Rice Wine and Unwind
Greatest Moment: I sit here, overlooking the beautiful islands that border Southern Vietnam’s coast, and think of our time in Northern Vietnam. How different it is! We can faithfully boast that Northern Vietnam countryside is one of the most beautiful landscapes we have seen yet—which is hard to contest with the uninhabited islands of Indonesia, the tea plantations of Malaysia, and the ancient structures of Angkor. But during our three day ride through the winding (and sometimes sickening) roads to the border of China, we saw the farming fields disrupted by gigantic, free standing, limestone mountains. These cliffs shadowed the rice patties and corn crops, the mob of water buffalo and farmers, and were scattered throughout the landscape as if they had fallen from the sky, each one a drop separated from the other. Some were used for quarries, as new roads were being built. We loved our drive to the border of China, and we loved it even more when the destination was before us. Ban Gioc Waterfall was a fairytale garden. We danced like nymphs through the shallow and mossy waters, feeling the slimy rocks hold strong as we jumped from one to another. The waterfall seemed endless, once we got closer we only discovered new cascading heights. It was the most beautiful waterfall we have ever seen.
Worst Moment: The after-effects of rice wine. We stayed at a Homestay that supplied an endless amount of home-made rice wine for shots during dinner. A crazy fun night that ended with more rice wine and beer during a card game. Poor April’s stomach may never be the same! Rice wine, while less strong than other spirits, has its unsettling grip on one’s stomach no matter how much they drink of it, and feeling its hold while driving back through the winding (and this time, literally sickening) roads was not fun.
Lesson Learned: Buddhism is a wide and differing discipline. To one it is a religion, to another it is only a philosophy. One can live by the large wheel of life in Buddhism, and others by a small wheel of life. If you slaughter another creature inhumanly, then you will be reborn as that creature to be slaughtered. Equality, is the foundation of Buddhist’s beliefs and mentality. Master monks are vegetarians and do not look more than two feet in front of them in case their steps may harm a small creature’s life. Monks, of both genders, behave differently in Vietnam as they do in Thailand, and there is a strain of pseudo-monks that dress the part but beg for a living. A pagoda is visually like a temple in Vietnam, wherein Cambodia and Thailand it is a slim and tall structure of worship. Monks are there to relieve the suffering of people, and focus on their spirit and their mind. People go to them when they struggle with any situation or idea, and the monks will guide them with the lessons of Buddha. To unburden their stresses, and focus their insight. As we have posted before, there are similarities to Buddhism and other religions, but they differ so much in intention, philosophy, and outlook.
Cultural Insight: We learned about the H’mong people. H’mong men have always been known to be strong and large, and were recruited by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. After the war ended, the communistic government did not treat them well, and so the majority of them have left Vietnam for America and Thailand. But those that have stayed, stay in the mountains. They seclude themselves from other villages, and still keep their old traditions alive. Of which, is their tradition of courting. Their markets are not there for buying one’s food, but as an opportunity for the young single women to get dolled up in make-up and traditional dress, and walk up and down the stalls to show off. If she meets a man she likes, she will give him her number. They will date for a while, and if things get serious, the man will break into her home one night and “kidnap” her. I use that term lightly, as she expects him to do this. He will bring her back to his house with the aid of his friends, and put her up in a room of her own in his family’s house. This room must have a window, so that she is free to escape if she wishes. She then spends three days at the house, living with him and his family, and on the third day she will decide if she wishes to marry him or not. If so, the man’s family will buy chickens, pigs, rice wine, and sugar cane and present them to the woman’s family with a bunch of money, which is all to be used for the wedding ceremony.
