Day 1 in Sa Pa: love markets, bride kidnapping, and mountains galore.

a little piece of heaven.

When I traveled with my aunt, uncle, and two younger cousins a few years back they taught me that whenever they return home they always say, "Best trip yet." Even though I haven't quite returned

new friends! (and a beautiful waterfall)

"home" (I don't even have an 'abroad' home since we are constantly on the move) I am actually saying, "Best trip yet" referring to my recent excursion to Sa Pa, and I really honestly mean it. Sa Pa was unbelievable. We arrived early Saturday morning on the train, (taking the night train was really fun and I slept surprisingly well. I liked swaying back and forth!) We checked into a wonderfully nice hotel with an incredible view of the mountains and rice terraces. After freshening up and a yummy breakfast we went to the Sa Pa tourist center to meet with some young students who are learning English in order to become tour guides. I guess now would be a good time to say that Sa Pa is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. The reason being: the ethnic groups. The students that we met with were from two different ethnic groups, the Dao and the Black Hmong, although the scheduled group cultural exchange that wasn't the most interesting discussion, the one-on-one conversations that followed in the next two days were riveting. The Black Hmong and Dzao children are growing up in such a different environment than I did, and still am. For example, I am 20 years old and husband-less and childless (definitely not complaining on that one). That wouldn't really fly with my family if we were Hmong. Some of the girls I talked to had sisters my age that already had two

A few Hmong women selling clothing– notice how it is indigo
blue, many of their hands are stained blue from the dye.

children. There actually used to be a love market in Sa Pa, where single youth would go and strut their stuff and hope to find a potential life partner. Hmong people are also well known for bride kidnapping, which is pretty self-explanatory. If a young man was interested in a girl he would consult with his, not her, parents and then kidnap her. Typically the couple already have a relationship and the kidnapping is simply symbolic but in some cases the kidnapping took the form of an abduction where the girl had no idea what was coming. The groom's family still has to pay a dowry for the bride-to-be. It is all so interesting to think about. It's hard to fathom that the students I was talking to could very easily be married with kids in a few years– I have read and discussed this cultural norm in different anthropology classes but it puts it into a whole new perspective now that I have met and connected with these students.

After lunch and a little r&r we went "hiking." Hiking is in quotes because it wasn't actual hiking but we were walking uphill so I was still happy. I can't even explain how nice it was to be surrounded by mountains again; I loved it. Oh, not only were there mountains but it was also COOL. For once I wasn't sweating through my clothes. I could wear pants and feel comfortable. Hallelujah. Take me back to Sa Pa, stat. But really, I loved loved loved it there. Since it is so mountainous, the hills are all terraced to utilize the space properly and reduce runoff and erosion. I think that rice terraces are absolutely stunning– one of the most amazing sights in the world. Add the huge mountains in the background, the fog rising off them, waterfalls, water buffalo, and the beautiful people– commence the photo shoot.

The tallest mountains are hiding behind clouds.

I am trying to get back here to go hiking for a few days.

When the rice is growing the terraces are bright green. They
had just harvested the rice last month– explains the brown.

So here I am learning how to make a whistle-type noise with a
special plant. It was very difficult but I am proud to say that I suffered
though lightheadedness & successfully whistled. Boo-yah.

Well hello there Mr. Water Buffalo. <- that is something my
mom would say.

Walking down to the waterfall there were lots of vendors. Do
you even need to ask if I bought gifts...

5 minutes, 1 park, 13 brides.

Vietnamese don't share the American superstition that seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding is bad luck. All of these couples aren't married yet– they are taking photos that they will display at their wedding! Mikala and I walked around a park and saw thirteen different couples.  Enjoy. I am off to train station to take a night train to Sa Pa. I have been looking forward to this excursion since September. So excited– cold weather, mountains, and rice fields– what more can a girl ask for??

Getting a touch up on makeup.

Museum legs

We have been in Hanoi for a full three days now and I am exhausted. We have seen so much in the past 72 hours that it makes my brain hurt. I wish that we could have not squeezed so much into every day but I guess this way I get to see most of it; however, I know that I would have appreciated the beauty and history behind each site if I had been able to go at my own pace. Oh well. Tuesday we went to Ho Chi Minh's house. A mansion was built for him, but he was a humble man so he requested that a small house on stilts be built behind the mansion and this is where he lived. There is also a rather large fish pond on the estate with lots of fish swimming around. Adjacent to his house is his mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh asked to have his ashes spread across Vietnam, in the mountains, jungles, rivers, and oceans but his wishes were not granted and instead his body is preserved in the mausoleum.

The house Uncle Ho turned down.

