The therapy that was

I have been wanting to write to you all about this for sometime now. Like everyone of my posts that take its own course of time, this one also did. Thankfully, it made it to the virtual world.

When I ushered in 2019, I looked at this virtual space as my therapy, and boy, it did live up to it.  Every one of you, you came in and read me, did.  Some stretched a bit and left me all those loving comments, some made me laugh and it all worked. Worked like magic.

2018 was nothing short of a disaster for me and family.  I did write about the surgery that I had to undergo last year.   So, when I came in to my virtual space in Jan 2019, I was literally at my lowest.   Physically, mentally and every other way.  But I was determined to get out of it, in style

The comprehensive health checkup in September 2019 was more than mandatory and thankfully I cleared it all.  I am at my healthy best right now, but a conversation with a doctor changed the way I look at my health.  So this doctor was going through my records, and asked me so what surgery did you go through last year.  A hysterectomy and an oophorectomy due to an ovarian tumour, I replied.  He casually asked me the next question, which slapped the daylights out of me.  So, how many Chemo’s did you go through?  None, mine was a benign one, was my response.

That question also reminded me how lucky I was to get away with it.  Pretty close.  

While I got a bit lucky there, the surgery left my body reckless.   It was as though my body lost its control on itself – physical and emotional.  The changes were apparent as soon as I got back home from the hospital.   Panic attacks and hot flashes /sweats became the norm.   Lack of sleep and depression were my new friends. A sudden sense of fear, as if I heard a terrible news of losing a loved one, along with accelerated heart beat would wake me up from sleep.  Falling asleep after that was difficult.  At least a couple of times in the night and few times during the day.  I read up and recognized those as Panic attacks. Hot flashes were more interesting, with the AC switched on, and when everyone is feeling normal, I would sweat like a pig, drenching myself as if I just went under a shower head.  This for a person, who would normally not sweat at all, was unbearable. The best is there were no short cuts to all these, had to just endure them.

I was upset, angry and the normal Why me ?  questions.  Answers were never easy, and the universe forced me to find it myself.  I read and read and read all about my conditions.  Medical science offered HRT, Hormone replacement therapy, which had more cons than the pros.  That’s when I decided I will chalk out my own therapy and here is what I did.

Blog more

I had my space and had a set of wonderful folks like you and I decided to come in here.  And if you read my first post of the year, here, I have clearly mentioned that I am coming here for my own reasons.  and sure enough, this turned out to be my best therapy.  I have written around 30 posts this year and yes each one has been a potion to my troubled head. Every comment that you left me, helped me move forward, slowly.  And as I key this in, I am tearing up.

Walking / Zumba and physical fitness
I got back to my walking trail and walked as if my life depended on it.  In fact, it did.  I rejoined my Zumba classes at work and went without skipping it 3 times a week.  My sleep improved when I danced and also started a small funcitonal training routine after my every day walk, which kind of helped my body secrete all the right hormones.  In January 2019, I had clocked more than 2 lakh steps on my pedometer and I have maintained it almost every other month.

Theatre

Took up a theatre assignment, and performed the role of Leanardo cianculli, in spite of the schedules and yes it helped.   My gals were there for me in person, to cheer me along and to tell me I was the best.  It did so much good in my healing.

Garden

My plant babies and fishes were a great distraction.  Hand painting my pots and repotting the plants and seeing them grow made me a wonderful plant parent.  I could watch the fishes for hours together, when I found time and they were healing me too – have you heard of the Japanese peering into their Koi fish tank and attaining nirvana?

Designing clothes

Distracting my head was paying off, so I was lapping up stuff that I once did and ditched.  Designing clothes was one of my favorites and  couldn’t pursue it as finding a good tailor is an arduous task. I explained my ideas to my existing tailor and he started doing well.

Travel

This year probably is the most travelled year – starting with Dubai for our anniversary, Wayanad, Vietnam with the gals, Auroville, Tada falls not including my business trips, I set my heart to enjoy the world so I would distract it as much I can.  And it did work

Little DIYs around the house

Like a brick wall that J and I created together at the altar at home, or plans for the plate wall that we are yet to put up, the Yaazhi’s as the entrance décor to the washing area – Yes they all added to the therapy

My diet had more fruits, nuts, and seeds to it and everything that would stabilize my body temperature.  Friends pitched in and helped.  They checked in on me and I knew I could count on them anytime.

