Around 500 people visit Hue Phuoc pagoda in Ben Tre province daily to see the elderly woman whose hair is over 5 meters long. VietNamNet reporters arrived at the pagoda around 9am on a hot day in late March 2010. When they came, several dozens of visitors had already entered to burn incense and pray. They also hoped to see an old woman named Miss Tu, famous for her long hair.
Residents explained that while this pagoda is new, it attracts a lot of visitors even from the northern and central region because of Miss Tu. Miss Tu is a 73-year-old woman who always sits on a camp-bed, with her hair splayed out for visitors to see, but she doesn’t allow anyone to take her photo or to film her.
Senior monk Thich Chuc Tue, who manages the pagoda, told VietNamNet that, at the beginning, this was a private pagoda named Chua La. Miss Tu and the monk asked the pagoda owner’s permission to live here in 1986. At that time, the monk was a hermit and Miss Tu was a Buddhist nun with very long hair.
The title to the post is not meant to discourage the reader in any way, but rather invite the weak of heart to partake into some rather unusual activities. This is part of the magical, Mekong Tour, and by this time, lunch is hopefully in the process of being digested in your stomach. You can handle the bees, the cobras and anything else that comes your way.
By now, you have clearly understood that the Mekong River Delta is huge. It has more tributaries than you have hair on your head. Once you get further into this water network, expanses of water such as the one above will disappear, and you and nature will become much more intimate. The boats gets smaller as the canals do as well; take note of these canal names: Tan Thach, Thoi Son, Bao Dinh and the smaller river of Tien, Tortoise Island, Dragon and Phenix though you may not get to land on the latter two. As you can see, I am writing them down myself, otherwise, you'd never be able to get this blog entry.
Now remember this is Southern Viet Nam, and it's almost marshlands. It's very hot, but the excitement of being here makes us look normal.
This woman, on the other hand, is a native and sees no reason to exert herself unnecessarily. In fact, hammocks are ubiquitous here, as there are plenty of trees to serve as anchors.Our boat has arrived, and we are told that there are special treats awaiting us. The ground is muddy in some areas, so here again, I suggest you wear shoes that have rubber souls and that hold your ankle firmly. But out of the mud, grow some of the most beautiful fruit and flowers you can imagine: just like the lotus!
This marvelous hedge is made up solely of cacti, and they are taller than I am! You can also see the very narrow pathway which leads to the area where we will be hosted. I never stopped imagining, as I walked these narrow ribbons of land, men fighting each other, carrying weapons and heavy artillery and other loads on their backs...in the stifling heat. This beautiful pineapple is also growing out of the mud. Amazing!
We finally arrive at what I will call a "clearing". I see a very young girl holding an enormous flat beehive, as if she were playing the piano. Her tranquil face somehow does not betray any fear or emotional distress. I'm quietly thinking that she knows every bee by name. I am told that when honey comes directly from the hive, it has the most exquisite taste. So the party is about to begin. Before we can do any tasting, we are all encouraged to take part in sticking our finger smack in the center of the hive. Thoughts are darting in my mind, and I recall a day in the north of Thailand, when Chuck and I rode an elephant; the mere idea had petrified me, and yet, after the hour ride was over, I was thrilled that I had not given in to my apprehension. Well here's another one of those moments.
Ok, now take your time, and try to guess which one of these pictures is me? I know it's hard, but I later find out that the beautiful young girl is blind, and that perhaps explains her calm. I close my eyes in an attempt to gain some of that confidence, but unfortunately, the camera has, once again, caught my expression of terror. Come a little closer so you can see what I'm dealing with.
There are some rewards for this exercise. After everyone, well almost everyone, has gotten a turn, we are invited to sit at the tables, and we are each given a small cup which contains pure honey. Limes, an essential ingredient into almost every dish here in Viet Nam also appear in small plates, and this is when it gets creative. Squeeze as much or as little as you want on top of the honey and drink while warm. Believe me, you CANNOT recreate this at home, no matter how much you try. Not the same.
The choreographer of this tour must have realized that after this experience, we all really need to stay seated and be entertained. This is going to be our first exposure to authentic Viet Nam folk music. (remember this blog doesn't go in any order). Ok, get ready for a hands on - I have downloaded for you the song which is most often sung here along with instrumentation. You'll fell as if you've been there!!
Now as you listen, look at her and the strings which accompany her belong to the gentleman behind her and there was another man to the right of her; if you look very carefully at the picture you will see part of his pink shirt.
I did not do this. I was amazed that Chuck actually let the creature around his neck since he was not too keen about the small monkeys in Bali jumping around us. There were quite a few people in their early twenties in our group who were back packers, and they took to the snake like a fish in water. I prefer to socialize with reptiles when they are behind glass, as in a zoo.
I spent a few minutes looking at souvenirs, which are basically the same everywhere. However, there were some coarse embroidery pictures that caught my eye, and I decided to get one. It was my very first, and would pave the way to bigger and better ones in our visit to Nah Trang and later, Ha Noi. It hangs in my living room now, with some finer embroideries, and Chuck's photography of Ha Long Bay and one of the temple entrances in Ha Noi's old quarter.
