The past week plus has been a busy one and I have enjoyed each day and they have all been so very different.  Some consistencies remain such as in the general happiness and friendliness of the Vietnamese people.  So to remain the persistence of the Cyclo and Motor bike Drivers to get you to ride around in one of their vehicles.  The general attitude for bargain and taking advantage of Long Nose visitors is a bit trying at times.  One would like to just walk up to a stall and purchase an item without bargaining or being cheated because you do not bargain.  We pay more at most things and that irritates me most of the time.  I guess that I will be used to having that happen or I will have to learn the prices of most of the things that I purchase regularly such as bread and beer. 

 9 – 10 January 2006,

 the conference began at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi.  2nd International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability began with an attendance of about 250 from all over the world.  Marylin and I presented on the first day after lunch.  A medium sized group of about 20 people attended and we presented about our work with teachers in east central Illinois and what we have done with them over the past four years.  Lots of good comments from the group and made friends with a few.  On of the attendees from Brisbane, AU had his computer so we used it to show Power Point presentation.  He helped a bunch of others as he was also a techi and could make things work.  He presented on the use of plastics in the schools.  That was a new topic for me but AU technical schools have some courses on learning to make and use the different plastics. 

The conference was typical of any in the USA so no use boring you with any details.  Just involved Bsing around the tea pot and attending sessions every hour.  The group as a whole was housed in the Melia and that is a 5 star place.  I stayed in a –STAR place.  The lunch at the Melia was wonderful.  One lunch was worth a day’s meals so that was good.  However, the cost of the conference was almost $700 so it was expensive.  Met lots of nice people from all over.  Fellow from UIUC was there.  Did not meet anyone from last years Conference in India.  I was surprised but not.  The cost was 6 times the price of the India conference and was run by Australians and only one Vietnamese attended. 

I asked the coordinator why.  And her reply was that they had and on 22 Dec the VN government called and said that for Vietnamese to attend that they needed the Names, Jobs, etc., of all attending.  And they needed a copy of all the presentations and papers that would be presented at the conference.  If these could not be provided then the conference would be halted or no Vietnamese could attend.  No one at the conference was sure what had happened but apparently two different agencies were in charge of the conference and one was not happy with some of the titles of the papers and they did not want anything on Vietnam that would not be good.  Only to or three of the papers were on Vietnam and they could not see the papers on these so “NO VIETNAMESE” attended.  Interesting.  One sees no evidence of the STATE in everyday life, but one sees the STATE in political and educational life.  Rigid……..!!!!  Food is good and people appear to be happy but still cautious.  Someone came to the conference to photograph any banners or advertising.  Probably, they picked up any papers laying around.  I would suppose that they listened in to some and maybe all the presentations.  I am sure that they were not worried about my comments about the wonders of Elwood, Like, Adam, Nancy, Kristy and the bunch.  The Conference continued to Halong Bay, but we went our separate ways and hired our own tour.  That is next.

11 Jan 2006

Departed at 6 AM for Halong Bay in a large bus with lots of people.  Stopped in Haipong, a port city, and boarded our boat for Cat Ba Island where we would spend the night.  Lunch was served aboard the boat and the ride covers about 30 km   Halong Bay is a special place and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It consists of over 3000 limestone and dolomite islets and islands that are sometimes filled with caves.  It is karst in nature. The islets are found in every shape imaginable.  Vietnamese legend says that they were formed as a dragon came down out of the mountain and split the land in the sea by the splashing and whipping of its tail.   The name Halong Bay means “ay of Descending Dragon”.  The days were cloudy when we were there but one can imagine the sun on the islets flashing white, black, blue and green.  And scattered everywhere were the boats the plied the waters.  All sorts of boats, some small holding one person, and they could be round, or long and narrow, or wide and flat-bottomed.  The water was so smooth that any craft could navigate easily.  Some were so full that they looked about to drift below the surface at any moment.  Our guide explained that each shape of boat had a certain use.  One was used to collect shrimp, another squid, another bigger fish,  another for transport.

Bigger boats usually meant transporting people.  These boats all looked the same and there were hundreds seeking the tourist business.  