In spite of all the efforts, there were times I was getting out of control and I did talk to a doctor.  She listened to me and said you have taken all efforts to minimize the effects of the surgery and an HRT would have done only this with lesser impact.  I would use you as an example to my patients in controlling the after effects of a surgery.   You don’t need a treatment Vincy.

In the meantime, the intensity of the hot flashes, panic attacks have come down.  I do sleep better these days and so, here I am folks, at the end of the year,  baring it all for you and thanking you from the virtual world for being my successful therapy. I have healed because of each one of you and I cannot thank you all enough.  Love you.

Terribly Tiny Tales

Sometimes his memories hit her like a hurricane and left a trail of emotional chaos in its wake.

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I pulled the door marked PUSH and realized why I remember every detail that I wanted to forget

# # #

And maybe that's all she needed.  A little love to last her a lifetime!

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He took care of her - not in a materialistic kind of a way, but her soul, her well-being and everything that was her

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I love you can also be told as " Did you go to the Doctor? "  "Watch what you put in your mouth"  "There's nothing wrong with you" and "You are the best & I truly believe it"

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Have you ever loved and lost?  She has no clue if it was all planned and staged.  She has no regrets, because when she was loved, she was loved well.

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However zestful and spirited you are, the world will go on with or without you as if you never existed.  Have you ever realized that?

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Letting it be!!!

The invisible furies of my heart

Are the most difficult to tackle

When my stronghold crumbles down

But, I let that be

There are a zillion things my heart wants to whisper

Instead I endure the silent violence

Of all that I choose not to say

And, I let that be

Not able to choose a middle path

I still obsessively hold on

Wish I could let go indifferently

I am not able to, and I let that be

There is no potion to heal the pain

Of an amputated spirit

since I have fed you to my hungry soul

But, I let that pain be

Soaking in the absurd comfort

Of the ambiguities of life

Blurred lines of relationships

And so, I let it be.

Vincy Joseph

Little surprises / Quirks of Vietnam

After so many posts on our Vietnam trip, 10 to be precise, thought I was done.  but, here I am back to you all with one last post.  No more posts on Vietnam - I promise.  

*On the fourth day of our trip, after an exhaustive day, the babes went on a shopping spree - specifically looking for something that I wanted to pick up for Dennu and voila, I found a shop named after me.  First-time ever!!  Here is the Vincy Shop.

That's a store with my name folks!!

*One of the funny habits of the locals, the gentlemen seem to be lifting up the T-shirts and showing off the mid-riff / paunches to the general public, making us feel a bit embarrassed / funny.  After we saw many of them practicing this, figured out this could be to beat the heat of the tropical climes around this place.  Still, pretty weird.

Man in the park, with his Tshirt lifted up showing midriff

*On the day we were at Hanoi, and all of us dressed in the same costume, a guy mistook us for sales girls at Hanoi airport Souvenir shop.  Later, we figured out that guy was completely drunk and ended up with a liking for me - sure its alchohol induced.  We had to call for the cops, as that fellow started following me.   Arghhhh!!! 

*We met a Chinese lady and her son at Hanoi who got interested in us since we were Indians.  One of the questions she asked us was about the red dot that Indians wear on the forehead and why we were not donning it. Excited and thrilled we took a short session on Indian culture while we were waiting for our delayed flight.  Since we didn't speak or understand Chinese and they struggled with English, the entire communication happened in Google translate on our mobiles.  Technology brings cultures closer !!

*Every house in most lanes in Hanoi city would turn into a small joint for the dinner in the evening.  Small stools and big stools made of plastic are pulled up and they serve dinner mostly non vegetarian stuff with beer.  The Vietnamese seem to enjoy this evening snack parties.

*Vietnamese love to squat - you will seeing them squatting all over the place.  The men, women and the children!! and they do it so effortlessly!

That's all folks !!!

