Vietnam
Vietnam is truly one of the most beautiful places to visit in SE Asia.
Along with the warm and friendly culture, it's a natures paradise quite
unique to that of its neighboring countries! Our first stop was
in Hanoi, the northernly capital of the country. It was an interesting
mix of Asian and French influences, however, nice as the city was, the
most interesting part of the northern experience was a trip west near to
the border with Laos. A famous pilgrimage spot just near where this photo
was taken is known as the Perfume Pagoda. It's called this because the
vegitation around here has in it a certain tree that is very aromatic.
The only way to get to the Perfume Pagoda is to go by
boat. It's a good half an hour but the view makes the time seem only
a minute and you're there. The interesting thing about the picture of the
boy is not just that his makeshift rainjacket is a thin sheet of plastic, (probably from food packaging)
but this boy (of about 13) was about to make the two hour trek with us
wearing only sandals and carrying about 10 pounds worth of ice and drinks
for "us" tourists. Sadly, they (there were three of them) also expected
that we would find it both in our hearts and pocketbooks to buy them a drink
-- at highly inflated prices. I put one of them to the test though, and
realized that it's the money they really wanted. I offered half my water
to him and he refused.
These women were off to the market in the nearby town to sell their vegetables.
You row facing forward in these boats. They're progressive people!
After several hours climbing around the hills and valleys of northern Vietnam
we came to something I didn't quite expect. The "pagoda" was not
a human made structure on the top of a hill, or something even close. 
Instead what we saw was an enormous cave with a staricase leading down
into it. Once inside, one only had a matter of a few minutes before
breathing became difficult. Not due to the fact that
there was some sort of vacuume or sense of spiritual awe, but rather it
was all the incense that was burning in there. Besides that, there
were just a lot of little shrines that were set up with various images.
Depending on why you were there, there was one for if you're asking for
a child, one for health or money, even one to ask for a boyfriend.
I'd imagine this wouldn't be the place to pick up a girl if she's having to hike all the way out to come here -- little joke there!!
This was an interesting little piece of architectural genius! One
the way to (or from) the Perfume Pagoda there's this pagoda of a more traditional
form. I would imagine it's purpose would be to allow the people 
to
ask for safety and good health for the journey to the other pagoda.
When they built this however they didn't anticiparte a shift in the flow
of runoff water from the mountains. It now flows straight through
the temple but fortunatly hasn't done any real serious damage yet.
It made for a nice picture at least!
Here are some pictures of other things that are famous in Hanoi.
The one on the left is the 
"One
Pillar Pagoda" built centuries ago. That's about all I can say for that,
but it's cute, eh! Below is the old French opera
house. This is where Ho Chi Minh first staged his revolt against
the French in the 1950's. Jared and I tried more than once to get
into this place, but like so many other things we tried to see, it was
closed to the public that day. I did succussfully distract the guard
by leading him on to think that I was going to go in a side door,
Jared 
then took
the opportunity to walk stright though the front door!
Fishing on one of the lakes in Hanoi. This man had
just caught a fish proably about 6 lbs. a minute ago. 
Ho Chi Minh City
(Saigon) now available!
