my guide to central vietnam
when my family "travels", what we mean is either going to a supermarket, going to my grandparents' home, or going on set tours to the place that we want to go. I understand that this habit pretty much comes from my mom's tight schedule and her affinity for convenience: not having to worry about where to eat or sleep. however, it takes away the experience about what it is to truly travel and get lost. that's why I was really happy when we decided to go on a road trip around central vietnam.
this trip didn't really start out with the intention to "travel". it was a part of her job: she had to set up chemical products in fast food chains in central vietnam as her company expands its market. in the end, we end up going with her on that trip to save time.
we had our relative, anh Tiến (his name means forwards, to the front, etc.), who happens to be a driver, as our driver. his personality really helps break away the awkwardness that you'd have with older and stricter drivers. I'm thoroughly grateful for that for the rest of the trip.
DAY ONE. LA MER
sài gòn > ninh thuận > nha trang (khánh hoà)
ninh thuận was the first time I see the sea ever since my childhood. we had lunch in a place where the beach is literally its backyard. you can't imagine how excited I was. I ran to the sea before I had the chance to settle down in the table. I ran to the sea despite the heat of central vietnam's summer. I ran to the sea, regardless. I guess that's how much connection I lost with nature all these years.
ninh thuận is also a great place to learn about chăm pa culture and tháp chàm, or their places of worship. I like to think about it as another mỹ sơn, but with shorter lines and less crowds trying to take the next #thapcham and #vietnam selfies. on many ocassions, I think the best thing you can do to a place is take away its fame and popularity and let it be. thanks to its unpopularity compared to those in mỹ sơn, these places of worship really get back its tranquility that a temple ought and deserve to have.
upon visiting tháp chàm, I can't help but think about what people back in that time would have felt going to these temples. were they upset, hopeful, or was going there a part of their culture and routine? whatever they feel, for what reason. not every bit of history is written down, and as modern visitors, sometimes, all we can do is wonder and imagine about what would have been. I think historical accuracy should have this flexibility to accurately portray the past and its values, but also the power to change in parts to enhance the understanding of modern audience.
tháp chàm also reminds me of angkor wat in the movie in the mood for love. that ending when Chow Mowan whispers to the temple his deepest secrets in this open setting, the dark contrast towards the packed and humid apartment that he and Su Lizhen used to live in. there's something poignant yet beautiful about it, making it withstand the test of time.
architecture is, after all, simply humanity's best effort to outwit their inescapable mortality to get closer to the timelessness of this universe.
DAY TWO. THE SOUND
nha trang (khánh hoà) > tuy hoà (phú yên) > quy nhơn (bình định)
if Vietnam was a living organism, then its hearts would be the cities and its blood vessels would be the roads. day two was not a very photographic day as we spend most of our day on the road in order to get to quy nhơn in time. we went to nha trang beach in the morning. after swimming for an hour, we get back to the hotel to checkout, eat lunch, and go. I took a few photos at the beach, but they were crappy so I deleted them. after this day, I no longer bring my camera to the beach to immerse myself fully in the experience.
I also dedicated most of my time finishing the sài gòn blog amidst unstable wifi connection and blogger shutting down for the thousandth time. in spite of everything, I finished it.
quy nhơn (bình định) > quảng ngãi > tam kỳ (quảng nam)
day three is pretty much like day two, with lots of travelling, except that we get to do a few more things. I managed to buy Vietnamese literature textbooks for 12th graders (the last grade before entering university) to read along the way. besides, we also visited Hàn Mặc Tử's resting place in bình định. as a poet in the romantic movement, his life is tied to many lovers and famously the four "bình": he was born in quảng bình, he worked as a journalist for tân bình newspapers, his lover was from bình thuận and he was burried at bình định.
this also reminds me of vietnam's last king bảo đại, whose palace was in đà lạt, and the infamous number 13 that intertwined with his fate. bảo đại was born in 1913, he was made king when he was 13 (in 1926). and it's not even any normal king, he was the 13th king of the nguyễn dynasty. his reign was not continuous, but if you add all the years he actually reigned, you end up with a net 13-year period. work aside, he also has 13 official children from various wives. up until his death, he was burried right at 13:00 due to a rain that came earlier. after his death, his beloved rolex reference 6062 was named the most expensive watch in the world after an auction in geneva, standing at costed 113 billion vietnam dong at the time.
I've also have such patterns in my life, but they form as a result of self-fulfiling prophecy. scientifically talking, in my case, it was nothing but placebo effect, and I have the choice to believe it, or not. jokes aside, on the fourth day (in Vietnamese, wednesday is called the 4th day), I managed to publish 4 more blogs on my website, with all of them being about music.
to cap off our day, we also tried the famous cơm gà tam kỳ (tam kỳ chicken rice) at a street vendor. not very hygienic but it was delicious and I didn't have any food poisoning aferwards. 5/5 must try. sorry I didn't take any photos, we were ravenous.
