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Published: October 23rd 2007
Ahhh ... here I am again amongst my smiles and curries. It was a relief to get off the train and know not only where I was going, but how much it cost and how to outsmart the hustlers.
Once again I could strut broken sidewalks with sincere confidence (as opposed to my put-on new york face shielding a quivering little meg inside screaming "where are we going?? what's that smell? did that guy just eye my bag or admire my fabulous sense of style? meeh, moooom!") and the maps are in the bin, ladies and gents.
Downside: my alarm clock as supplanted my stack of books-to-read-when-I-have-spare-time on the nightstand and my allergies have reared up in full force. I now carry my inhaler with me at all times. It's gross. All I need are a pair of taped black-rimmed specs and a pocket-protector and I'm set. So it goes. I managed to avoid acne and other such teenage angst-ridden conditions, so I guess it's just my due.
Nonetheless, this blog is meant to fill in the gaps from our latest travels and show off some snap shots and generally conclude this latest burst of blogging. Our second
french architecture
if I were a country and I could choose to be colonized by anyone ... it would definitely be the frenchterm starts tomorrow and with my new coordinator position and whatnot, it'll be back to minimal adventure, early evenings and sudoku-crazed, errand-splattered weekends.
Filling in the gaps ... filling in the gaps, where to begin? Ahh ... the Temple of Literature. Well, I have to admit I'd built up unattainable expectations of peaceful strolls through the courtyards, wind whispering ancient wisdom and a book burning homage to my buddhist obsessed beats. A happening. An experience.
Now in lieu of that, imagine a tourist-stuffed reconstruction of said temple in the midst of the loudest, horn-obsessed society taking no pause and burning rubber on asphalt rather than incense to Confuscius. As it turns out, most of the buildings were demolished during the war (yaaay america) and the well of knowledge was eutrophic, but stagnant.
So it goes.
We also managed to stumble upon Hanoi's Fine Art Museum ... fascinating, friends, truly fascinating. Unfortunately no photography allowed, but I can honestly say it probably wouldn't have done it justice anyhow. The most poignant chamber was a room full of life-size buddha statues in his various phases and poses and snow mountain style and fat and happy and the like.
There was one with a staff and it stared at me. And I can't say with loving approval. Buddha and I might have some beef. But hey, I'd rather duke it out with him under threat of life as a bug as opposed to eternal damnation, eh?
There was, shockingly, a number of chambers with glaring evidence of a western presence. Although it was interesting to compare American "Vietnam War" period art with Vietnamese "American War" period art. Americans were never depicted in groups, there was always one man -- usually in the center -- surrounded by vietnamese villagers or soldiers. Well, I won't get into it. It was interesting, we'll leave it at that.
For brevity's sake, I'm going to surmise here (if you want details, holler). Uncle Ho, as Ho Chi Minh is lovingly referred to here, was on vacation getting a make-over in Russia and so we skipped the mausoleum. We also missed the B52 stuck in a lake in the north, but I hear it's, ya know, a plane in a lake. We paddled around Hoan Kiem in a swan. That was tiring. We saw some pagodas. We attended a water puppet show. Expressed
maw
in our teeny tiny bathtub our cultural sensitivity and haggled over chopsticks and cheap souvenirs in the weekend markets. We ate squatting on the street. We let the occassional rickshaw driver overcharge us. We essentially embraced the role of "tourist" as graciously as two incredibly proud asian-residents possibly could. It was a good thing.
But now I've paid my dues and sprinting back to expat snobbery, I mock map-toting white people and throw rocks at sex-tourists. I will pay no more then my hard-earned 20 baht for a decent meal and won't be caught dead in a t-shirt promoting any one country. And that's that.
Enjoy the pictures.
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