vietnam

September 28

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We are now on the coast about three hours from Hanoi in Minh Chau on the China Sea. This is the extension part of the trip, two people have left us. It is very hot and humid. This heat brings memories of summer days in Gettysburg with the humidity and heat shimmering off the pavement and grass. I hate this kind of heat. It takes everything you have to function in it. And getting out of the air conditioned van into the sweltering heat is not for the faint of heart.

After about 3 hours we arrived in a small village whose speciality is making incense. They are known for the black incense which they apply by hand. The black incense is used for greeting in the New Year and other ceremonies. The red incense which smells more like cinnamon is done by machine and is used more widely. It seems villages around Vietnam have their own specialities. Some make cinnamon bark from the trees, others work turning trees into plywood, today’s village made incense which is exported all over the world. Drying in the sun are rows and rows of these incense sticks, while others form a beautiful round shapes. The black incense has a red center.

After walking around the village we piled into the van and took off for a fish market. This was along the coast with brightly painted fishing boats tied up at wharfs that were made from old boats. I brought my small sproket printer and had fun giving out photos. We spent quite a while photographing people, and looking at an assortment of fish. We returned later in the day to photograph the fishing boats that had come in, but there were few people around.

We were there for about 40 minutes and our guide caught up with us to inform us the police had insisted we stop photographing as we were near the South China sea and the border. Photographing was not allowed. We only got a warning, no jail for us.

Tomorrow we are up for the dawn patrol. a silk weed farm, and more photographing. This will be our last day. It has been an amazing trip. We have been where no tourists have gone and had many unique experiences. We have had the opportunity to engage with the local people, get our picture taken with many of them, and to enjoy a truly authentic experience. Vietnam is an amazing beautifu country. I feel better having been here and received an education on how Vietnam has pulled itself up after the war and to feel the warm friendly people acceptance of us has been an eye opener for me. I still think about what we did to these people and this country, how we poisoned them with Agent Orange and killed their families. I do not think I would be so welcoming.

September 25 & 26

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We have been up since 4:30 AM on the dawn patrol. However, dawn does not come until 5:15. We are in a completely different environment than the northern part of Vietnam. This area is populated by the Thai people, who are not from Thailand. However, the Thai influence is very strong. The houses have thatched roofs, and are built up on stilts with the living area above. Talk about an open floor plan. There is not a wall anywhere on the second floor and few support beams as the roof carries most of it. For privacy, which there is none, the parent’s bed has a curtain around it. No furniture except cushions and low tables.

Yesterday we walked to a “swimmng hole” which was fed by a natural mountain spring. I expected the water to be cold, it wasn’t as cold as the water in Vermont. It was refreshing after walking two miles in the heat and humidity to get there. The “ladies” demonstrated our Olympic synchronized team swimming abilities for the men in the group. They would not join us. No fun at all.

Back to the dawn patrol. Finally the morning light began to creep along the rice fields illuminating the fog hanging throughout the mountains. A few motor bikes came by, the dogs alerted the family to my presence, and the roosters made sure everyone was awake. Although there was no sunlight peaking through the mountains, there was a brush of pink to the clouds. Slowly people began to make their way to the rice fields, waving to me as I went by with my camera. I was completely alone on my walk having the expanse of fields and mountains to myself.

I felt it was a privilege to be in this moment, across the world, in a place where I thought I would never be. A place where the mention of the name, Vietnam, created anxiety in me. And now years later, it is as if this beautiful world had not been destroyed by war. As if we did not poison the people who lived here. I wonder what we were doing here in the first place, fighting a war to fight communism. Today, after all the killing, the sorrow, the grief, Vietnam is communist, it is a leading economic community in Asia. The world has not been destroyed. But once again, we have invaded another country, Iran, for what is perceived as a threat to humanity. I wonder who is the perceived threat?

September 21

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It is actually 5 AM on the 22nd. The roosters are sounding the alarm and I can’t sleep due to the rock solid bed. Old bones need soft landings. I am watching dawn arrive from my cabin in the mountains. fog surrounds us, as darkness did last night. I have yet to experience this eco lodge’s as we arrived too late. Lighted pathways led us to our individual cabin.

Our six hour ride yesterday was interspersed with stops to photograph people drying and grinding tea leaves for preparation to send to be packaged. Frequent stops created views of rice fields clinging to mountainsides, interspersed with tea plantations and corn. Layers upon layers of patterns, and color inspired us.

This region is known for the most beautiful rice fields in Vietnam. Being more accessible than our previous location we began to experience more tourism. Where we did not see any foreigners before, we began to see more buses and obvious tourists. Having been spoiled and privileged with no one stepping into our photographs with a cell phone or posing to take selfies, we did not take kindly to the intrusion.

