Meadow and pond

I took these photos last month while walking. The path seemed to lead nowhere but was still inviting. The tranquility of the pond soothes and compels contemplation.

More from the Mary Day

Lobster Bake 

and Sunset

Aqua Camping

We were warned.  Expect camping-like conditions--without the bugs.  To get to our berth, we had to climb down a ladder, backwards.  We had  'head to head' beds so there was no upper and lower situation.  This was a good thing.  We were directly under the deck so we heard people walking to the head (toilet for you landlubbers) on our side of the ship and we heard the crew up at 4 or 5 am to swab and otherwise clean and prepare for the next day.  There was a space about 3 x 2 feet in front of the bunks next to the door.  We had a small sink with cold water for some of our washing needs.  Along side the bunks were shelves for sundries as well as a shelf/step under the bunk to store duffles.  Compact.  Bunks were comfortable enough but after a couple of nights my back started to protest.  My poor bunk mate, every time I moved or shifted position, my bunk squeaked and squawked.  Loudly.  I found myself working on a musical composition attuned to my movements in the bunk.  Still a bit discordant...

Home from the Sea

Four days on the Schooner Mary Day, Sept 4-8, was a fun, lighthouse filled adventure. We had a lighthouse expert with us who enlightened us about all manner of things 'lighthouse'. Sailing around Penobscot Bay, we saw many from the sea and some from land. The most thrilling was Goose Rocks light. This lighthouse rises directly from the water, the only access being by boat. We dropped anchor and almost all of he passengers and crew ferried to the lighthouse and climbed up two ladders to get to the main entrance. Once there, we clambered up through 4 floors of living space on the lighthouse. Meanwhile, the people who had rented the lighthouse for the weekend came aboard the schooner. Big smiles on everyone's faces, especially our lighthouse expert.

Home, At Last

After 39 hours of travel time including 3 flights and two layovers, we made it to Boston. We arrived to newly fallen snow and slippery roads so stayed with friends in town. Doug admitted that his reflexes might not be so good after our long travel ordeal. We have one bag unaccounted for. It made it to Dallas but not to Boston.

Finally got home, unpacked, did some laundry, picked up the piles of mail. Tried to stay awake even after getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep last night.

Just found out the missing bag will be delivered tonight!

In Norita Airport

We are 15 hours in transit and counting. The first leg is behind us and we are 2/3rds through our 12 hour layover in Tokyo. We spent the first 5 hours in a day room where we were able to sleep in a real bed and take a reviving shower. How civilized.

We have an 11 hour flight to Dallas-Fort Worth and a 4 hour flight to Boston to go. It's amazing how the fog of air travel takes over to the exclusion of all else. It's like being in a cocoon.

Hanoi street scene taken from a cafe. Were we really there yesterday?

Sunday

We leave today. At midnight. The group has dispersed to go to museums, do last minute shopping and rest.

I went to the history museum. They had an extensive collection and it was worth the trip. The crane standing on a turtle is a national symbol representing an origins myth.

More shopping. Actually the shop came to me in the form of street vendor. Two t-shirts later...

Now I wait and write and read until our farewell dinner this evening.

Dust

We started at the home of an American ex-pat who showed us around her house and art collection. Both were exquisite.

Boarded the bus for a temple in the countryside with a stop to visit another artist. Our last stop was to a temporary installation by a contemporary Vietnamese artist. Her exhibit was a collection of dust--sounds a bit suspect, I know, but her concept was about memory as she collected dust from her childhood home and school. They had both been razed for new building projects.

She wrote a moving poem about the dust she had collected that resonated with the group. The traffic and pollution is overwhelming. Plus the noise. Cars, buses, motorbikes are all beeping at each other and at pedestrians and bicyclists. The cacophony is extreme and wears you down.

The photos are the ex-pat's home nd the countryside. Tonics against the dust and noise.

