Zen and the Art of Crossing the Street

I'm here in Hanoi and beginning the final stretch run. The idea of having to go back to work sucks pretty much, but what can you do?

I spent three days in Hue, which is in central Vietnam. Hue was pretty cool. Lot's of cool stuff to see (albeit a lot of it under renovation). The first day I wandered around on foot for a few hours. I went to the Hue Citadel, historically the center of politics and religion in ancient Vietnam and the scene of some of the hardest fighting during, as they call it here: the American War(see, I can read the plaques and brochures). The place is huge, and surprisingly serene. There are the obligatory rusting hulks of captured American armored vehicals in areas outside the Citadel. What surprised me to a certain extent was that there was no mention of the war at all once you got inside the complex itself. The whole thing was interesting but wore thin after about the third hour of walking, so hoofed it back to the hotel for a shower and some dinner.

The next day I hopped on one of the boat tours up the Perfume River to some of the tombs and temples. This was a fun trip that lasted just a tad too long. The boat trip itself cost only $2, but they don't tell you about the ancilliary costs such as the entry fees to the sites, the "free lunch" on the boat, etc. I think I ended up spending something like $25 all told. Some of the tombs and temples are really quite impressive. One tomb site (which I can't remember the name of and probably couldn't spell it if I could) was a fairly sprawling complex amid small lakes and trees that was very peaceful. It was the kind of place that, if not for the time contstaints of the tour, I could've lingered at for quite some time. The other impressive place was the tomb of the last emperor of Vietnam. The outside is a huge structure built in the side of a mountain that is impressive in itself although covered in the pervasive black mold that covers so many buildings here. Inside, however; is almost overwhelming. It is guady splendor in all it's glory. Every wall and surface is covered with fantastically ornate glass and ceramic bass relief imagers of dragons, flowers, birds, and gods. I did manage to sneak one picture even though you're not supposed to photograph anything ( I'm a baaaad boy).

The one glitch on the trip happened on the way back to the boat from this tomb. Somehow I managed to lose the money I was carrying. I'm not sure how it happened, but it led to the embarrassing spectacle of me haveing to borrow money from a guy on the tour, so I could pay the motorcycle guy who brought me back from the tomb to the boat. Granted, I only lost the equivalent of about $4, but still. There was one more stop after the emperor's tomb which I didn't go to, but by that time we were 7 hours into the tour and things were wearing a bit thin. I think everyone on the tour was pretty happy when we finally got back to the docks and got off the boat.

The coolest thing that happened to me in Hue was meeting Mr. Ti. As I was walking back to my hotel after the boat tour, a guy pulls up next to me on a motorcycle and asks me where I'm from. Having been asked this question 10,000 times from guys on motorcyles I said, "No thank you!" This has become an almost standard response to just about anyone who approaches me (unless it's a bartender). The guy persisted saying that I reminded him of his brother-in-law in America and wanted to know if I was American. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh Christ. This one's going to be hard to get rid of." But he finally said that he didn't want my money, he just wanted to talk. Still a bit suspicious, I hopped on the back of his scooter and off we went.

Mr. Ti turned out to be a very pleasant guy of about 50 or so (who can tell how old these folks are?) who did genuinely just want to talk to an American. He took me to a small cafe and plied me with food and beer. We talked about his rather extensive family (many of whom live in the States), his hopes for travelling, the state of Vietnam's growing economy, and a number of other subjects. After about eight beers and some shrimp and squid, Mr. Ti asked for my e-mail address, said he had to go pick up his daughter from school, and drove me to my hotel. I hopped off the back of his bike, said good-bye, and stood there for a minute or two thinking to myself, "How 'bout that?"

The one thing the has impressed me so far where ever I've been here, is how truly friendly people are. Nobody snarls at you like they sometimes do in Korea. Even the touts aren't nasty when you turn them down (In fact, it's become a kind of game with me to find creative ways to turn these folks down without using "No thank you").

Now I'm in Hanoi. It's been fun so far. I went to Minh's Jazz Club last night for some live music. The place was a bit on the expensive side (as things go here), but the band was smokin', so it was all worth it. I found a cool bar in my wanderings today called the R&R Tavern. I chatted and played pool with an old pot-smoking vet from Nebraska named John, and I'm going back over there after dinner because they have a rock band that's playing tonight. I also talked briefly with one of the owners of the place, and he said it's a teacher hang out, so I might finally get some info on what it's like to teach here.

That is all for now. See ya!