The 15 day trip to Vietnam - The Mandarin route - Day 2 (afternoon) - Ho Chi Minh City - The Ngoc Huang Pagoda and the War remnants Museum - The 19th of May 2016

The sequence of the visits programmed for the Ho Chi Minh city were slightly altered so as to accommodate traffic constrainsts we therefore headed towards the Ngoc Huan Pagoda located in the Dong Koi district which we would later further explore. The bustling of the city contrasted with the peacefulness one could still find within the pagodas, irrespective of the number of worshippers.

Considered one of the most ornate pagodas, the worshiping house we visited honours the King of Heavens, Ngoc Huang or the Jade Emperor, known as the chief Deity of the Thaoist pantheon. Having been built by the Cantonese community in 1909, its rather simple façade is tiled with remarkable works of carving art.

As we walked into the outer courtyard shaded with shrubs and an ancient banyan tree we came across an incinerator  used for burning the  votive paper offerings, whose smoke is said to reach the ancestors in heaven.

On the right  hand side there was a small sanctuary home to several turtles, which are considered symbols of good luck and fortune in Vietnam and other Asian countries.

The pagoda's interior was filled with richly carved and colourful gilded images of Buddhist deities. I was impressed by the Giant demon guardians in resplendent robes presiding over the main sancturay. Incense filled the air. Acting as the Jade Emperor's snitch Ong Tao, better known as the Kitchen God believed to know all that transpires in the home wasn't empty of offerings of food and drink, which we could clearly see upon his altar.. Phat Mau Chuen De, Mother of Five Buddhas of the Cardinal Directions had her Hindu-style effigy stood proudly flanked by statues of her five sons (underneath on the right).

From there we went onto a rather thought provoking and extremely disturbing exhibition displaying document atrocities committed by American, Chinese and French soldiers, some of which in grim detail.

From a certain moment on I had to walk onto the outside courtyard  because I was highly affected by some photographs on display showing the effects of torture or the result of the chemical defoliants used during the Vietnam War.

The atmosphere was dense and we could hardly breathe - a flash back onto some of my Angolan and Macanese memories ... the stuffy sticky-like weather ... the permanent perspiring ... the growing fatigue ...

The 15 day trip to Vietnam - The Mandarin route - Days 1 and 2 (late morning and early afternoon) - On the way from Paris to Ho Chi Minh city; Ho Chi Minh city's first impressions; Ho Chi Minh - Vinh Ngihem Pagoda; Senviet Hotel lodging - The 19th of May 2016

Having flown to Paris the night before I headed to the agency meeting point early in the morning so as to obtain the necessary documentation to fly to Ho Chi Minh via Hanoi where we arrived in the first hours of the following morning.

I normally meet my traveling companions at the final destination but I was fortunate enough to have sat next to a mother and daughter on the flight to Hanoi, who were doing the same circuit having soon after met the other travelling companions on the way from the Hanoi international terminal to the domestic one.

Being a small group of nine would certainly be advantageous, so we believed and in no time we were being driven through the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh heading to the Hotel Senviet where we would be lodged for the next two days whilst we explored the city. 

The huge images of Ho Chi Minh watched us from almost every corner and because of it being his anniversary many more posters and placards mus have been spread around the city, which seemed rather chaotic for a westerner at least in regards to the motorcycle traffic. The atmoshere was heavy and despite not knowing exactly what the humidity percentage was I calculated it must be higher than 80, which proved to be right.  

Lunch allowed us to have a relaxing moment and a first approach to the Vietnames cuisine which I fell for almost immediately.

After lunch we were allowed a few minutes in our new lodgements before meeting the guide, Giao back on the Hotel entrance hall. I still managed to have a quick shower and take a few photos to and from my fourth floor bedroom. 

Our first visit would be the Vinh Ngihem pagoda, which is said to have been completed in 1971 with the aid of the Japan-Vietnal Association. The courtyard garden like was quite impressive and so were some of the Buddhas once we flanked the lacquerware doors that gave access to the sanctuary, where one particular worshipper caught my attention.

We were given a brief introduction regarding the three most prominent strands in Vietnam's religious tradition - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, associated with the indigenous customs of spirit worship, ancestor veneration and  the deification of Vietnam's patriotic heroes.

Solemn room  filled with photographs and memorials to the departed.

I felt the need to walk around in order to get into the mystic like atmosphere similarly to what I had done in Myanmar the year before and the truth is there is a certain calmness in just letting it take over you.

The latest film I have watched ...

I couldn't help but going the the movies on my daughter's birthday despite the fact that she is working abroad this being the first birthday we haven't spent together.

I am sure that if she were around this is exactly what we would have done and in a way it was like getting closer to her. Without having been made aware of film she suggested I should see I ended up selecting exacly the same one - Dheepan.

Having won the Palme d'Or  at the 2015 Festival de Cannes Dheepan is a rather meditative film on the overall immigrant odyssey and drama, despite being rooted in the reality of the refugee camp in Sri Lanka and later France.

 

 

The three main players, said to be new to acting have done a very good "job" at it - their performances conveyed authenticity to the characters' feelings of solitude and frustration and were therefore very credible.

 

 

 

" Dheepan is a film that goes for the gut as well as the heart" - Leonard Maltin.









 

Streetheart Serendipity ... at Lisbon Aiport ...

I couldn't help but noticing  the new grafitti-like panel at the arrivals' terminal building at Lisbon airport and photographing with my mobile phone.

I have since then found out it has been painted by a Brazilian street artist by the name of Oliveiros Junior, better known as "Utopia 63" whose artistry I would like to praise. Streetheart serendipity is in itself worth being praised  because it virtually means fortunate happenstance, which we quite often seem to lack and yet crave for ...

The latest book I have read ...

I have taken longer than I should to read this Elif Shafak's novel though I feel the main reason was the fact that I didn't want it to finish ... 

Inspired by historical events and real people The Architect's apprentice takes us back into the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power and the intricate and intriguing relations of those who have been at the heart of this absorbing novel, which blends history, fiction, politics and romance in a very peculiar and skilful way.  

  

"(...) there were two blessings in life: books and friends. And that they should be possessed in inverse quantities; many books, but only a handful of friends". 

" (...) the worth of one's faith depended not on how solid and strong it was, but on how many times one would lose it and still be able to get it back."

"Life was the sum of the choices one did not make; the paths yearned for but not taken."