Au Revoir Vietnam

One of the places we included in our already hectic last day was a quick visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the embalmed body of the founding father of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh is kept.  It is an imposing memorial for a leader of his caliber and Vietnamese speak about him with a lot of reverence and I figured out that he is as important as Mahatma Gandhi for us Indians, if not more.

The Mausoleum is one of the most visited places and Lan, our guide spoke as if it is one of the seven wonders of the world and how could we go without peeping in there.  It is said that the leaders’ body is embalmed and kept for the general public to be viewed in a massive Mausoleum amidst a gigantic square in the middle of the town.

Ba Dinh Square in front of the mausoleum is noteworthy as the site is where President Ho declared the independence of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. The square is composed of 240 patches of grass divided by intersecting concrete pathways. 

The impressive and most revered Mausoleum

 Inspite of the pressure from Lan to visit the inside of the Mausoleum, we just crossed this place and viewed it only from the outside, the babes not very interested to get into the snaking queues and lose out on our time.  Lan was not very happy, she had to deal with that.  Ho’s Mausoleum was crowded to the hilt, with high security right from the entrance and we already were slowing down our pace.  Ample security guards were around this place and they were quite strict – wouldn’t allow us to take pictures anywhere near the monument for Ho.  They were doing their duty with an absurd sincerity. I also noticed people looked grim, not many were speaking in raised voices and there are strict dress codes too – indecent clothing is not allowed, most elements that are followed in a religious place. Photography was not allowed.  Period. One of the young guards almost snarled at us when we wanted to take a picture of a beautiful garden, because it was on the Mausoleum’s side.

The prayer flags around the Pagoda

We instead visited the one pillar Pagoda, within the security zone.  Prayer flags adorned the surroundings of this pagoda and by now our brains had stopped taking in new inputs and we were drifting along. We could’ve easily miss the history of this place and dismiss it as a concrete pillar topped by a wooden structure in the middle of a grubby pond, thankfully Lan took us to this place.

The One Legged Pagoda, the smallest of the pagodas that we visited in Vietnam

Rising from one pillar in the centre of an elegantly square shaped lotus pond, the One Pillar Pagoda is said to represent a lotus flower growing up out of the water. The little temple is constructed from wood based on a single stone pillar crafted into the shape of a lotus blossom and has been rebuilt several times, and is set in a beautifully tranquil garden with benches provided for comfortable seating. The shrine inside the pagoda is dedicated to the Vietnamese Buddhist deity Quan Am with her effigy nestled inside the tiny three square metres temple. Legend claims that this temple was built by a fatherless emperor who was granted a son on a lotus flower and commissioned this pagoda in gratitude to Quan Am.

The lotus pond and the prayer flags 

We came down the stairs and I was watching my gal gang – all of us in silent contemplation and Sudha busy clicking pictures one moment and then she was gone. Literally into thin air. A bit of panic there as we couldn’t trace her for almost 20 minutes.

Though  Jay and I went in searching for her first, leaving Lan and Rosy, the place was crowded and we couldn’t find her.  We got back to the place where Rosy and Lan were waiting, took Lan along with me and almost ran upto the entrance, all the way telling Lan that she has to look for black and white stripes (that was the design of Sudha’s top).  Kept screening people swarming around me for this design and repeatedly told that to Lan, ( or for myself) and my head kept telling me to find Sudha.  My logic told me she would probably get back to the starting point, when she figured out she got lost.

Only Lan had a phone and none of us were carrying it, so I know she cannot call.  Myriad thoughts ran in my head, but focused on the look out for Sudha, I heard my name being screamed out at the end of 20 minutes, only to be tightly hugged by a flustered and tearful Sudha.  It was such an intense moment for both of us, and all my grit seemed to melt away once I saw her – shaking and tearful, we stayed in an everlasting embrace for some moments. This probably was the babes longest 20 minutes.  Ahhhhh!!!

Shopping at Dong Xuan market got us squealing like kids, and helped us put the “lost and found” incident behind us and that’s when we regretted not planning out our shopping time well.  I wanted to buy almost everything from that market, crockery, souvenirs, and what not, anyway we managed to pick what we could in an measly one hour. This is the largest indoor market in Hanoi and throws up a very endearing local lifestyle with its variety of wares, that we could have brought back home.