House on stilts!

The fish pond and the house on stilts.

Professor Le explaining yin-yang
with the crane on the tortoise.

I have also visited the literature temple, Van Mieu– lots of Confucianism there. It is one of the oldest universities in the world. That same morning (Wednesday) we were lectured by Professor Le Van Lan who also served as our tour guide in the afternoon. Turns out Professor Le is a famous historian/author and during our tour of Van Mieu multiple Vietnamese ran up to him and asked to take a picture with him. It was pretty entertaining.  Professor Le also brought us to the Thang Long Citadel– the former palace of all the emperors besides the Nguyen dynasty– they made their home in Hue... I just visited it– remember?! Each dynasty made their own renovations and additions to Thang Long Citadel so it represents each era and legend. Unfortunately, Nguyen demolished the palace and built a mansion so he had a satisfactory place to live on his visits to Hanoi since he established Hue as the capital. In the late 19th century the French tore down Nguyen's mansion. Between the damage done by the French and Nguyen there are only a few original architectural constructions, but there are many artifacts representing each of the dynasties that are continuously being excavated.

Entrance to Van Mieu

Site of former Thang Long Citadel. The yellow building was
built by the French. Underneath the glass is an excavation site.

Today we had a lecture at Hanoi University in the morning and in the afternoon we went to the Ethnology Museum. There are fifty-four different ethnic groups  in Vietnam and each group was represented by some sort of photograph, object or artifact. Needless to say, there was a lot of stuff to keep me busy!

What is this– a house for ants!! No but actually this is a model of
a house of a certain ethnic group.. can't remember the name sorry. There are
54 of them so give me a break.

My new house. (That is me in case you can't tell)

Hanoi was formerly called Thang Long, English translation: Ascending Dragon. Legend has it that  Le Thai To, the first emperor of the Le dynasty, saw a dragon rising out of the Red River and therefore decided to name his city after it. Hanoi is pretty similar to Saigon only it is no where near as uncomfortably hot. People told me that the traffic is crazier here but I don't think it is too different. I guess they are a little more reckless but all Vietnam drivers are.

Oh, just remembered we went to a water puppet show. It was very entertaining. There was traditional Vietnamese music played on the left side the whole time and then a puppet show on water. The funniest part was when one of the arm of the puppets fell off in the first act and was floating in the water the whole time.

This isn't a great picture but it shows the water puppet show.

Sorry that this post isn't very informative but like I said, I am exhausted. Information overload.

Policemen wear uniforms; Halloween people wear costumes.

This is an original Mikala comment. She was trying to explain to a Vietnamese that costumes and uniforms aren't the same thing after he mistakenly said, "Wear your uniforms to the party."

My uniform was a princess. I wore my new skirt, new heels, and walked around a market until I found a headband that if I wear tilted and sideways suffices as a tiara. 

I wore my princess outfit on the plane to Hanoi, just rocking out my tiara. Don't worry about it. Happy Halloween!

A morning at an orphanage and an evening with a fortune teller

Today we went to a Buddhist orphanage. We got to play with the children and it was absolutely fabulous. I love cute kids. It was sad to see so many orphans, but I am happy that they can be in such a friendly and loving environment. When we arrived the children ran out and grabbed us by our hands and led us inside to play with them. I was handed a baby who was just the cutest thing. I was relieved that she didn't whimper once (I am pretty talented when it comes to making babies cry). Babies here don't fuss nearly as much as babies back in the states. I think it is because they aren't as coddled and well, babied. I have noticed that the children in Vietnam are much more mature. I think is can be attributed to the fact that kids are needed to help around the house, watch younger siblings, and even contribute financially by working with their parents on the farm or in the informal sector. Since I will be returning to Hue for my ISP I am going to be spending time each weekend volunteering at the orphanage. I have already given them my name and am getting cleared. Hooray! I am glad that I will finally be able to volunteer at an organization instead of just visiting, wishing I could do more, and then leaving. Here are some pictures from today's visit– I know there are some of me and my adorable little baby on Vy's camera so I will snag them from facebook once they are posted.

I loved jumping rope with the kids

Simon swinging the kids around– they loved him!

Lunch time.

My favorite picture of the day. I liked it so much I even put it in black and white. Check out the little girl
on the left with the cute ponytail.

