I am amazed, given the vast political, economic, cultural and language differences that exist, that we were able to make so many personal connections in just six short weeks. Suong, a lady who prepared our breakfast every day in Hoi An keeps up with Judy on Facebook now. Tuey, a lady who owns a small restaurant messaged Judy the other day. Several folks in Hanoi are now reading our blog. And everyone - everyone insisted that we MUST return one day! 

If it were easier to get there, I wouldn’t even think twice about planning a return visit, but I am torn. When brainstorming future travel, Judy and I inevitably struggle between visiting new countries and returning to countries that we know and love. Our visit to Vietnam has further complicated these discussions. 

One trait I admire in the Vietnamese (as well as most Asians) is a deep reverence for one's ancestors. On several occasions, I have found myself in a temple or shrine breathing in the incense, with eyes closed, and smiling at mental images of my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

At Judy’s suggestion, I just read The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. Most of the novel takes place in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and every day I walked the same streets as the characters, further deepening my connection to the country.

At one point in the book, a grandmother says to her granddaughter, “If our stories survive, we will not die, even when our bodies are no longer here on this earth.”

Hanoi

Judy. As much as I loved Hoi An, I was ready and excited to go to Hanoi, but when we landed in Hanoi and I got a look at the pollution, I almost asked Ted if we could cancel and go somewhere else. I mean, with Tet and the burning of the gifts for ancestors, it was rough in Hoi An, but here we are smack dab in the middle of the city burning gifts and trash, plus vehicle emissions, in a city surrounded by mountains. Add to my distress, our beautiful, open, sunny Maison Fleur in Hoi An was gone, and we settled into a closed off hotel on a dirty street where we are surrounded by motorcycle rental shops. And the motorcycles are everywhere and fast. I reminded myself, though, that I always need a day or so to settle in. No begging to leave just yet. 

And I’m glad I waited. Hanoi is a large, capital city, with all that entails, good and bad. And we are in a rapidly developing country, with all that entails, good and bad. Despite its issues, this is an interesting—and often charming—city. 

There are, of course, lots of tourists, from well-dressed Europeans, Asians, and Americans, to young kids with towering backpacks and dreads. All seem to blend in beautifully. But it’s the locals I love to watch. We arrived on Tet, and the day after, walked down to Hoan Kiem Lake, which dominates a park filled with flowers. Locals in traditional dress (mostly women) posed by the ancient shrine and towers, while both professional and amateur photographers captured them. 

Contrasts: ancient Turtle Tower and a new building beyond 

Women in their áo dài, photographed in front of a shine

And teen boys like to wear their street gear for tough photo

I thought that would be the last I saw of the traditional dress, but—no! Although many of the working women in our neighborhood wear pants and shirts that could come from WalMart, we see women in velvet and high heels navigating the impossible sidewalks to duck into tiny tea houses and restaurants, and sit on ridiculously tiny stools to eat their street food. It is definitely a city of contrasts. 

A street cafe

A street barber takes a break

A woman poses by an orange tree at the lake

We’ve found wonderful things. Train Street, where people pile into the cafes on either side of a train track in order to see the train go whooshing past, inches from their faces. It’s just way cool, so we went twice. The old City Gate, the National History Museum (but only the 20th century part—the earlier is under renovation), Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, where the faithful line up for as much as two hours to walk past his embalmed body, the fascinating Museum of Ethnology, and Women’s Museum, Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton), now mostly destroyed to make way for Hanoi Towers, a sparkling new apartment building, and, of course, the Thang Long Water Puppets. 

Train Street

City gate. The flags indicate a shrine.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Hoa Lo Prison and Hanoi Towers Apartments

We live in the Old Town, with winding streets, narrow alleys and a plethora of motorcycles that we’ve learned to dodge, since we need to walk in the street because more motorcycles are parked on the sidewalks. In the old days, each street harbored its own shops—the one next to us is mostly hardware. There’s also jewelry street, tinsmiths’ street, fabric street, and so on. Packed in among those are souvenir shops, street food, coffee shops, and temples. Walking the same streets, we spot new things we’ve not seen before—unless we’re dodging cars and motorbikes. We’ve gotten pretty darned good at crossing the street between vehicles. You just have to keep moving and keep your eyes open. 

Working my way through the motorscooters

Typical street traffic

A paper jewelry and accessories set to buy and burn for ancestors

Just outside the Old Town is the old French Quarter, where it’s much easier to walk on the wide sidewalks. Buildings are European in style, and that’s where the embassies are located. There’s also a bustling “new city” with skyscrapers further out. We saw that part when we went on trips out of town. Hanoi is a great base to explore other parts of northern Vietnam. 

European-style houses grace the French quarter near the Cathedral

But for the most part, we manipulated our Old Town village, nodding xin chau to old ladies sitting just inside shops, hawkers pushing “maa-saa!” (Massage), men sitting on impossibly small stools drinking tea and smoking, and folks still burning offerings. An almost hidden wine bar, Tannin, became a favorite escape some evenings.

Modern, European wine bar in the middle of Old Town

Our hotel staff is delightful. Jasmine makes sure we see everything she considers important, Ben greets us with “Haiiiii! Where you going today?” On our first day meeting him, he gave us Tet “lucky money”! Minh, who handles most nights, is young, polite and efficient. 

Our super staff--Minh, Ben, and Jasmine

Although the streets on either side of us are crazy busy, Hang But, our block-long street, is blessedly quiet. Our room is on the front of the building, and at night you can hear the children playing in the street and see the lady in the velour pantsuit getting her exercise by walking up and down the street over and over. About 8:30, a recording with the sweet sound of children’s voices fills the air. We thought it was an announcement telling children it’s time for bed, but no. It’s the nightly garbage truck playing a song about how important it is to keep the city clean and green. (You can check it out on YouTube—Hanoi garbage truck.) 

Before coming to this country, I read a beautiful book about a family living in northern Vietnam, called The Mountains Sing. It takes place over many years, and we’ve now visited some of the places the author talks about. That helps me a lot to understand more about the country. 

Will we ever come back to Hanoi? Maybe. Probably not. We’ve not seen everything, but I think we’ve seen enough. I was expecting some bitterness about Americans and the Vietnam War. I think, though, that these people have been through so many wars and so much poverty, that we’re just an ugly blip, and, in the words of a character in a book I read, “That was years ago, and, anyway, we won.” The country is changing fast.

Ninh Binh

Ted. For our final excursion outside of Hanoi, we took a day trip by car to this historic region in the Red River delta. Dotted with more karst hills, some folks call Ninh Binh “Ha Long Bay on Land.” It too can be seen by water but on a different type of vessel. 

In the village of Tam Coc, we boarded a row boat to explore a bit of the Ngo Dong River. 

We arrived early so most boats weren't in use

Our skipper (most are female)

Note the unique way they handle the oars

The scenery was captivating and we saw how they actually grow rice on the shallow banks of the river. 

Open Bill Storks munch on snails

We passed through three caves and I actually had to duck a couple of times. 

After a hearty lunch, we visited Bich Dong Pagoda, a 15th century temple complex built into caves on the side of a hill. 

Judy and our guide, Tuu approach the entrance

Lady Buddha

Our final stop for the day was at the ancient citadel of Hoa Lu. Having grown up in this village, the first emperor of Vietnam, Dinh Bo Linh established his capital here in the late 10th century.

As a boy, Dinh Bo Linh loved to ride his water buffalo and pretend he was a great warrior engaged in battle. The animals still graze peacefully on the grounds. 

We watched as some other boys played with their pet on the same field where soldiers once trained.

All too soon it was time to get back in our car and endure the long ride back to the big city of Hanoi.