DAY FOUR. LAM
tam kỳ (quảng nam) > hội an (quảng nam) > đà nẵng
we spent most of today looking at the sky, hence the name lam, which means blue in vietnamese.
lam is also a very common vietnamese name. beside lam, hồng (pink), and bạch (white), we don't really have other names based on any color.
in the morning, we visit the monuments for the Vietnamese brave mothers (tượng đài bà mẹ Việt Nam anh hùng), or more specifically, mẹ Thứ. her 9 children, 2 grandchildren and 1 son-in-law are all martyrs in the French and American war on Vietnam, making her the women with most sacrificed children and grandchilren in the war. if I were her, I honestly don't know how to deal with all the trauma that such news bring. the monument with her centered is currently Vietnam and Southeast Asia's biggest momument. with its entirety carved from sandstone based on a sketch by Vietnamese artist Đinh Gia Thắng.
the monument is budgeted to take 81 billion vietnam dong, but ended up costing up to 411 billion vietnam dong. this has caused regional and national unrests with many citizens concerned with the state's lavish spending while quảng nam still lacks a lot of infrastructural resources for education, transportation and related services.
we also visited a resevoir nearby. it was cool seeing geography in action.
to cap off our day, we also went to đà nẵng beach. it was super crowded and like I said, I took 0 photos.
going to the beach makes me wonder how wrong our assumptions about prehistoric humans could be. what if they're not boring at we think? what if they don't spend their days just surviving? why don't we think about all the times that they've swam in the beach, gazed at the stars, and enjoyed the simple pleasure of life?
the advancement of a civilization should not be measured in terms of economic products and technological advancements.
but how much people in that civilization knew how to enjoy themselves.
for our spiritual lives and all our lost time cannot be bought back.
DAY FIVE. el CORAZÓN de la CASA
the heart of the house
đà nẵng
after days of running from one tourist attraction to another, we spent most of our fifth day paying visits to our relatives. one was my cousin to my dad's side, who's currently a monk at Hưng Quang pagoda. another one was aunt Trinh (I'm not really sure of her relaitons to me so I won't try to explain that here). her french husband passed away due to COVID-19 a few years ago, so we stop by to listen to her story. she made delicious carrot and pineapple smoothie. loved it.
I remember having this epiphany two times, one time on the fifth day and another on the last day of the trip, about the purpose of why we travel. party to see sights, but mainly to learn about the value of our home and the comfort it has to offer. there's no place like home, really. I don't care how many stars a hotel has, but it never goes without a night that I struggle to find something to substitute for the long hug pillow that I had back home. it also never goes without a day to face malls that have everything but the bidet shower (the small sprayer next to the toielt seat). I wonder what I'd miss about vietnam when I study abroad, but that's definitely the 2 things I can think off my head.
talking about the pagoda, we also spent some time reading through comics about karma's cause-and-effect mechanisms. the art was cringe and some was very entertaining. I remember seeing one being "cause: spending lavishly, effect: broke."
before going to aunt Trinh's home, I also faked being a photographer to take a few photos for my mom during her training sessions. lmao everyone thought I was the photographer and they freaked out.
DAY SIX. BÀ NÀ BRYN
bà nà hills
đà nẵng
we spent most of our days in bà nà hills. the main highlight of that day is I met a very cute couple asking me to take photos for them... twice (at two different places). I was in a rush so I forgot to ask for their contacts to send some of the photos for them. I was positive about it before going on the cable cars, as it wasn't very crowded. my trust shattered as I went to the french village. it was so fucking packed and there's no way in hell I can find them. day six is pretty much me honing my skills of taking decent photos without making it look crowded and extend the main-character moment for whoever I was taking photos for.
moral of the story: don't rush. there're things that happen only a few times, sometimes, only once in life. you never know if you'd ever meet that person or that moment again.
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anh Tiến in peach shirt and and Phúc in red shirt |
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doomsday is close at hand I'll book the marching band to play as you speak |
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you can drive all night looking for the answers in the pouring rain |
DAY SEVEN AND EIGHT. QUARTER REST
đà nẵng > kon tum > pleiku (gia lai) > đắk lắk > đà lạt
god spent the seventh day resting, so did I. as I finished the rest of my pending blogs, I pretty much spend this day reading through the books that I bought and gaze at the gorgeous passes of vietnam. we ate our dinner in a slightly different way: we tried the food of ethnic people. I swear it tasted very organic.
on the eighth day, we also visited sea lake (biển hồ), which was also really stunning. I also bought more Vietnamese literature textbooks for 5th and 9th graders. we spent the rest of our days racing to đà lạt to spend the night.
there's this sentiment that a late night eating in đà lạt brings you. the hunger, the cold, all dissolves to nothing when you get to eat đà lạt's food: bánh tráng nướng, cơm tấm, etc. with those you love. I think those were among the few moments that I felt truly belonged.
DAY NINE. ĐÀ LẠT
đà lạt > sài gòn
this is me coming to đà lạt for the fifth time in my lifetime to finish things that I haven't done before leaving for the US. we visited Linh Ứng pagoda, paddled on duck/swan-shaped boats across xuân hương lake before heading back to home to the night.
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