I think that this explosion in tourism to Halong will bring the destruction of that special environment.  Already one can see the effects floating in the water.  On the way in I was looking only at the islets and the spectacular views.  On the way back to Haipong, I gave attention to the water quality.  Not testing equipment available, but my eyeball tells me that some problems exist.  Lots of floating plastic.  Flushing the toilet takes the waste directly into the Bay.  Vegetable parts from meals float along with the plastic and paper from the boats.  The closer to Haipong and the big dock, the more litter.  The government would best establish some guidelines, and probably does, but no one pays much attention.  We need GREENPEACE at Halong Bay along with the Sierra Club to address this issue.  That would be interesting.  It might be like me telling a group of leathered bikers to help pick up the empty beer cans they just left after partying.

Arrived in the late afternoon and checked into the Sunflower Hotel.  The hotel was located on Cat Ba Island in the center of the city near the main beach.  Beautiful sunset! Everyone walked around before having a fine dinner at the hotel.  With the group was a couple of retire French teachers, a Vietnamese-American couple with two children, and other travelers from AU, Korea, England, and Poland.  As always travelers are friendly people with good stories to share about travel.

12 Jan 2006 

 Left for a bicycle trip out on Cat Ba Island.  Covered about 30 km -- out and back. The hills were beasts and we were accompanied by a couple of Motor bikes and Vietnamese riders.  I road like crazy down the slopes and either pushed the bikes up or was given a ride on a motor bike and the young VN boy would ride the bike up the hill.  I could cover the leveler land with ease but those hills were tough.  Also the bikes gears left easy shifting to more expert hands, not mine.  Was fun and sweaty.  We road out to a set of hills that housed an old Vietnamese Army Hospital in a cave about 30 meters above the highway. 

We left the bikes and hiked up to the entrance to be met by a old, retired Vietnamese officer.  He would be our guide through the Hospital and took the entrance fee.  He had pictures of other tourists with him that he passed around before we headed into the Mtn. stronghold.  Lots of nationalities represented.  He took us through tunnels and rooms that for six years in the late 60’s held up to a 150 injured Vietnamese soldiers.  The rooms included, a large area for viewing movies, a swimming pool, operating rooms, and many small rooms.  One moved through several floors before exiting to the other side of the mountain.  The Army just extended natural tunnels in the Karst and poured cement to flatten surfaces.  A constant temperature made the cave ideal for both summer and winter.  Very interesting.  The Old Fellow would bring us into a room and say that this was Army so we had to act like Army.  He asked us to form  a line before he shared information and saluted us as we came and went.  In one of the lower caves, we lined up and were serenaded in the dim light with the sounds of several Vietnamese Army fighting songs and finally an old peasant song.  He had served in this area during the War but was a few years older than me.  He was delightful and a true entertainer.  Pretty good voice too.

Road the bicycles back to the Hotel for dinner.  One morning gone.  After lunch, we bussed down to the bay to board a smaller boat for an afternoon trip out to Monkey Island and to a spot to kayak.  Monkey Island is a few kilometers off Cat Ba and is the home of a group of small monkeys.  All are part of a national park.  We arrived close to the island and anchored.  Our transport ashore were kayaks.  The kayaks were pulled behind the boat and drawn along side so we could drop in them.  Not an easy task for fat old men, but I managed.  Tight fit, but I managed.  Paddling to shore was easy.  Got some sand for my friend Fran in Chi.  The monkeys were called and they came down out of the tops of the rocks to get food from the park ranger.  They posed for pictures and I picked up some great shells from along the beach.  Finally, we boarded the boat via kayak from the shore.  After another short trip across the bay we anchored along one of the islets and were allowed to kayak for an hour.  Great fun.  We arrived back in Cat Ba city around 6:30 PM in time for Dinner.  Long and fully active day.

13 Jan 2006  This day was just the reverse of the trip down to Halong.  We arrived back in Hanoi around 4 PM.  Marylin went in to change cloths and shower and caught a 4:30 taxi to the airport.  She would depart Hanoi at 6:30 for the USA.  Very good trip and the presentation went extremely well because she put so much effort into everything.  I will miss having my tea made each morning. 

At 5 PM we met up with out guide Minh for a trip to the special Pearl jewelry house.  We all found a few things to buy.  We then went to have dinner in on of Hanoi’s special fish dish cafes.  A special fish is prepared and then brought to ones table with dishes of greens.  The greens are added to the fish preparation and rice is served so that the mixture is laid on the rice before being eaten.  Very good and I do not know what the fish is yet???  After dinner, we walked through along Hang Dau where the night market is set up. One of the stalls was staffed by a group of students from the local university.  They were selling handpainted dragonflies that are perfectly balanced so they set on ones hands or on a long nose as though they are really alive.  After bargaining arrangements were made to have 1000 delivered to us the next day at the Hanoi Main Post office. Want to buy one when I get back.   