Vietnam still tops the list of the best places we have visited so far, her thick greenery, Karst mountains, flowing green and yellow paddies, aquamarine blue seas and scintillating views all steeped in rich culture and history, refusing to get out of our minds eye.  Even now.

Temple of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

Temple of Literature was the last stop of our Vietnam trip that was part of our babes tour.  We were tired, but still were excited, and as in all our trips wondered, why did we not think of staying here for a few more days?

At the entrance of Temple of Literature

This was one academia we had decided on visiting and was originally built as a university in 1070 dedicated to Confucius, scholars and sages of his time. The entire university is well maintained and is a superb example of traditional Vietnamese architecture that uses a lot of wood and tiles.  This is an ancient revered place of the older dynasties of Vietnam, which was frequented by the elite and royal class and these historic buildings have seen many doctors’ graduate from their  annals and now has become a memorial to education and literature.

Can you see the Steles and turtle heads?

The university campus offers a lake of literature, well of heavenly clarity, turtle steles, pavilions and passage ways that were once open only to the royalty.  Initially this university had its gates open only for the elite aristocrats, bureaucrats, nobles and the members of royal family, but later extended it to the bright commoners.  Names of successful graduates are carved on the stone stele on top of stone turtles.

The steles of carved blue stone turtles with elaborate motifs were made to honor talent and encourage study. The Turtle is one of the nation's four holy creatures - the others are the Dragon, the Unicorn and the Phoenix. The turtle is a symbol of longevity and wisdom. The doctors' steles are a valuable historical resource for the study of culture, education and sculpture in Vietnam. 82 stelae out of the original 116 remain. They depict the names and birth places of 1307 graduates of 82 triennial royal exams. The ancient Chinese engravings on each stele praise the merits of the monarch and cite the reason for holding royal exams. They also record the mandarins who were tasked with organizing the exams. It used to be common to rub the stone turtles' heads,  for good luck in exams by the students and tourists, but now there is a fence that is meant to prevent people from doing this in order to preserve the turtles.

The campus is the focus here.  ( remember our narcissism, and thats why we are there) 

I

Temple of literature is rather a place of study than a place of religious worship and probably that’s the reason we found many groups of young children from Vietnam who were brought in here for a tour of this place. The layout of the temple is based upon the birthplace of Confucius with a magnificent main entrance and a path, once reserved solely for the king, running through the center. The immaculate gardens are rich in ancient trees and are considered a serene place in which students can relax. There are stone statues and inscriptions dotted throughout the temple which has retained many of its original features as the most renowned landmark of academia in Vietnam.

The babes at the Well of Heavenly clarity!!!

Statue of Confucius

There are five courtyards at the temple, two brimming with landscaped gardens, the third is home to a large pond known as the Well of Heavenly Clarity, the fourth courtyard is called the Sage Courtyard and features a statue of Confucius and a house of ceremonies, and the last courtyard is Thai Hoc in which stands a large drum and bell tower. This historic site is ranked as one of Hanoi’s most important cultural places and is steeped in Vietnamese history.

At Thaihoc which houses the large drum and bell tower, with children who were posing

Hanoi  has puts effort into maintaining this elegant space, and the temple’s lawns and gardens are still carefully manicured today as they were hundreds of years ago. Hanoi flaunts an endless amount of history, grandeur, and mythical tales to enchant even the most seasoned traveler. The hustle and bustle of Vietnam’s capital city is entangled with hidden sites of peace and serenity. One such treasure is Hanoi’s ancient Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first national university and we were glad we stopped by this place sacrificing our shopping time..  Yes! We had to cut short our shopping to just one hour, but yeah, no regrets on that one.  But wait, really?

At the entrance of the third courtyard

Post script:

The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnamese banknote.

100,000 Vietnamese Dong

Tran-Quoc Pagoda, Hanoi, Vietnam

The post on the last leg of our Vietnam Itinerary took longer than usual to take off.   Reasons not worth recording on the blog, (sheer laziness for example), I would now not go into them.