Friday in Hanoi

Coffee on the mind. The Vietnamese coffee is really good so a bunch of us made a coffee run first thing this morning. Eat your heart out, my coffee loving friends.

I realized I had already written about the rest of the day. Art and politics should have been the title of the blog.

Photo is of the wires on the pole outside the hotel. It's a wonder I can get these posts published.

Art and more art

Started with a trip to the National Fine Arts Museum with its collection of lacquer paintings and paintings on silk. Fine examples of both. Then on to the
contemporary arts center to meet printmakers studying with a Boston printmaker. The workshop participants were professors at the local fine arts university who produced strong work, especially for first time lithographers. The instructor, Carolyn Muscat, received the Medal of Art from the Vietnamese government. We were there to watch the ceremony. Many speeches first in Vietnamese and then translated into English. And, of course, the government official was late, the speeches droned on, more small talk before we could leave...Long cab ride at rush hour. We split up into 3 cabs and we reported 3 different fares back to our hotel.

The highlight of the day was a visit to the studio of Le Quoc Viet. He generously shared his work with us and it was terrific.

The Tet new year is at the end of January so every one is getting ready. Shops are all lit up for the occasion.

Ha Long Bay

A full day's excursion to Ha Long Bay was on the schedule for Thursday. The bus ride was long, but the destination was beautiful even in the rain. The pictures say it all.

Temple of Literature

Next stop on Wed was the Temple of Literature built in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius, it was connected with the university. Scholars came to study a variety of subjects including philosophy and literature.

More shopping. Yes those are goldfish on the back of the motorcycle,

Our hotel room overlooks a lake in the center of Hanoi. In the evening we attended a performance of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra at th Opera House, a replica of the Paris Opera House. Remember France occupied Indochina for a hundred years.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Our first stop on Wed. was the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum. We marched 2x2 to the Mausoleum as instructed and then filed reverently past the body of Ho Chi Minh lying in repose. I tried to think of a similar situation in the US and came up with the US Constitution. People file past this document of our founding principles with reverence. A living document or a dead leader?

Tuesday, Jan, 10. Travel Day

We left Hue for Hanoi on an early morning flight, arriving about 10:00. Our day was busy, some shopping, walking around our hotel in an area called the 36 streets. It is an old craft and guild district, each of the 36 streets was dedicated to a single craft. Today it retains some of the old devisions, but not as strickly.

Our evening entertainment was a water puppet performance. It is a traditional form of puppetry originating in the rural, rice growing areas. It is performed in chest deep water which hides the puppeteers and the poles that control the puppets. I didn't get any good photos of the performance but there are some videos on you tube that you can watch to get an idea.

Monday on the Perfume River

The Perfume River runs through Hue. We took a dragon boat up river towards Laos to visit the Celestial Lady Pagoda. The roads are really bad so the boat was our best transportation option. This temple's claim to fame is the monk who traveled to Saigon in a1963 and burnt himself to death in protest of the repressive South Vietnamese regime. They have the car he drove and a photo of the monk on fire at the temple.

We traveled further up river where we were picked up by motorbikes and driven to tombs of two Vietnamese emperors. Buses carried us to Thich Nhat Hanh's temple near Hue. He was exiled from Vietnam after the war and has only been allowed back into the country recently.

Sunday in Hue

A visit to a contemporary art space and talk with the artists, twin brothers Le Ngoc Thanh and Le Duc Hai. They did an installation about the starvation of 2 million Vietnamese after WWII. (see photo) There were 1945 lacquered rice bowls with chop sticks.

Got on pedi-cabs to the next stop, another lacquer artist who has just completed a huge 5 panel painting.

Here is a pic of me in my cab, plus one of another member of the group.