14 Jan 2006 

 Picked up by Minh a bit after 8 AM for an all day trip to two villages and to the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh.  Arriving at the site of the body of Ho, one leaves back all cameras, and passes through metal screening.  We lined up and in single file entered the site.  One moves silently and slowly, up the stairs and in a U around the casket before heading back down the stairs.  I commented upon leaving that this was: “So much for old uncle Ho!” and was reprimanded by the guard.  No noise in this Holy place.  With my usual sense of reverence, I hurried back to the car for the next visit of the day.  The Silk Village of Van Phuc was next.  Shopping was not much for me so I spent a bit of the time by stopping at one of the little tea shops along the way.  Four gentleman were setting there and invited me to join them.  We talked.  Two could not understand any English.  The owner could read and write English and do it very well.  So we wrote to each other and talked for almost 45 minutes.  They were interested in what I did, how much I weighed.  Almost twice the weight of on of the old fellows.  We stood up side by side and talked about how tall I was.  When I left to meet the group, they would not allow me to pay for the tea.  I did purchase a silk shirt for myself but did not want to carry things so left the silk buying to a later time.

We stopped for lunch in a local diner along the way and Minh orders some rice and vegetable dishes.  Great food in Vietnam.  Departing lunch we drove to a village where everyone is involved in making Lacquer covered bowls. While the bowls and plates were beautiful and we entered several homes where they were made, I could find no room in the luggage for such delicate treasures.  Have some great pictures though.  One great shot that I took is of a group of old ladies coming back into the village.  Am not sure where they had come from, maybe the temple, but they were all smiling and wishing us good days.  Each had teeth as black as coal. I asked Minh and she said that in the old days that they dyed teeth black as a beauty sign.  Not today as the children, like us westerners, want white teeth. 

Now back to Hanoi to be dropped at the Dong Xuan Market.  I purchased an alarm clock, another blue plastic bag, and some dried, sugared ginger.  We met the students at the Post office and they could produce only 400 of the Dragonflies.  OK.  Cost $24 to mail them back.  Will see if we can make money from them.  Along the way walking back to the hotels, we ate dinner at the Paradise Café along Ly Luong Kiet, near the Lotus Guesthouse.  Then, packed clothes and prepared for an early departure to Hue.  I am tired.

15 Jan 2006 

 Left for the airport at 4:30 AM.  Up at 3:30.  Yawn.  Arrived at the airport.  Only one airlines,  Vietnamese Airlines.  NO computers working.  Nothing working except the people scrambling around trying to figure out what to do.  Finally, at close to 6:30 AM, the computers came on.  We were all rushed through or I was supposed to be.  When the ticket had been purchased, Dr. Thao at the Hotel had used my Bob name on the ticket.  The Airlines would not accept Bob when the name on the Passport was Robert. So I held up the entire line (I was first) to go to ticket counter purchasing area to have ticket changed.  I did that after much protest and assurances that BOB and ROBERT were the same person.  TO no avail.  New ticket in hand I went to pick up boarding passes.  The lady at ticketing had written Danang on the ticket instead of Hue.  Back again to have another ticket written out.  NO PROBLEM.  The plane to Hue was packed and we were out by 7:30 AM.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Snack on the plane was worse that anything in America even SWA peanuts.

Caught a taxi into the hotel.  Gave the name of a hotel that I thought would be well located next to the Train depot.  On the way in, the driver received a call that the hotel the I was going to was torn down for a new development.  Am not sure if this is true or not but was delivered to the Truong Giang on Doi Cung St.  New and friendly.  Checked in and arranged for the same taxi driver to make a tour of the city. 

First stop of the day was out in the outskirts of the city to the tomb of Minh Mang,  He was emperor of Hue in the mid 1800’s. This is the finest tomb of all those found around the city and there are many.  It is large and filled with greenery.  Behind the tomb is a HUGE  cemetery filled with both old and new Buddhist burial plots as far as the eye can see.  Did not walk there but it would have been interesting.   Did not visit an other tombs but drove by several including Khai Dinh and Tu Duc.  Seen one emperors tomb and you have seen enough.  The driver was instructed to stop at an incense making village and a Conical Hat Village.  He was a bit mixed up and stopped at by a fancy hotel (The Pilgrimage) that had a carver, candle maker, rattan weaver and conical hat maker.  Only the carver was working, and the hotel was very quite.  Complaining brought the next stop which was a roadside set of shops where incense was made and one of the women substituted at conical hat making.  The ladies at one of the incense shops could have sold iceboxes to Inuit.  She was in HS and could really speak English and could convince an old man to purchase some junk.  Have Tiger Balm, Sugar Ginger, Cinnamon toothpick holders and incense.  Was going to the temple later but forgot to take along the incense.  Good stop and the ladies served good VN green tea with samples of ginger. 