I know never late is better, but I think it is better late than never.   So here we go..

Last day at the hotel, Smiles wont betray us, but our eyes will

Happiness does lie in waking up each day and believing, as though it is the first day of our trip, but its difficult on the last day. We know our wonderful trip is coming to an end, the babes will go our own ways after this and though we knew we were coming to the tail end of our trip, our only reason to smile was the memories we were creating. The silent good byes to our hotel rooms and warm ones to our chefs and the people in hotel are done in the morning.  Lan, our guide was on time and we started pretty early on the last day too.

Live birds and  turtles on sale @ the pavement

Never to forget to put on our brightest smile along with our basic make-up, our first stop for the day was the historic Tran-Quoc pagoda and it opens as early as 7.30 am. One of the most interesting stuff I saw on the entrance of this pagoda was the sale of turtles, live ones, tiny and large too – never have seen them before.  Looks like that is legal in Vietnam.

The 15 metre main stupa of  Tran-Quoc Pagoda

Tran-Quoc Pagoda is the oldest of its kind in Hanoi, dating back to the 6^th century ( that’s around 1500 years) and this Buddhist shrine has undergone several changes throughout the years. Standing at 15 meters, the main stupa is made of up eleven levels, with gemstone statues of Amitabha within each open vaulted windows. It also has surrounding buildings that include an incense burning house and a museum housing historic relics. 

The intricately carved statues there date back to 15th century and they all bear unique facial features.  One of the main attractions here is also the gold sculpture of the Shakyamuni Buddha's Parinirvana. Also, this pagoda is filled with Buddhist symbolisms like the eight-spoked wheel, that represents the Noble Eight-fold Path.

Lan was also a great photographer - the babes posing with Tran-Quoc in the background

Tran-Quoc, its reflection  & me

Monks have lived at the Tran-Quoc Pagoda for centuries, teaching the ways of Buddhism to the public. The main pagoda itself is surrounded by 9 other smaller varying sizes of pagodas that are in reverence to some of the Buddhist monks and carries their ashes, and the taller the pagoda, higher was their level in the monastery.   Thanks to Lan’s knowledge on these, I still remember these little details she shared with us.

Notice the lady Buddha statue on top, tiny though

In the Tran Quoc pagoda they also worship female Buddhas, known as the "Mothers". Their shrines are in the front of the courtyard. The green Mother has domain over the mountains and forests. The white Mother has domain over the water. And lastly the red Mother has domain over the sky. These are some of the oldest gods or goddesses that have been worshiped in Vietnam and were in Vietnam before the Buddha.  For all of us, this was again our “firsts” – a lady Buddha.

The focus is on the Bodhi tree, taken from the original tree in Bodh Gaya

On the grounds of Tran Quoc is a Bodhi tree ( which is pretty large ) taken as cutting of the original tree in Bodh Gaya, India under which the Buddha sat and achieved enlightenment. The gift was made in 1959, marking the visit of the Indian president Rajendra Prasad.

In the incense burning house of Tran-Quoc

With some pretty women travellers from Hongkong 

The lush greenery, the west lake surrounding the pagoda and the architecture of the pagoda all are in harmony here and makes it look quite picturesque, bringing in peace and serenity than an oriental religious place would bring on.

One last picture with the Westlake and Skyline of Hanoi

Hua Lu Temple, Ninh Binh, Vietnam

On our way to Ninh Binh, even before we stopped by for the boat ride in Trang An, of which I have written a post here, we had visited the earlier capital of Vietnam, which lies 90 km south of Ha Noi and is called the Hua Lu, a beautiful ancient city that was the economic and political center of Dai Co Viet, ( older name of Vietnam) a kingdom that extended from what is now northern Vietnam to the center during the 10th and 11th centuries.

At the impressive entrance of the King Dinh Temple, atop the bridge over River Hoang Long

But you folks saw from the pictures we had posted about Ninh Binh, how mesmerizing the place was and actually this ancient city just took a back seat in our memories. Since we listened to the spicy stories of this king from Lan, our guide, I thought it is important to document the cultural essence of Vietnam here in this travel posts on Vietnam.

