From Sapa to Manila--the journey home

Friends!  Sa Pa was awesome. Vietnam was awesome! But I am ready to be done. Hopefully this will be the last post.

On our last day in Sa Pa I got out the door early to go run laps around the lake. Still hot and humid, but I couldn't fall far too far behind Brooklyn in our half marathon training!

It took me a while to figure out what this is. These are speakers that loudly broadcast the government-approved news twice a day, all over the country. A little eerie--big brother is certainly watching. On the other hand, it might be a bit easier on the psyche. Talking with Phil at Ethos, the news is most always positive, unlike the negative news that bombards us at home.

I splurged on another chestnut cake on the way home. (Food prices are ridiculously low--I think it cost me 33 cents.)

NomiAnn and I loved our experience with Ethos so much that we scheduled another experience for the following day. This time we would be taking an all day batik class. Here we are lerning how the hemp is turned into fabric. Even extracting the fibers was far more complex and time intensive than I realized. I never could figure out the technique of rolling the fibers together to make a longer strand. All in all, turning the hemp into cloth is a labor of great skill, patience, and much love.

Lucky us! The class was taught by our guide My. We didn't know this when we asked about a batik class, but it made the experience even more special.

Working on our designs. We used melted wax blackened with charcoal to create our art.

Here's My helping to fix and finish my design. It felt like I was experiencing the touch of the Master's hand! Her practiced designs were so precise and exectured with such confidence. As for us, we were definitely baby apprentices. Even learning how to use the wax stylus was a completely different process! You hold it opposite of a pencil. (Look above and you'll see I'm holding mine wrong.)

NomiAnn's got it!

Enjoying our lunch buffet with Phil and the other guests and students at the Ethos home.

I liked the sticky rice served in bamboo. :)

This lovely woman Rachel joined our class. She's from England but living in Australia. An art major, her design was lovely! She dyed her batik in indigo that day because she had more time before flying home. As for NomiAnn and I, we were leaving Vietnam the next evening, so we would have to dye our fabric on our own.

Dipping the cloth for the first dye. Eventually the wax will get boiled away and all the white spaces will turn indigo and all the black will apear white.

The hemp plant--not the same as marijuana, but it basically looks the same.

Rachel's design hanging to dry.

While I am sure the designs my Mom and I created will turn out beautifuly, we also purchased this gorgeous table runner up-cycled from both traditional batik and embroidery. So special!

Thanks again for the wonderful day, My!

On the way home we met this adorable PhD candidate from Azerbaijan (I think) who seemed excited to have some company for a few blocks. She's planning to travel Southeast Asia for an entire year!

Thank you Sapa, for sharing the beauty of your mountains and your people!

That evening it was back to Ha Noi via night train. We arrived around six am and didn't need to be to the airport for our flight home for another seventeen hours!

So, we splurged. For sixty dollars we got our first and only real hotel of the trip--four stars with a pool, made to order breakfast, comfy beds (we each got our own!) and a piping hot shower. Such luxury! They even let us check in hours early.

I think I'll always remember listening to General Conference from this pool, watching the airplanes take off and land.

The original plan was simply to take naps and read books and be lazy all day long. Anyone who knows me knows I can't sit still for long though, so we eventually decided to venture out to nearby Thanh Chuong's Viet Palace. I'm so glad we did! This Vietnamese painter named Thanh Chuong opened his expansive personal art collection to the public to form an immersive experience where you can view all kinds of art in this beautiful natural setting. More cultural sanctuary than museum, it was a rich gem that made the perfect ending to our trip.

At times water puppetry is performed here.

While enlisted to fight for seven years in the war, Thanh Cuong preferred to sketch. Despite this darkness, some of his artwork manages to retain a hopeful, whimsical air.

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Of course, it's not quite as jolly as this laughing buddha!

I love that we were invited to sit in chairs that have been supporting our ancestors for centuries.

Occasionally the combinations of art were a bit jarring. I'm sorry, but this one just make me think of Patrick from SpongeBob.

And sometimes they were so playful, like this frog whispering a secret to the bull.

Wish I knew what these were.

Thanks for sharing your treasure with us, Thanh Chuong!

Our final meal in Vietnam., We didn't want to exchange any more US Dollars, so we had to calculate our dining costs the last day pretty precisely. Seems like we still made out pretty well!

A few hours later and we were landing in Manila, Philippines for our nine hour layover. Even though we were tired, we decided to leave the airport and explore. Thanks to its proximity to the airport, we headed to SM Mall of Asia, the largest mall not just in the Philippines, but all of Asia. Since it didn't open until ten, we had a good chunk of time to walk the nearby seaside boulevard.

We also had time to start the day with dessert at Chowking. I had no idea what Halo-Halo was, but it intrigued me. It seemed like shaved ice with sweetened condensed milk and a ton of unusual toppings, each with a different texture. Personally, I liked the ube ice cream on top the best.

The seaside was peaceful. A few people exercising and a surprising number of stray cats.

The mall was...big. Impressive really, with absolutely every high-end store you could possibly imagine. Pictures don't really capture the scale--this pikachu was probably 25 feet tall. There was jingly holiday music and Christmas decorations galore, all of which felt kind of weird in mid-October when it was 95 degrees outside with crazy humidity.

But having the spent the prior day wandering Thanh Chuong's cultural sanctuary, the mall felt shallow and hollow. Everything was shiny and hard wih so little reference to the rich culture of Southeast Asia. Even the shoppers seemed a bit fake--for the most part the place was empty besides some very well coiffed groups of flight attendants passing through with short skirts, matching heels and loads of make-up.

National Geographic, I can't say I love your sterile mall front--it seems so antithetical to the gritty expeditions that I associate with your magazie. But according to the internet, your motto is "Spark Curiosity, Empower Exploration and Inspire Change." I couldn't agree more. This trip to Vietnam, fuled by curiosity, really did empower my Mom and I as we explored magnificent places we'd only seen in pictures. We traveled home not only inspired, but connected and changed. I love you Mom! Thanks for traveling with me. Hope we will explore together again soon.