Saturday in Hue

Our first stop was the Citadel, the imperial palace from 1802-1945. Mostly destroyed in the war, it has been slowly restored. There is still a lot of work to do. It is supposed to be modeled on the Forbidden City in China, but on much smaller scale. (See photo)

We visited a historian at his home, had tea with him while he told us more about the history of Hue and Vietman. It is the custom to share tea when visiting, even with a group of 14. His home had been a temple and he explained the feng shui of the siting of his home and of the Citadel. One of the better descriptions I have heard of the concepts of feng shui.

After another Vietnamese lunch w ent to the market. I thought the market in HCMC was claustrophobic, but this one out did it. I had to get out of there! Narrow aisles, people pushing, vendors luring--more "Madame, madame..."

It was good to get back to the quit of our hotel (view from our room attahed)

Friday, Jan 6

Traveled by plane to Danang, viewed the Museum of Cham Culture and then went by bus to My Son, Vietnam's most important Cham monument. Crumbling ruins, jungle, mountains-all very atmospheric. Built in the 4th century and bombed in the 20th, it has been nearly covered by vegetation.

The Cham civilization preceded the Vietnamese in the central and south but were fully taken over by them by the early 19th century.

A long bus ride delivered us to Hue in the early evening.

Thursday in HCMC

We started the day with a tour of the Fine Arts University--the painting studios and the lacquer painting studio. The lacquer painting technique is laborious and time consuming. It involves preparing the board with layers of lacquer and silk and then several layers of lacquer that may have eggshell, mother of pearl, gold or silver leaf and pigment added. (see an example below)

Then to a couple of galleries, one of which served us lunch. Back to the hotel to regroup and relax before tackling the market for some cinnamon. The market is huge and when you step inside be ready to be accosted. "Madame, you want t-shirt?"; "Madame, see my watches".

Wednesday in HCMC

A day of art starting with the Fine Arts Museum. It has some of the best examples of Vietnamese lacquer painting. Contemporary art galleries followed. The directors of the galleries were forthcoming about the challenges of running contemporary art spaces in a communist country. With all the hustle and commerce of HCMC it is easy to forget that Vietnam is communist.

We had a great lunch that featured stuffed pumpkin flowers and steamed morning glory stems. Both were very tasty.

Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels

Day 2, Tuesday, January 3.

We were bussed out of town to the Cao Dai Temple and watched a service with a procession of monks and chanting. It is an inclusive religion incorporation several faiths. The temple was colorful and the service interesting,

The second stop was to the Cu Chi tunnels. This is the complex of tunnels the Viet Cong built during the 'American War'. It's all in your perspective...

We were able to go down into the tunnels and were guided through a portion of the vast network used during the war. It was an interesting experience to hear about our Vietnam War from the other side.

HCMC Day One

Ho Chi Minh City is big--population 9 million--and busy. The preferred method of transportation is motor bike. The streets are filled with them. It is a masterful game of cat and mouse or 'chicken' between pedestrian and motor bike at intersections. No traffic lights or signage. All vehicles converging and crossing and turning with people walking across the street. The key is to step into the crosswalk with confidence and stride purposefully across. The vehicles will avoid you so long as you are predictable in your movement. The experienced ones are able to pace themselves for maximum efficiency. Others hang on with their eyes closed and ask, "Are we across, Yet?"

In addition to the traffic, the other thing we all noticed, was the wiring. The attached photo has an example of the complex--almost tortuous--maze of wires attached to utility poles.

We went to the Ben Thanh market for a quick look around. It's a massive market with many many small stalls selling clothing, spices, jewelry, food and almost anything else you migh want or need.

The day was a blur. It is hot. That combined with jet lag and we were a tired bunch of tourists.

Travel Day

We left at 8:30 am on Saturday and 30 hours later we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City after stops in Chicago and Tokyo. That was a grueling trip to say the least. Tired, cranky and practically a zombie we put ourselves to bed at midnight only to arise with the roosters who started to crow at 5 am. We managed to sleep until 7 tho.

We never did celebrate New Years Eve since we were traveling west and before it turned midnight we crossed the international dateline and it was the next day.