The Thien Mu Pagoda was the next stop.  It is located along the Perfume River and has a tall tower.  A few monks were in the Temples.  One of the shrines houses and old blue Austin car that a monk drove from Hue to Saigon in 1963,  Upon arrival, he set himself on fire to protest what the South Vietnamese were doing to prevent Buddhist from worshipping. Strange to see that.  Walking out side the temple are rows of stalls for selling drinks, snacks and junk.  One of the stalls had clothing and some silk, plus t-shirts.  I looked and then decided not to buy.  The lady ended up trying to sell and then finally said that I was cheap because I would not buy.  Of course, I told here that I could not purchase such shoddy materials.  In any case, shared a few loud words and that calling anyone cheap, even if they were, was not a thing that people did in the presence of Buddha.  It did not work but I tried.  We ended the discussion unsuccessfully with both of us making unneeded comments.  Some things one cannot just walk away from J

Last stop was the Citadel.  This huge fort is really three forts, each within the other.  The outer wall is 6 km around.  Walking the entire area takes some time.  Most of the buildings were bombed and destroyed during the Vietnamese War.  They are slowly rebuilding the important ones.  One of the buildings housed period garments and a group of students was modeling these and posing for pictures.  That was fun.  Walk the grounds one finds pieces of pottery laying scattered around.  If I only knew old from new tea cups, I might have some treasures.  I have four pieces to bring back and will add more at other places.  Two hours of walking was enough inside the Citadel.  Then walked back to the hotel into total collapse.  Tired from the day.  Tired from the walk.  Never even ate dinner. Just shower and slept.  Have a lovely room on the fifth floor with windows that open to the East to catch the morning sun.  Hot in the AM but that is good.  My hand washed clothes dry quickly in that sunlight. 

Arranged for an early morning trip up to the DMZ and Khe Sanh.  I should write about that now and finish Hue but I am worn out with all this typing and thinking.  Am off to have dinner as it is just about 6 PM.   Three hours later and what a dinner. Walked 4 blocks to small café.  Had fish soup, veggie egg roll and hot VN tea (green tea) which was topped off with a banana pancake.  Very good.  Purchased some Vietnamese hand-painted silk greeting cards from a young girl (around 10) this afternoon.  She was still selling at 9 PM.  Went to school all day and she is working the tourists.  Delightful young lady.  I had bought 18 cards from her and she remembered the exact number.  As I left the café, she said, “Can you buy me a candy”?    Sure!  She took me down to the corner store and pointed with a crooked grin to the most expensive box of cookies on the corner.  She must have done this before.  I know that she will eat a few and sell the rest.  She was disappointed but had to be happy with three suckers.  Cute kid and she will own something one of these days.

16 Jan 2006

 Up early, 5:30 for bus ride up to the DMZ and other sites along this important Vietnamese War border at the 71st Parallel. We finally left Hue about 7 AM and headed north on Highway 1 to Dong Ha.  We had breakfast there and dropped off some people who were heading either to the beach or into Laos via Highway 9. After leaving Dong Ha, we passed through the Demilitarized Zone.  This is the area that was supposed to separate N and S Vietnam,  The area is along the Ben Hai River and is about on the 71st Parallel and five km on either side.  It is ten km wide and runs basically from the ocean to the Laos border. 

Most of the DMZ was laden with mines and was bombed and sprayed and overrun with all kinds of military equipment.  People have scavenged the area and still do today to gather any metal they can find.  Now, all the obvious stuff is gone and they look, with metal detectors, for any object that they can dig up.  Five to ten people a month are wounded or killed from exploding bombs or ammunition that they have found in the fields and in the surrounding country.  On our return I talked to a couple of people from Great Britain working with a group called, “MAG”, an NGO who is responsible for training Vietnamese to remove and disarm any newly reported explosive materials.  Of course many do not report because they lose the ability to recycle that materials.  They are great do-it-yourselfers.  Not an easy way to make a dong!

