Organized Chaos.

Vietnam is full of organized chaos.  When you first arrive it seems that everywhere you look is chaos, the traffic, the stalls serving pho, the millions of people milling about though the longer you are here you realize that instead of chaos it is instead more like a dance.  You start to see the give and take of the mopeds, the people, the stalls, that the small amount of chaos adds a bit of danger, of excitement, of life.  This dance is what makes Hanoi so intoxicating and addicting.  Each time you cross the street or walk into the markets you become of something larger,you become part of the dance, the sway, the caress, the rush.  I have traveled a bit and have never experienced such a thing.  We find ourselves captivated by watching it in all things and of drawing deep breaths and laughing by the thrill of it all.  It is quite lovely and I wish we could stay for much much longer.

The Hair Cut

Brent’s hair was at an all time new long and while he kept saying he was gonna get a haircut but it just did not happen before we left.  So one night we were wondering around the “39 streets” of Old Quarter looking for a barber and all we could find was a very “local” ladies hair salon.  It was about 9pm and in we walked to their little stall full of hair products and various styling tools.  I pointed to Brent said “short” while holding my fingers close together and said “cut?” and they grabbed him and started working away.  Brent was pretty nervous and kept saying “I don’t know about this Lace”…and it was pretty touch and go for a bit as they wanted him to be a bit more stylish then he was prepared and while they thinned, texturized and tried to spike away Brent was able to show what he wanted by using hand signs and nods.  We were there for over an hour and all the ladies around us acted like they had a very white lady and gentlemen everyday getting their hair cut.  As Brent’s hair was almost done many of the ladies repeated “handsome” with a big smile and a pat on the back for me and the stylist asked for my approval on his hair cut and style, which I appreciated.  They charged us an arm and a leg (10 bucks)but sent us off with goodbyes and a much more handsome beau for myself ;)  

The next morning we took a day tour out of Hanoi to visit Dinh Tien Hoang Temple.  It was built in the 11^th century and we were very thankful for our student guides as we were able to see a lot of the symbolism in the Temple.  It was quite lovely and had big manicured garden beds throughout.  The interesting things about the temples as they usually have three layers, either within the gardens or the number of actual buildings and the farther in the temple grounds you go the higher you must step up, pretty significantly, to go into the building.  We were told that this is so that when you pass through each layer your mind should become more and more focused and clear.  The final passage into the building they make it high so that you notice that you step up and are on higher ground and your mind should be clear.  I hope I am remembering this right….anyhoo it is quite unique.  We also visited Tam Coc (three caves) and took a small boat with just our driver and us around the Ngo Dong River.  It is quite fun and our guide paddled with his feet!  (I have photos which I will add of this)  You end up going under some pretty low “caves” and popping out the other side.  It was pretty interesting as we were able to witness quite closely the local people fishing and catching fish and frogs. The drivers all were lively and full of laughter.  I bet they were making fun of us or what not but their infectious attitude had us grinning even though we had idea what they were saying or joking about.

 

After the boat trip we hopped on some bikes and biked to the Bich Dong Pagoda.  It was amazing.  Carved into the mountain in the early 15^th century it has quite some intense steps up!  We were huffing and puffing…the VERY humbling thing is though as were coming down 2 old ladies (at least in their 70’s if not  80’s and not an inch over 4 ft each) were hauling bag of concrete up!  Brent and I vowed to visit the gym MUCH more often…..oy.  It was quite a lovely pagoda as there are shrines and Buddhas’ hidden into the mountain and it feels very Indiana Jones’ish when you “discovered” a small shrine or carving.  We biked back to our bus swigged a Hanoi Beer and rushed back on the bus and Hanoi.