With a view of Huang Long river, Sudha and me posing 

For a country’s capital city, Hua Lu was a natural geographic choice because of the limestone mountains keeping the city well-hidden from potential invaders. The city is bordered by the Hoang Long River, which also runs through the citadel. It cools the city in the sticky summer months and provides a convenient waterway for trade and other businesses.

King Dinh Temple, that we visited has one of the unique architectures in Hua Lu Ancient Capital, worshiping King Dinh Tien Hoang (King of Dai Co Viet Dynasty). According to Vietnamese chronicles, Dinh Bo Linh, of peasant ancestry, was the adopted son of a feudal lord, the prefect of Hua Lu. While he was a youngster he was skilled in domesticating wild buffaloes and used to be part of buffalo races. He was one of 12 chieftains among whom was divided Nam Viet, which consisted of northern Vietnam and three central Vietnamese provinces. Dinh Bo Linh defeated each of the other 11 lords and by AD 968 had gained control of all Nam Viet. Proclaiming himself emperor, he called the reunited country Dai Co Viet.

The one in the black pants is our energetic and camera intelligent tour guide Lan. The babes with her. 

Dinh Tien Hoang was known as a courageous warrior and an able administrator and diplomat, but his authoritarian regime and his fondness for courtly pleasures made him many enemies, even within his family and his court. He and the crown prince were assassinated in 979 by a mystic seer through King Dinh’s wife by poisoning their food. Because the emperor’s heirs were too young to assert their position, the Dinh dynasty fell within a year of his death.

In the 17th century much after the original structures had been done to dust, the Vietnamese folk artists built the temple of King Dinh using wood and stone carvings. The temple offers an ancient and sediment beauty and makes us feel how the city was a millennium ago.

The temple is divided into three shrines: the outer one is Ngo Mon Gate, the middle is called Thien Huong and the inner one worships King Dinh Tien Hoang, which is the main house. This temple itself is spread across a garden of 5 hectares wide and is built with a special architecture, the interior of which has an “I letter” shape, surrounded by a square land.

Story of King Dinh in a mural form while you cross the first gate and proceed towards the second one. 

The babes in front of the second gate.
- notice the two buddhist pillars? 

When you cross the impressive Ngo Mon gate, that has three large doors as soon as you cross the river, you get to see the entire history of King Dinh in a mural form.

After a long walk, we reached the middle one with a stone dragon bed and to the second gate. This one had two Buddhist pillars on either side of the gate with an expansive courtyard in which the dragon bed is present.Looking at the bed surface you can easily find sculptured dragons, shrimps, fishes, rats images which are made with dexterity and skill. This dragon bed is where the king would call courtiers if announcements had to be made.

The stone bed in the foreground with the main house as the backdrop 

Past this is the main house that has 3 parts. The first one is the worshiping place with 5 rooms. The second is an incense burning room where they worship 4 important mandarins under Dinh dynasty. The third main part, the most important one, is separated to the second by a high door. Here you can witness King Dinh Tien Hoang being worshiped along with his three sons. The old utensils and vessels used by the royals can also be seen in the house.

The wooden statue of King Dinh, which is worshipped by the local Viatnamese people

Another room in the main house 

Immersed in the ancient culture and drunk in the ethos of Dai Co Viet, which later came to be known as Vietnam, we, the babes, didn’t know what was awaiting us in Ninh Binh, but with enthusiasm continued our journey for the day.

After all the loitering around in the King Dinh temple, we relaxed in the temple complex for a while 

The Train Street, Ha Noi, Vietnam

We didn’t get enough time to get out of the spell we were bound by Ninh Binh – On our way back we were reminiscing the tranquility we felt in the boat ride, the sceneries we were part of, and the images refused to get out of our minds eye. En route to the hotel, we admired the neatly laid out paddy fields, lotus fields and other vegetable gardens without even leaving a square inch of land bare and unused. The lush fields stretched to the horizon, indicating how fertile the land was and they were so well managed, its as though some one took out a large ruler and drew perfect squares and rectangles, that they looked so prim and proper. 