We drove to north past the Doc Mieu Firebase just south of the river.  Nothing is left  here but some holes in the ground and one rusting US tank that was left for all to see along the road.  It is covered with vines and small trees.  We stopped to get a picture of the tank on the way back  Our first stop was at the Ben Hai River and the Hien Luong Bridge where the VN have erected several monuments to their victories over the US and the French. Actually, there were four.  Go ahead and rub it in.  From the river, it is a short but bumpy drive to the ocean and a site on the bluffs above Vinh Moc.  Vinh Moc is an underground city that existed for seven years  Almost three km of tunnels were carved into the ocean-side cliffs.  The tunnels and rooms held about 1200 people.  Every square meter of this area was bombed repeatedly and some estimates say that one meter of ground was hit by 9.6 tons of bombs during the war.  Nothing seems to have changed the village and each day or night the people would continue with farming or moving materials down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We were guided through parts of the tunnels.  I ended up bending over much of the time.  Belly and back took a beating.  The Vietnamese had not trouble and surely could have run the tunnels.  They have not been enlarged so they were made a bit bigger than the Cu Chi Tunnels near Saigon.  We will see.  My pants came out so dirty that I am planning to contribute them to the poor of Hue. 

Leaving the tunnels, we drove back to Dong Ha for dinner.  After dinner we drove up Highway 9 towards the Laotian Border.  We drove by Camp Carroll and stopped on the road to get pictures of the Rockpile.  Not much can be seen at either site.  Camp Carroll was once a major headquarters are for US operations.  The Rockpile was a US lookout with for a nearby artillery base.  The Rockpile is really being reduced as it is the site of an active quarry and the rocks are going to build roads and bridges.  We stopped at the Dakron Bridge for pictures.  This bridge straddles the Ho Chi Minh Trail and a new road is being constructed along the trail by the Vietnamese government. 

Further along Rte 9, we turned off north to Khe Sanh.  Khe Sanh was an important battlefield.  The Vietnamese relate the Khe Sanh victory to winning the battle a Dien Bien Phu. The Dien Bien Phu victory lead to the French leaving Vietnam and the Khe Sanh Victory lead to the US leaving Vietnam.  Lots of politics in the presentation by the lady guide.  Some local ethnic tribesmen were selling VN medals and they had about a dozen American dogtags that were available for $2-3 each.  Not a single member of our bus purchased a thing.  Only three Americans on the bus.  In the Khe Sanh museum are books for people to sign.  Interesting comments, both pro and con and from both Americans and Vietnamese.  Just above the DMZ is the Truong Son National Cemetery.  22,000 Vietnamese died in the DMZ during the War and are buried here.  Lots of sons and daughters on both sides never grew to see today.  I have lots of mixed feelings this day as I sent many friends to fight here.  And have many friends who came here and who,  today, I thought a lot about.  Jack, you were here with me.  I send my thoughts.

The road back was long and slow.  Many vehicles on the road and lots of small villages straddle Highway 1.  That is the reason for the new highway along the Ho Chi Minh trail.  The new highway will be wide and have few villages (for a while).  On return, three of us stopped at the Manchurian Café for a fine evening meal before we all headed for bed.  A long and emotional day this was. 

17 Jan 2006  

The last day in Hue.  Figured out the rest of the month.  Will drive tomorrow to Hoi An.  Spend two days there before driving back to Danang for an afternoon flight to Nha Trang.  Several days there on the beach and on to Saigon.  Three days in Saigon and three days touring the Mekong Delta on a boat.  Then on the 1st will fly to Siem Reap.  Have the tickets to all but the last.  Have car rented for the trip to Hoi An.  The beach is there and I will get a tan and play in the sun.  Fun yes.

Today, walked to the Hung Dau Market.  Typical Vietnamese market with all but chickens and birds.  Not a one to be seen.  Fish, beef, pork but no chicken.  They are taking the bird flu seriously.  Did not buy a thing, except 100 grams of green tea, but took some great pictures.  Will go up now and take a shower.  Will try to put together some of my thoughts along the way.  I keep having these flashes of great thinking but some where between the flashes and the typing they have gone off into the Vietnamese mist.  This is a lovely country.  I like the people. The food is great.  Jerry, you would not die of food poisoning here.  You are missed. The weather grows hotter each day.  I sweat a lot.  Cannot tell if I am getting thinner.  Probably not.  The food is great.