Cat Ba Island

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Cat Ba Island

On CatBa Island the story of the dragon is continued. A family of dragons protect the island, bringing rain in drought, fighting raiders and pirates, it is a primeval world, your bus turns a corner, the modern dock fades from view and Jurassic Park takes its place. It is green and lush and razor sharp. Life on the island unfolded too - chicks and pups pottered around the gardens, horses clustered, and locals gathered.
The trek through the national park was not the leisurely stroll that we had been imagining, after the steps had faded into carefully placed tiles and then dirt, the forest closed around us. It was not just exercise for the feet, but for legs, and arms, and mind and balance. In the steepest places a red-rusted iron ladder would appear, protecting you from the thirty foot drop and allowing you to physically pull yourself up and up, until finally, at two hundred and fifty metres you had reached the point, the view, the rolling plain of furzy trees, a prickly bed of forest up an dup into a jagged horizon where no dragons soared.
I wanted dragons. Vietnam, or all the eastern places, seems like a place that could make them real.
The temples and beliefs conform to the Feng-Shi principles of the northern neighbour but the animalistic worship seems more intense and the animals are mythical
The Dragon for Power
The Unicorn for Strength
The Phoenix for Beauty
The Turtle for long life
The Phoenix perches on the shoulders of the turtle, for a long, beautiful life.
I like this. The prayers, the idols are not gods of luck and money. They are for life and beauty. Truths in a life of fragile lies. Positive upon positive.
If your gods represent something wonderful then your hopes will be wonderful. Of all the modern scars upon the land, the faces and sea it is the ancient beliefs that have the resilience that feed the strength. If the giant turtle embalmed and worshipped in Hanoi is real, why not the Dragon, why not the Phoenix? Just because we cannot see them does not mean that they don’t exist. It just means that they have not yet been captured, but beasts with the wisdom of the gods would not let themselves be captured, not unless they felt the world needed a sign, the Turtle at the centre of Hanoi’s green lake inspires hope in all who visit, they burn incense, make wishes, leave offerings, they leave their sorrows and their hopes. The face of Vietnam is re-emerging, from the flames of horror that gripped much of Asia, enriched by the strength of the Unicorn. They are rebuilding their country. Life, long life is now possible. And that is beautiful.

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Comments

[Rensina]

great story
Loved your story and ideas on the symbols/animals in Vietnam culture. I am going to Vietnam on March 1st....can't wait!! Happy travels to you Rensina....Australia