They also had small orchid plants on display but I didn't want to take the risk of purchasing them, as they will not allow you back into the US with any kind of flora. As a matter of fact, in Thailand, they package their orchids specifically for export, so that you can purchase them and take them with you, or they will ship. We spent half a day at an orchid farm north of Chiang Mai where I took hundreds of pictures of orchids. They were stunning.
When in the Mekong, buy coconut anything. It's the coconut capital of Viet Nam.
Imagine yourself on a riverboat navigating the web of canals which make up the Mekong Delta. All around is the lushest, greenest palms you can imagine, and when the light filters through them at a certain angle, you might think it a corner of heaven. Yes it's quite hot, but somehow, the motion of the barge and the chatter of the guide keeps your mind occupied. My eyes are all over the place, as usual, and my fingers can't write fast enough. So in this water highway, I note a sign which signals we have arrived at destination. This is where coconut candy is made by one family, - the entire operation is done by hand as the pictures below prove. Not so much for domestic consumption, but to feed the Chinese frenzy for coconut to the tune of 2,000 metric tons annually. This is your stairway to heaven, literally. If you have equilibrium problems, this is not for you. The barge anchors itself to the side, so as not to interfere with incoming traffic, as these water lanes get more narrow as the trip progresses.Whatever your hang ups, the wafts of coconut aroma will make you spring to your feet in an instant. You are in Ben Tre Province, and that is so noted on every package of sweets you purchase here. Have you ever seen Green Coconut? Well I don't think anyone here did, but we got over it as soon as we tasted it.
This was our proverbial welcome mat and I would have gladly thrown myself on it had I not had any reserve. It was piping hot, as it had just made its way from a deep, concave shaped pot where the coconut is mixed by hand. They let the guests help themselves to this glob and must hurry to provide a new batch as it disappears quite quickly.
He is what I call the master of ceremonies. He stirs the coconut over an open flame, and inserts the vegetable dye that will give the color. They also produce plain coconut, coconut with peanut which has a cappuccino sort of color, and there is also chocolate coconut, which again, was a new experience for the palate, but none the less ethereal.
The young woman on the other hand, also stirring, seems to be very far from Ben Tre Province, at least in her thoughts. In these parts, especially the South, women are usually covered, and not because of modesty. They considered tanned body parts ugly, and want their skin to remain as close to white as possible. Even in Sai Gon, in unbearably hot and humid weather, one will see most women on their scooters, or walking with arms completely covered, and only the eyes are visible as a kerchief covers the rest of the face.
On the floor are masses of coconut shells, which will not go to waste. It is astounding how a war economy has instilled in the Viet Namese the need to recycle everything, re-use everything, and make use as well of every part of an item, like the coconut. The shells are used in making some of the most beautiful wooden items for the table. In fact, prior to coming here, I had already been smitten with coconut tea sets, which I never dare to use, but loved the way they looked. In Bali, we had also seen furnishing made of coconut, and in different shades. Thailand also has a penchant for things coconutty. See what happens at this point, as the "blob" is transformed into long narrow strips which are about 1/4" thick. From this point on, it is only the women that are working on the finishing.Notice that the ribbons are sitting on a cutting board awaiting the axe. You can see how they've got this down to a "science", and are using their senses to cut them into perfect squares.
What happens next is even more fascinating. There are about six women all seated around the table, each having edible rice paper which are cut to size (I don't know who does the cutting here, as we had no chance to observe) and which they fold exactly the same way without even looking at the squares. The boxes which will hold these morsels are also in front of the ladies, so as they fold them, they are also filling up the box which normally holds two layers of candies. One can continue watching this process or proceed to the counter, where purchases of the boxed items can be made. They do offer other goods, but it's unthinkable to buy anything but coconut here. We decide that we're going to splurge and buy one of each of the three varieties. In hindsight, it was not enough. It is high time for me to move on and check out the merchandise. I'm trying to be careful, as habitually, when we travel to Asia, we return with more suitcases than when we depart. This trip was no exception. And suitcases are dirt cheap in Sai gon.
You can see the artistic ability of the Viet Namese is not lacking at all: miniature animals, - there are crabs, pigs, turtles (lucky pet here) rabbits, birds as well as functional items such as napkin holders, business card holders, ashtrays, ramekins with covers, sailboats?? And here we have on the floor more raw material, which will be transformed into beautiful art forms. The fiber which is found on the surface of the coconut is called "coir", and I'm not sure that Viet Nam has learned how to use this in papermaking, but in other Southeast Asian countries, it's a favorite ingredient for strengthening the paper. It is also exported to other countries as a mattress filler, and as a fertilizer. And don't forget soap and other beauty products. Frankly, I'd just rather eat it.
One cannot linger too long, as visitors keep on arriving, and the area is too small to handle more than one boat load at a time. As soon as we were seated on the barge, we began to sample our treasures. I don't think they lasted to the end of our trip. But when I returned to the U.S., the invisible hand of coincidence found me a Viet Namese supermarket who imported the heavenly morsels from Ben Tre Province. No, not the green kind, but hey, who cares? I still shop there occasionally, and the shop has greatly expanded. But for some reason, the coconut candy has disappeared.
This video is a snapshot of the day we spent at the Mekong Delta; but it's much more! With moving pictures you can appreciate the sounds of this enchanting voyage.
