The Horse, the Buddha, the Lion and the Busty Grecian Goddess

Today was our last day in Hoi An so we decided it would be appropriate to go on another outing. On one of our walks into town we met a Mr. Quyen, who offered us a tour of a local sight called "Marble Mountain". He spoke fabulous English and so Skye and I agreed he would be the perfect guide for such a trip. We were right!

He picked us up in his brother's car this morning and we found that he was immediately very personable. He was really engaging the kids all the time which we really appreciated because it made the day that much more interesting and meaningful to them. Mr. Quyen immediately pulled out his family photographs for us all to see and we quickly learned all about his family history. His parents and grandparents all came from the Hoi An area, but prior to 1992 (before tourists were allowed to visit Vietnam) he told us that very few men were able to live in this area because there were no jobs. Prior to the mid 1990's he used to work as a bus driver between Danang and Ho Chi Min City (a 1000km journey). The work was very dangerous and so he decided to relocate back to Hoi An and try and work with tourists. It was then he began to study English. What an amazing job he did learning the language. As a younger man he told us he was conscripted into the southern forces during the Vietnam war, but he was lucky since his father was a police officer and managed to fake his age making his service a few years shorter. Mr. Quyen told us that the years after the war were particularly hard for those who had fought with the southern forces -- they were not treated well by the new communist government since they were seen as traitors.

The Marble Mountains lie above the infamous China Beach area, just outside of Danang where the Americans had a huge military base. It was right on the water front allowing for easy ocean access with supplies. Many marines came to China Beach for rest and relaxation time. The Marble Mountains are five huge outcrops of rock (made primarily from marble) that overlook the China Beach area. The mountains are dotted with ancient pagoda's and cave temples full of ancient Buddhist carvings. The sites date back from before the Vietnam era to the Champa people -- seen in Pippin's previous blog about My Son. So, there are Hindu carvings and shrines as well as Buddhist ones. During the Vietnam War, Viet Cong forces (the northerners) inhabited many of the caves and they would come out at night from the higher vantage points and shoot down at the Americans at the base on China Beach. Then during the day times, they would disappear into the caves, making them very hard to detect. Luckily the sites seemed to have survived the war relatively well compared to some of the other sites we have seen.

This is an elderly Vietnamese woman who met us up at the temple complex and sold us some incense as an offering. Many people make a living in this way. Mr. Quyen is a devout Buddhist and he spent a lot of time explaining the rituals to us all. He even had the kids make a prayer offering with the incense -- they did very well and behaved very respectfully.

The woman in the picture below performed similar duties (selling incense) and she also lit the incense and took us to the places where one makes the offerings. The kids were fascinated with her because of her pitch black teeth. She of course consumes beetle nut and apparently has done so since she was twelve. Mr. Quyen told us it is a dying practice and can only be seen these days among more rural, illiterate communities. He likened it to smoking cigarettes (for the kids) and spoke about how it had addictive qualities. She was fine with her picture being taken after we had purchased the incense. There would be so many amazing photographic opportunities in this country if one was bold enough to just take them. I tend to be less invasive and only take pictures when people have consented. I think tourists with their cameras can otherwise be a little overwhelming and a little insensitive. People may feel like they are viewed like curiosities and can, at times, feel disrespected.

The whole temple complex was adorned with the most amazing gates that led into beautifully landscaped gardens and temple areas. I just love the old circular doorways and how beautifully aged they are. The one below was particulary stunning.

When one looked closely at the wall there was evidence of bullet holes from the war time (picture below). Mr. Quyen described how American forces tended to be on one side of this gate way and the Viet Cong were on the other side hiding in the caves. These types of reminders made the recent history that much more real.

The cave complexes were amazing to walk through -- especially when one considers how old they are and how much has happened in them. Many had small entry ways leading into them and then when one got inside, they were huge cathedral-like spaces filled with ancient inscriptions and Buddhas. There were often amazing shafts of light that came through holes in the cave tops that added a real mystical feel.

This is Pippin leading the way into one of the caves with Mr. Quyen. It required some careful footwork especially because the marble rock was often very slippery. It was a fun adventure.

Many of the doorways, windows and planters (see below) were done in a mosaic style from very old China bowls. Mr. Quyen told us that this is a very old practice. We have seen it at other temples in Vietnam. Very pretty. Often Buddhist temples have Mandarin orange trees at their entrances in these kinds of planters. Sometimes the plants tend to be Bonsais.

This was one of the many Buddhas in the temple complex. Interestingly, there are many different types of Buddha sculptures. Some are female and some male. Some elegant and thin, and others big, round and friendly looking (like the one below). The practice is to rub the Buddha's belly for luck. We came away with lots of luck today!

This is on the top of the Marble Mountain ridge and this picture shows us with China Beach in the background. The ocean here is the South China Sea. You can see now why the Viet Cong used this vantage point from which to shoot down at the American military camp. Much of the land is still vacated from the American War era. It all looks very scarred.

Of course there is a bustling marble carving industry in this community. As one goes down the mountain into the village below, one is accosted by vendors trying to sell their carvings. Apparently, the locals have recently begun importing marble from China because the government realized that if they did not curtail the marble quarrying, the local mountains would disappear (as would the tourists). Many of the stores have enormous carvings of all shapes and sizes. We had a good laugh because when we decided what kind of carving we would want in our garden at home our tastes varied a lot. Skye wanted the more Thai-styled meditating Buddha, Kai the lion, Pippin the horse and I would go for the busty Grecian goddess. Quite eclectic! Imagine our garden with such variety.

Well that is the end of another blog for us. I will leave you with an image of a local cultural event we took in last night in the town of Hoi An. Full moon is a big deal in Buddhist culture and the whole town shuts down their streets for various cultural activities. Most store owners had tables set out with offerings and incense, and many were burning ghost money for their ancestors. There was singing and dancing, drumming, music, and streams of locals wandering the streets having a good time. The whole town was lit up with lanterns. It was beautiful to take it all in.

Tomorrow morning we fly back to Hanoi for the day, and then we take the night train to Sapa. This is a region in North Western Vietnam famous for its ethnic hill tribes. It is also said to be very beautiful, as it is set in the mountains. So our next report will be from there!

Until next time . . .

Ronato, Skye, Kai & Pippin