This evening I visited a fortune teller. It was actually the weirdest thing ever because so much of my fortune, and others, was very accurate. She knew that I had moved once in my childhood, that where I lived in the states had a lot of spirits (our farm has said to be haunted), that I am very independent and don't like asking for things, that someone on my father's side of the family was recently ill, and then she said a lot of stuff about my family that was just extremely accurate and therefore creepy. She also said I was careless and bad things will happen to me if I don't start to be more careful. Regarding my future: I am going to seek a higher education and have a successful career. One thing that I didn't like to hear and I hope is wrong is that right now I am in bad health. BUT after discussing it with my friends, I'm hoping it is only because for the past few days I have been feeling under the weather. As we all were analyzing our fortunes someone pointed out that everything she said can be interpreted differently. Go ahead and judge me for taking this seriously but it is eerie that so much was accurate. Erika is studying abroad in Madagascar next semester and the first thing the fortune teller said to Erika was, "You are studying abroad for a second semester." She didn't say that to anyone else. Very, very, creepy.

Lots of old beautiful buildings

Today we visited Nam Giao Esplanade, where the Nguyen emperors had offering ceremonies to worship their God. It was believed that Nam Giao Esplandae would bring nice weather, prosperity, and peace. When the tradition was first established the ceremonies were annual but at some point in time it was changed to a triennial ceremony to fall on the years of the Rat, Cat, Horse, and Rooster. Nam Giao Esplanade consists of three terraces, the lower two are in the shape of square (earth) but the upper terrace is a circle to symbolize Heaven. The emperor had to be abstinent for three days prior to officiating the sacrificial ceremony. He also couldn't eat meat. The offerings were pigs, cattle, etc. When we first began our tour I wasn't sure what was being offered, so when we saw pictures of the livestock being led to Nam Giao Esplanade I was relieved that it was animals that were sacrificed, not humans. Maybe I was just being super naive but I had no idea what to expect!

 Tu Duc's autobiography
engraved into a stele

This afternoon we went to the tomb of Tu Duc, the fourth emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. I believe he had 103 wives but no children (attributed to a bad case of smallpox leaving him sterile). Oh another fun fact abut Tu Duc: he was the emperor who lost Vietnam to French domination. Anyways, his tomb was pretty amazing. It wasn't so much of a tomb but more of a palace. It was constructed before his death so everything down to the manmade lake and island was just as he had ordered. Under one of the pavilions is a humongous stele inscribed with Tu Duc's autobiography. Even though Tu Duc had a whole 12 hectare tomb prepared this isn't where he is buried. The reason: there was so much gold and treasures buried with him that they wanted to keep it a secret from any greedy thieves. The mandarins beheaded the 200 workers who buried Tu Duc to ensure secrecy. His burial place has remained concealed even after all these years (he died in 1883).

The stele is placed in this pavillon.

All of the buildings are so beautiful. I can't get over the amount
of detail on every building, especially the roofs!

Hue: The Last Royal City

Yesterday we ventured over to Hue, the former capital of Vietnam and my future ISP location. This means I will be living in Hue for one whole month all on my own– and after spending an afternoon in this city I am absolutely thrilled that this is where I am ending up. Yesterday afternoon we went to the Hue Capital Citadel, constructed in 1805 for the Nguyen Dynasty, the last emperors of Vietnam. The Nguyen Dynasty spanned from 1802-1945 with thirteen different rulers. Enclosed in the citadel is Imperial City and the Forbidden City. There is a lot of rich history behind the Imperial City and the Forbidden City but I am just going to share the facts that I found most interesting. 

–The second king of the Nguyen Dynasty had 500 wives. He was said to sleep with four to five different women every night. He had 140 plus children.

–The Forbidden City was the home for the emperor and family. No men were allowed in the Forbidden City except the emperor and eunuchs (castrated men).

–Thê Mieu is the tallest building in the citadel at 13 meters high. This is where the Nguyen Emperors were honored and worshiped. Women were not allowed to enter, they had to worship the emperors in a different temple.

–There were three different cooking departments for the Nguyen Emperors. Each department consisted of fifty cooks, and each individual cook has their own specialized dish.

–The citadel walls are 21 meters thick.

–9 is a lucky number so there is a lot of objects in sets of 9. Like 9 cannons guard the Citadel.
–The youngest ruler became emperor at the age of 7.
–The Nguyen Dynasty ended in 1945 when the 13th emperor handed the power over to Ho Chi Minh.

 

the detail in the Citadel was unbelievable

singing children at a pagoda

Last night we met a lot of English speaking university students. They took us around Hue on their motorbikes. It was really fun to see a new city from the back of a motorbike. Hue is nowhere near as crazy as HCMC is. Thank goodness! We all went out to dinner to get noodles and then we went and sat by the river and drank coffee for at least an hour and a half. It was really nice to meet a lot of young people– I know I need to be making good connections because I am going to be the only SIT student in Hue for my ISP– I need to make friends so I am not lonely!!!