Information as to our daily activities comes slowly, or as we all suspected, purposely being sprung on us at the last minute. We found out we would again be on the back of motorbikes. The particular viewpoint we were going to was up at the very top of a steep mountain. A toothy grinning teenager motioned me onto his bike. Hardly on the back, he took off as if we were being chased by bandits into traffic, cutting across oncoming traffic to a narrow concrete pathway and up a hill at about a 40 percent grade. Hanging on the back, we sped around switchback curves, narrowly missing chickens, dogs, people and oncoming motor scooters while edging to the side of ten thousand drop into the valleys.

Arriving at the top, we experienced our first “tourist” experience. Shops rented various degrees of fancy Hmong dresses to wear while walking in the rice fields. People old and young hire photographers to come while they model. Groups of the younger generation gather to take selfies or Instagram style pictures, never bothering to look at the incredible view around them. It is all rather bizarre.

Once over the shock of this intrusion into one of the most spectacular sites I have ever experienced, we were able to walk away from the crowd and find areas with no tourists to photograph. Although I will say, the scene provided a form of “street photography.” Meanwhile, in the valley were workers cutting and thrashing the rice into a large container. The heat was oppressive and you wonder how they could stand it, dressed head to toe with protective clothes to keep them from getting sun burned.

The contrast with valley workers probably making three dollars an hour to the money spent by the tourist at the top shocked us. I imagine it is not much different in the U.S., with people posing against mountain scenery. The fields were beautiful with marigolds, and purple flowers planted along the rice paddies, wooden huts dotted throughout, and the ever changing shadows on the mountains, it creates an unforgettable scene.

One more ride up to the top of another mountain, this time I chose an older woman as my driver. The road was not as steep. I am becoming used to this form of getting to the top of mountains and for my 81 year old self I am happy not to be climbing up in this altitude and steepness.

Today brings another motor scooter ride and lunch in a family home. We are still among the Hmong tribes. The colors and patterns of Vietnam is what I will take with me.

Vietnam September 14-October 2,2026

/ gowildwiththesmiths / 4 Comments

September 14th:

Beginning on September 11th we started our journey, leaving Stowe to Burlington a forty five minute trio, then one hour to JFK, five hours waiting, seventeen hours from JFK to Singapore, 5 AM arrival, waiting until 9:30 AM for our plane to Hanoi, two and a half hours to Hanoi, one hour to our hotel, thirty-one hours in total, we arrive exhausted on September 13 at 1:00 PM. Lunch at 2:00 pm, and then our driver said he had plans to take us shopping. I looked at him like he was a creature from another planet. Seriously? Apparently, the purpose of this excursion was to acquaint me with the clothing shops that featured Vietnamese style clothing. Imagine my enthusiasm, as I could barely put one foot in front of the other. Why could this not be put off until the next day when I was rested. Answer: I was the tour guide for the rest of the group who would arrive on Monday the 14th. So off we go, me and three men who had not the slightest interest in this endeavor. Imagine a shop that is 12 feet wide and 100 feet long filled with beautiful silk and linen fabric all hand embroidered. Now imagine the clothes all hanging on various racks with the aisles being maybe 1.5 feet wide, add in three men standing waiting for you to decide what you may like. After about three stores I called it quits, stating that I could not stand up for one minute longer. Nor could I take 3 men standing and yawning.

It was an early night, as we wanted to get up at 6 AM to go to the lake to see all the morning activity. Taking our lives in our hands, we crossed the busy streets with scooters and cars aiming for us. The word was. “Do not run across the street” as the cars and motor scooters steer around you and if you run they cannot judge how you plan to go. Once you get the hang of it, it is not difficult. The park around the lake wakes up to many activities. I joined a ti chi class of older people figuring I could move as much they were. What fun. The instructor smiled, gave me the thumbs up and was quite enthusiastic to have me as a pupil. After a bit, I bowed my good-by to him and continued on my way. A bit farther around the lake, I found a group of men and woman dancing. Again I joined in and had such a good time laughing and dancing with 5 women. All of them dressed to the nines and me with my “tourist” clothes.

Shap meanwhile was missing, so I traced my steps back and found him playing badminton with three young girls. He definitely kept up his end of the game. And he was so happy to have found them. Hours later we headed back to the hotel.

The rest of the day was spent taking some of the woman shopping, a much different experience than the day before. Woman are so much more fun to be with when picking out clothes. Back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group, off to a fabulous lunch, then for a slide presentation by David Julian our instructor. This gave us a taste of where we were going and many ideas to mull over for photographing. Lastly we all trooped in the pouring rain for a half hour walk to “Train Street.: This is a street that is so narrow the train takes up the entire street. People line the sides crowding into a cafe, waiting for the train. When it is about to arrive, a whistle is blown and everyone is shoo’d off the tracks and told to tuck all feet under a chair. The whole event is quite spectacular and despite the fact it has become a tourist attraction it should not be missed.

Up at 5 AM, another day of pouring rains, we all have these enormous raincoats that envelope us so we look like blobs with feet,