Dalat and Hoi An

Dalat

As I begin this blog entry I am on large bus whizzing around the densely forested mountain bends of central Vietnam. We embarked on our ten-day central region tour yesterday. We left the heat and humidity of Saigon for the cooler clouds of Dalat; I never thought I'd be so happy to put on long sleeves! The word gorgeous doesn’t do justice to the waterfalls, red clay mountainsides, or distant peaks touching up to the clouds. However, this road that we’re currently driving upwards of 50mph on has shoddy side rails and cliffs with an incline of 80 degrees, so this entry might also serve as a will!

View from the bus

During my lasts days of Saigon I was able to hear “The King of the Battlefield” speak about his experience as a photographer in the Vietnam War, (or, The American War of Destruction as they often call it here). He, among a few hundred others, risked their lives to report the Vietnamese perspective and were able to gain access to images that foreign photographers were banned from. The images and stories he shared were haunting but his openness to American students, and opinion of America as a country were completely positive. As my current tour guide, Viet, explains, the Vietnamese have fought so many nations (China, France, America, Spain, Philippines, and many more) that to hate one, “We would hate the whole world”. This cultural idea of forgiveness, and possibly the idea of goodness of humanity, seems to infiltrate many different aspects of general demeanor.  People, even those with little to spare, are more welcoming and generous than expected.

A few days later….

Well, later on that day, after whizzing through mountains and valleys for about 12 hours in total, I got sick. Poor Josh next to me armored himself with an oversized Army rain jacket and held the tiny grocery bag for me as I went to town. Hopefully there weren’t any motorbikes passing by when we chucked it out the window!

The overflowed river in Hoi An

On a lighter note, the next day we travelled to Hội An, a picturesque coastal town with brightly painted buildings, cobblestone sidewalks, and aggressive street vendors! We stayed over for two nights and were able to enjoy the historic buildings, delicious cuisine, and fantastic tailors :) Josh and I stopped by the most upscale boutique of all and had a couture silk dress and two suits handmade for us for prices that ill-fitting, polyester, American clothes cannot compete with! To finish off the excursion we all lathered up and headed to beach by bike to sip mojitos in the sun. 

Today we left for Huế, but not before another pit stop at a sunny beach for a few hours! Afterward, we were able to eat lunch the most interesting restaurant yet. Bread of Life, in Đà Nẵng, is a western-style café serving breakfast foods (yay, pancakes!), hamburgers, and pizza. The owner, a sassy spitfire of a woman from Kansas, opened this restaurant to employ the disabled, specifically the deaf. All of the servers, baristas, and cooks are deaf. In Vietnam the disabled are significantly disadvantaged and often considered a burden to the family. Eighty percent of deaf children do not attend school and ninety percent do not know sign language. The restaurant teaches these adolescents how to sign, and, therefore communicate for the first time in their lives, and then employs them. These young adults often transcend from burden to breadwinner. The owner, a white woman bejeweled in jade and a kimono, was so enthused by her restaurant, her purpose and the country she calls home, that I, too, became somehow even more enamored with Vietnam.

Hue

Still five more days of travel through the mid-country before we’ll reach Hà Nội. I am looking forward to unpacking, settling back into academics, and exploring a new city. However, until then I am going to enjoy this bumpy, beautiful ride.