The fields had dirt paths running alongside the emerald green paddies which reminded me of the rice fields at Chalakudy, my moms place in Kerala.  Heart of hearts I was longing to meander through those paths with no care in the world, like once it was. The sun was shining right above these fields and made them glisten and shine, and as we were looking out of the window of our bus, it started raining and the smell of the soil brought in more nostalgia.

Most dwellings on the country side were concentrated in one place and then there were vast expanses of these fields and paddies and then we would come across another human in-habitation, with around some 50 to 100 concrete houses.  The houses were all concrete, at least two storeys high, narrow and had very less space around them, with clusters of these houses bunched together.  The specialty we noticed about these in-habitations was that each of these clusters also had a cemetery amidst the fields, with the tombs quite ornate and well looked after, most of them had offerings on them.

Look how I came in here to write about the Train street, and I am still in Ninh Binh and Rural Vietnam.

So we had some time left in the evening after we got back from the magical Ninh Binh and our plan was to go to the Train street because we don’t believe in resting up during a holiday like this.  And thankfully all 4 of us are on the same page about this.  Train street right from the beginning, sounded like a novelty for all of us. Quoted as one of the must see places in Ha Noi, I have myself watched videos of this place and found it completely incomprehensible until I saw that in reality. I am sure this is certainly a one-of-its-kind in the world. 

Terrifying Train Tracks (another expansion for TTT) of Vietnam

A store owner inviting customers into an coffee shop

Jay and Sudha, posing.  did you notice them twinning too?

Located in the old quarter of Ha Noi, we took the help of google maps and the maps provided by hotel to reach this place. Thank fully we could get to this place is less than 15 minutes from the hotel where we stayed and had decided to take a stroll, to get the feel of Vietnam on that evening. We were wondering how to find this place amidst all the cacophony, but you will know once you stumble upon it— it’s a railroad after all. Only that it’s a set of colonial era train tracks, where you would have actually expected a road, that is. An Instagram-famous railroad where tourists gather in hopes of the perfect picture. 

Jay and me posing

Twice a day in Ha Noi’s train street, a speeding train passes through a narrow street where people live, work and play. And we were there on a weekend and the train goes along 5 times and we could see the train passing by, though from a distance twice. Local residents were playing checkers, drinking beer, selling nick knacks on the tracks one minute, and the next they’ve scooped up their belongings and moved to the very edge to let the train whizz past.

Its business as usual for locals, by the way, and watching them sit in the middle of the tracks with their neighbors, some drinking beer and other cold and hot beverages sitting on low plastic stools, with kids and pets running amuck playing games, a random dog barking at us, while an older lady waters her plants in a flower box outside her home. The train street is lined with tall, narrow buildings, dilapidated and decaying. Women hang laundry lines and life goes on, despite their unusual predicament.

The babes on the tracks - quite a fancy!!!

The bright blue train passes through the street as it heads South to Hue and Hoi An, and this once local secret has become a popular sight for tourists. Foreigners, Instagrammers and amateur travelers like us get their cameras ready to shoot, locals move their tables back in to their front door and the train snakes past these narrow alleys. This is one place in Vietnam, where we found a large concentration of westerners.

trying to look eye to eye with a poodle - notice the fella's focus?

I also think this is one of my fanciest places to photograph in all of Vietnam. The babes and I had such fun posing on the tracks and just taking cool shots of the street, with railway track and houses almost blending into one. I also loved the way so many of the residents proudly display the Vietnam flag outside their homes, some thing you will see on many streets in Hanoi and around Vietnam. 

The entire street has been made tourist friendly and as little as 10 square feet space converted into a beer shack or a coffee shop with plastic stools and light weight wooden furniture being used for the make shift business points.

 

One last one on the tracks

We could only see the blue train pass by from a distance and not from the Train street, we were quite amused at what we saw. Ninh Binh and Train street were two ends of a spectrum with one being the quietest and the most serene in the world and the other making you feel so claustrophobic.

At the end of the day today, for no reason at all, the babes were ridiculously happy. or was it just the sense of accomplishment?

A day in Paradise : Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Easily counted as the best day of the trip, Ninh Binh for us babes, was nothing short of magical.

