Povey Prattle

On the other hand....   when I arrived in Sa Pa just before day break, the Hotel in which I had a day room was dark, and locked tight. It was the “Cat Cat Hotel”, named for a nearby “ethnic village”. I was all for going across the street to get a cup of coffee but my trustworthy guide (Sinh) insisted on calling the night clerk. He soon arrived to open up the Hotel – all smiles, and explaining that he’d been at a party the evening before as was a bit “hungover”. I never got to know his name, so I nick-named him “Mr. Friendly”. He was/is a Vietnamese of Chinese background. His English was flawless. His personality was filled with bubbly bonhomie. After my sleep and shower he and I chatted. He told me that he was very happy because he was going to his home village for the Tet holiday. I asked about his family. He told me that he had an older brother. Then he added “I am happy that I have an older brother because it’s his responsibility to take care of my...

The young man at the Vietnam Airlines check in at Ha Noi’s airport was “all business”.  He did not smile. I was checking in for a flight to Da Nang (which in the event was delayed for two hours). He asked “who is travelling with you?”  I responded that I was alone. “But what about your wife and family?” was his next question. I countered by saying that I am not married and that I have no children. He looked me in the face and said “I do not like that”. I felt disrespected until today. Part of my post Vietnam reading is “Vietnam Now” by David Lamb (Public Affairs, NY 2002). Lamb was a war correspondent during the Vietnam War.  Thirty years later he returned to Vietnam to “cover the peace”.  On a long rail trip from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City he chatted with a young Vietnamese man  named Tinh who asked him “How many children do you have?” Lamb said “none” and the young man said “then you are not married, you must ...

When I retired in 2006 I pronounced “I don’t want to travel any more”. Then I thought about it, and wondered why I had made such a silly pronouncement, potentially limiting my choices. (Maybe it’s because I am wont to making pronouncements!) I have traveled .  In recent years I have been to Ecuador, to Australia and to Vietnam.   I am amongst the most fortunate people in the world to have the inclination, the freedom,  and the resources for such adventures. And I have fulfilled my dream of visiting the five major land continents: Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My visit to Vietnam was indeed a wonderful adventure.  I have memories stored up for years to come. I will remember: 1 . The grim air pollution in the cities; and trash everywhere in the small towns, villages and countryside. 2. The clear cutting of fo...

I could not be in Vietnam without think about the War as I was visiting places which had been in the headlines all those years ago: Hanoi, Saigon, Da Nang, the Mekong Delta. I saw a sign to Dien Bien Phu -  the place of the defeat of the French in 1954. All though I was only ten years old then I remember reading in the newspaper about that siege and battle. ( In 2011 I  read “Dien Bien Phu the epic battle America forgot” by Howard R Simpson). I thought of the Vietnam vets I have known, and remembered Francis Bond, a young man from Fitchburg who was killed in the early days.  I never met Francis, but I became very fond of his parents Bob and Bernice, and heard their grief. I have prayed at “The Wall” in Washington D.C. whilst looking at Francis’ name. Most of my Vietnamese contacts are very young. All they know about the war is from what they learned in school. The older folks are slipping away – retiring to their ancestral villages, and passing from this life...

I’ve been labeling some more pictures today, so here are two more from the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh. Cao Dai religion:  the all-seeing (left) eye of God. Cao Dai religion: Three "saints"  the one in the middle  (believe it or not) is Victor Hugo. Odd slogan on a Cambodian tour bus. ======================================================================= On my last full day in Vietnam I was driven from Ho Chi Minh City down to the Mekong River. The Mekong rises in Tibet and wanders through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.  It is 2700 miles long. In Vietnam it branches into a delta, with five main branches.  The land is very flat and fertile.  Thus, the Delta area is a “rice basket” of Vietnam (together with the flat plain in the north where the Red River meanders to the sea).  As well as rice, there are crops of coconuts and many fine vegetables and fruits. The traffic was unbelievab...

All Vietnam was getting ready for Tet, the Lunar New Year holiday.  That helped to explain the heavier than usual traffic, and the abundance of flowers, especially peach trees (being carried on the back of scooters etc!). A prized Tet gift for one’s folks is a 24 pack of “Coke”.  Coke is sold in red cans, and red is considered to be a “lucky colour”. There was a pre-Tet festival in the lovely park near my HCMC hotel. I wandered in (with the princely sum of $1 for admission) and admired the flowers, the bonsai and the crowds. A mid morning show had begun on a large stage. The smallish audience was most appreciative.  Of course I could not understand a word, but it seemed to be slapstick, with a lot of “bonking folks on the head” with empty plastic bottles -  a sort of human “Punch and Judy Show”. The morning of Feb 13th was not my best time.  We drove for 2 1/2 hours out into the countryside to view the Great Cao Dai Temple. My tour guide was a non-st...