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Published: August 17th 2009
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Hoa Lu - Vietnam - Entrance to Small Temple
On a very hot day, a day at a temple was seemingly not the way to hang out...but in the end, was worth the trip. A typhoon was bearing down on the north coast of Vietnam but was hanging in the China Sea, gaining strength. It was the break we needed for a quick day trip to two sites..one was called Hoa Lu, a small temple complex with Buddhist backgrounds and still in use as a worship centre. The age of complex somehow escaped my ears. The drive there was in an absolutely packed minibus with an air-conditioning system that must have been turned off to add to the already diminished horsepower of the vehicle. This did not keep the driver from forcing his way out to pass and moving all of the oncoming traffic onto the left shoulder of the road...aw..what the heck, they were ' mostly ' motorbikes anyhow. After leaving the highway ( not in the literal sense ), we wound our way along a backcountry road through some interesting scenery that made me sit up and notice. Beautiful hills with waterways interspersed so that I felt we were nearing the coast...to this day, I cannot find these places on a map, although I notice that the region is mentioned as the Red River Delta. The temples were well hidden beyond small villages
Hoa Lu - Vietnam - Shade is Where It Is
Trying NOT to catch a few rays..the guard found shade and comfort in an unlikely spot. and mountain sized bumps on some small, windy roads...that is the best description I can have since the location on the map eludes me. We parked and on stepping out of the hot-as-the-air-around-us minivan, we were overwhelmed by people selling everything from hats to mini temples to icy cold drinks. I had enough fluid going in but a very cute and persistent lady got me to promise to buy my drinks from her on the way out. I agreed, thinking it was a way to lose her. The temples were not big but intricate in their design and taken care of to the point that their original structure stayed intact and their nature obvious. The tour took us through two of temples a short walk apart...then as we veered back towards the van, my cute, little friend appeared out of nowhere and said ' I promised to buy drinks from her '..I could only laugh and true to my word, bought two icy cold drinks from her, one water and one green tea..but not before knocking off a couple of thousand dong...yes, she happily bargained and we parted friends..both of us happy with our deals. I don't remember how long
Hoa Lu - Vietnam - Inside The Temple
Inside..the quarters are cramped but no less magnificent. The well kept temples are still in use as a worship centre. it took to get form Hoa Lu to Tam Coc. The drive over was the usual game of chicken with our driver expertly squeezing oncoming motorbikes to the extremes of the left shoulder. When we arrived at our destination, we were ushered into a dining area for an included a lunch I didn't even know about. The lunch was an excellent buffet with all kinds of food including vegetarian and noodles, rice and potatoes. The only thing we had to pay for was any drinks we had. I had a jumbo beer for 25,000 dong or about $ 1.50..and when I say jumbo, I mean big. The scorching sun made me take up the suggestion of two Danish girls I met at the waiting area to buy a very large water and a conical straw hat to help deflect the sun....good call girls. Oops...I don't mean they were call girls...you know what I mean..!! We were allocated boats by size and degree. I was put with an English fellow living in Singapore...he and I had similar cameras and we were lucky...some boats had up to four people in them. We were two and our two paddlers. As we left, I
Hoa Lu - Vietnam - In the Heat of the Day
It was very hot entering the temple site...and the shade inside offered very little in the way of a cooling breeze turned around to look back and noticed the woman at the back was paddling with her feet...she was obviously in great shape. The river was wide and out in the open with a glaring sun beating down on us. I was almost sorry for having signed up. Soon we passing incredible formations and small temples and the sun became a minor nuisance. As we went further from the docking area, the scenery turned seemingly remote with high craggy peaks and scattered shrubbery. Then the astonishing came...we went right through the mountains in very large caverns, some low enough to bump your head on the stalactites as we went through...the light at the other end was comforting. We went through three or four mountains and passed at least one riverside bar where the servers were waiting in hammocks but we did not stop. Passing through the last mountain, we came to a seemingly dead end and our turn-around. Here we were over run by many small paddle boats that were actually mini marts on water. The boat that approached us was run by a woman with a small child. After buying icy beers for us and cool pops for our paddlers,
Tam Coc - Vietnam - Time to Forget the Heat
The scenery quickly takes over as we paddled down the waterway. It was hot but with the proper head gear and plenty of fluids, it is an excellent trip. we could only laugh as the woman from the boat plied us with snacks and juices that our paddlers were only too happy to accept. The boat woman also convinced us her daughter was worth a few photos, with a small donation to her ' college fund '. We bought the snacks thinking we would feast together before the return journey but they soon disappeared into the paddlers bags, probably to take home as treats for the husbands and kids. Our return journey was another lesson in economics. Our two paddlers, who claimed to be sisters, brought out their ' goods for sale '. We could only laugh once again as the harder we bargained, the more children they had between them..soon enough they had to provide for seven children when all along I thought they had three between them. We both bought these beautifully done mountain scenes ( later we would learn they were mass produced ) and tshirts at highly inflated prices...but we laughed and shrugged it off with a ' hey..she paddled all day with her feet ' comment. I still laugh about that. Finally at the dock, we tipped them with another well timed bargaining session
Tam Coc - Vietnam - The Mountain Lets Us Through
One of many underground passage ways through the mountain. The shade was welcome but offered only a brief respite from the heat. and in the end laughed at our over indulgence to their tales of children at home and having ' school soon '. The reality is though...we may have over paid but we did help them and the fact of the matter is that it was definitely not a ' pocket emptier '. For me and my new found British friend, it was worth the entertainment value alone. On the drive to Hanoi...most people slept while I looked out the window. Our driver was up to the same tricks on the way home...BUT...this time, I was cheering for him. I was tired.
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