Sadly it was still hazy, so the 5.30 sunrise was not quite what it might have been, still I needed to get up as I had voted to go kayaking with the boys, so off we went at 7.15 to nearby Hang Loun island. I was kayaking with Ha and it has to be said we did not find total synchronicity, adding several circles to our route! Blaming the boat, we eventually managed to go in the right direction and followed the others through a narrow arch into the island’s huge hollow. Here there was a troop of short-tailed monkeys playing on the rocks which was a bit of a treat. One of the other groups had come with a bunch of bananas, which the monkeys greatly enjoyed and were amazing catchers..
After a breakfast of noodles and cabbage…. we returned to the wharf and were back on our trusty minibus by 10.30 for our four hour journey back to Hanoi. We stopped at the rather remarkable Hong Ngoc Humanity Centre, which trains and employs over three hundred disabled people, to embroider, sculpt, make jewellery and clothes. Most of these people are victims of the USA’s Orange gas. They receive 5-6 months training and accommodation if they need it, and 65% of the sale price goes to the craftsman. We watched some of the embroidery pictures being done, free hand from a picture. The larger ones taking about six months to complete.
Our final stop was at the home of Mr Liem a water puppeteer and one of very few in the country. He is the seventh generation in his family to pursue this extraordinary art form and creates his own wooden puppets from fig wood with simple but clever contraptions to make them move through the water. Each puppet takes about four days to make and with performances every day, only last two or three months. For a performance, he and his wife don their waders and stand or sit behind a screen knee deep in water and move the puppets around the water. They spin around at great speed occasionally having a fight telling a traditional, moralistic story. It is all set to bird and animal noises and high pitched Vietnamese traditional music. After the 40 minute performance, Mr Liem emerged from behind the curtain and invited us to come and try to operate the puppets. Needless to say it was much harder than it looked requiring considerable skill and also strength. It is a dying art form, unique to Vietnam, though Mr Liem hopes his son will continue the tradition. With a specially designed pool, which Mr Liem has on third floor of his house, it is not easy to replicate, though apparently he has performed in Europe and London!
A TV crew was there when we arrived, to film the show for a documentary about Vietnamese traditional arts, so if you are tuning in to Vietnam TV, look out for your ol friend, trying her hand at operating the bull. Although keen to return to the arts, I am not sure this will be my métier.
We then drove back to the May de Ville hotel and said farewell to our driver Mr Son – who I think must be one of the bravest men alive. The rest of the team are staying another night in Hanoi, but as my flight to the UK leaves tomorrow morning from Bangkok, I had to bid them all, and our wonderful Ha, farewell as they headed off to try the egg coffee! We have had a great two weeks together and I feel well and truly immersed in the Irish! Ha has been quite exceptional, a tall order to be both our leader/nanny, organising us every step of the way, and also our tour guide, telling us about each of the sites we visited and there have been a few! I hope Intrepid know how lucky they are.
The journey to the airport was a horror, the traffic in Hanoi, is the worst of anywhere, but Ha had quite rightly made me leave in good time. It was all very efficient at the airport and I am now in Bangkok, very comfortable in the Novotel and head back to the UK in the morning. I can’t really believe it. What an adventure it has been …..
Similar to this time, 217 days ago, I feel a mixture of excitement and fear about coming home. Beyond excited about seeing everyone but quite apprehensive about ‘what next’… However, as on the way out, I am sure, once on the plane, the former will take over. I really do look forward to seeing you and just so touched that you have taken the time to read these tales of my travels.
Until the next one…….
EC-Rider Travels 
Leave a comment