The Bailey Expedition

From Ha Noi to Hue

10/5/03. Arriving at the Hanoi airport was a bit of an unsettling experience. No officials were smiling, the atmosphere was tense. It probably didn't help that Quinn and Griffin's visa numbers were reversed on their passports. After a few tense minutes and some consultation, they waved us through. The taxi driver seemed nice enough and we gave him the name of the hotel where Lorelle was waiting for us. The first problem was that the driver was unscrupulous, the second problem was that he was in cahoots with the hotel manager in what turned out not to be the hotel we had requested. It took us until the next morning to figure out what was going on. We managed to locate Lorelle who rushed to our hotel, threatened the manager with legal action and spirited us away to the proper location. Welcome to Vietnam.

With 2 hours to go until Mark's talk to over a hundred English Department faculty in the College of Foreign Languages in Vietnam National University, we finally checked into the proper hotel and everything changed. The hotel was wonderful and in the scenic Old Quarter of the city. The group at the university was welcoming and the talk went very well. As you can see on the left, the lecture hall was dominated by a bust of Ho Chi Minh and after the talk a number of the faculty came over to have their picture taken with Lorelle and Mark. It was a great opportunity for a cross-cultural discussion of teaching, learning and technology.

12/5. Today we had a two part adventure planned. During the morning we needed to go to the offices of Thai and Vietnam Airlines and rebook flights that the airlines changed due to lack of passengers (SARS, war et. al.). This went rather smoothly and we began to become familiar with the Hanoi (Ha Noi) streets. As have been noted on Q and G's pages, much of the life of the city takes place on the streets. People sit, eat, talk, play games, and throw all manner of material out onto the street. Meanwhile there are more bicycles and motorcycles than can be described, the street is a swarm of movement and crossing the street requires watching and thinking in three dimensions (length, width and time) to perform a Frogger-like street crossing.

In the afternoon we managed to managed to find a box, pack it with collected treasures, haul it across numerous streets and near death experiences and mail it back to the states. What we have really enjoyed is the range of wonderful food available in the city and how inexpensive it is to eat. On an amusing note, after our second meal at a local haunt, Pamela ordered a decaf coffee. After some quizzical looks from the waiter he nodded his head "yes decaf". What he brought to the table had us all curious until Pamela tasted it and gave a small shudder. He had brought irish coffee. Note to self: there is really no decaf in Vietnam.

One observation made on the Ha Noi streets was truly heartwarming. Dozens of school children were making their way home from school. They were passed by women carrying large baskets of fruit, eggs and other products. Two of the children paused across the street and engaged in an activity that attracted our attention. As we watched they got out a piece of string, wove it between their fingers, and began a game of cat's cradle. This game used to be a popular children's game in America and the moves the children were doing were exactly the same that mark learned as a child. It is nice to see that some past times are culturally universal.

Flying Vietnam Airlines concerned us a bit but it turned out to be very comfortable. Arriving in Hue we were actually taken right to Lorelle's house. Casa de Lorelle is palatial and gorgeous. It can be seen from a bridge almost a mile away! Mark was scheduled to give a talk at Bai Hoc Hue (Hue University) to dozens of university administrators and faculty concerning learning, constructivism, teaching and technology integration. The entire talk was translated as he spoke, and it was a successful 3 hour presentation and discussion. The next day he also gave a 3 hour presentation to the English Pedagogy department faculty on the same topic. Pacific University and Truong Bai Hoc Su Pham continue to develop close ties on many levels.

16/5. Today we ventured 3 hours south on the Ho Chi Minh Highway through the city of Da Nang to the ancient city of Hoi An. This is the home of many old palaces dating back centuries and is a beautiful and rural area. Driving there was marvelous as we wound through verdant farmland past rice paddies plowed by water buffalo, past countless motorcycles carrying physically impossible loads, and into the heart of the country. Hoi An is a smaller town with its own strong historical roots as well as a deserved reputation as a silk tailoring capital. Photos of our fancy silk outfits will be posted here if we cannot sell them to the tabloids.

17/5. The goal today was to visit the ancient ruins at My Son. This is a world heritage site that contains the ruins of an Indian-influenced culture similar to those that developed Borobudur and Ankor Wat. The Champa culture developed beautiful structures that date back over a thousand years. Unfortunately the ravages of war have not been kind to My Son ('Mee Sohn') and what remains are mere vestiges of the beauty and power that these structures must have inspired. Evocatively emerging from the surrounding forest, these carved red brick structures simply hint at what must have been a magnificent culture. One of the best parts of the day was riding back to our taxi in a van with half a dozen farmers and children who had been harvesting grass in the area. Their great spirits and positive dialogue with us was in strong contrast to our original experience in Hanoi.

Our final day in Vietnam was spent driving back to Hue to catch our flight to Ha Noi. The views were again stunning, and driving over the two mountain passes allowed us to really feel like we could see how people live outside of the cities. This country is very lush and beautiful and contains extensive agri and aqua-culture (view more of our photos). We found the people to be very cheerful and helpful. The only difficult aspect of being in Vietnam was the heat. It was hot (up to 38C, 100+F), it was humid and there were times when the lack of ice and cooling made staying hydrated a constant task (and you can't drink tap water). We have not only survived but truly enjoyed our time here. Not really sure what to expect and after a shaky start, we ended up having a wonderful time here and learning so much about the people and culture of Vietnam. On to Nepal.