And like Ramesh mentioned in one of the comments, whats with the babes and water? We seemed to be attracted to the water bodies in Vietnam and were enjoying every drop of it. And somehow, in Vietnam, at Ha Long Bay as well, we got the feeling, that we were being part of National Geographic Channel, with all the inspiring scenery around us. Haven’t seen so much stunning natural beauty, all in one place, in spite of having origins in Gods own country 😊

Thanks to Sudha, she chose Ninh Binh over Sa Pa, for reasons best suited for our itinerary, and this became our favorite destination of the entire trip.  And like Ha Long bay, this is also an UNESCO heritage site.

As always we started pretty early from our hotel, this time with Lan, our energetic young guide.  We had to travel almost 100 km, from Ha Noi to Ninh Binh, which is a long travel and clearly she couldn’t believe that we girls can go on chattering away incessantly throughout our trip.  By the way, did we complete all our conversations, gals?  The answer to it is a big No.  Enroute Ninh Binh was a great opportunity to peek into rural way of Vietnamese living, laid-back and serene.  And to top it, by the fourth day, we had also calmed down quite a bit almost forgetting our routines and schedules, back home.

Rain gods were merciful to us on this day, it was a bright, sunny and a clear day and it started raining exactly when we returned after our boat ride. 

At the dock - two in a Boat

Lan, our guide, checked with us if we want a route that’s swarming with travelers, but covers three caves or a more isolated ride with just 2 caves.  We picked the later, since we are not new to the crowds & anytime back home we can get to it 😊. Boat ride on a narrow water way on Trang An was the highlight of the day.   We hopped on to small boats at the dock, two in one boat, paddled by a lady rower, & a two hour ride through rice paddies, lime stone formations, caves & rural countryside which was, I fall short of words here, simply mesmerizing.

First of, the lady rowers used their legs to row the boat.  Oh Yes.  That’s a sight to watch. They seemed skilled in paddling the boat, that even if you watched them during the entire trip you will not be bored. And the technique needed to maneuver the boats under the caves, is special.

Getting into the caves  from the eyes of the other boat

Close up of one of the cave entrances where we could sit straight 

Quite dark inside the caves and the rowing ladies use headlights to show them the way, and eerie fear takes over and we were holding each other’s hand inside the caves while watching our heads, especially with our tallest girl, Jay, amidst us. As we went through portions of the cave we had to sit on the bottom of the boat and duck down. The Trang An caves were short, but beautiful. Our favorite part of the boat tour was going through one of the caves and coming out into a crystal clear, aqua blue lake.

Sudha and Rosy in their boat enjoying the ride

There were times when we felt like we were the only ones there and its easy to get lost in the beauty of the area. The boat ride took us through vibrant green paddy fields, with those occasional rural homes, tucked away in mountains amidst all those erupting limestone cliffs all around. Ninh Binh is dominated by the large limestone karst peaks which create steep vertical cliffs covered in plants. Unlike a traditional mountain range where the slopes connect to each other in a long undulating stretch, most of these peaks stand in isolation – making them even more dramatic in appearance.

Reflection of nature's bounty on placid water

posing with our traditional Vietnamese hats

Our boats went underneath this bridge and got us squealing like little children

It was so scenic, that all of us were equally overwhelmed at its beauty. It was as though, Vietnam was telling us, “You asked for peace, quiet and serenity amidst your busy life?”. Here it is drink as much as you want from the fountain of nature I am offering you !!!. Nature at its rejuvenating best showing us the prettiest and the most unspoilt part of Vietnam for more than 2 hours.

Sudha and Rosy from our boat on the way back

Ducks swimming, Lotus patches and un spoilt nature 

Ninh Binh is quite appropriately nicknamed the “The Ha Long Bay in the land” with hundreds of limestone cliffs sprouting from the ground, scattered across the vivid green paddy fields, showcasing majestic and impressive natural landscapes.

Vietnamese traditional hat and Sudha's Lotus

Sudha's Creativity

If I close my eyes, everything else fades into obscurity and I still get to see the spectacular natural beauty of Ninh Binh, filling me with tranquility.

The mesmerizing natural beauty which refuses to go out of our minds