Buddha's and beer

Sunday 27th n
And we decided to head out of the city going south west, to visit a country village, and the Thay Pagoda, this Pagoda was built in the 11 century and is well preserved. Built on a lake, and surrounded by limestone mountains , it really is worth the visit

The name of the town is Saison, and is a mostly buddhist village, as can be seen from the
5 colors of the buddhists in the flag above the hill

the artifacts inside are fantastic.

The three buddhas along the wall are identical to each other, and they represent our lives. The past on the left, the present, and the future on the right.

There was a religion gong frame in the pagoda, and on the frame as you can see in the photo, there was a swastika symbol. I asked about that and was told that the Hindu and the Buddhists had used this symbol for cejruties before Hitler adopted it, and it is the symbol for their eternity, you learn something every day if your open to it.

On the way to the village of SO ( pronounced Saw), We passed acres of rice paddy, and often there were these grave markers hap hazardly placed in the fields. Turns out that when someone dies here, they are buried on thebfamily land, for three years, then dug up and reburied in a cemetery elsewhere, could find out why, but apparently cemetery plots are expensive, so they get buried at home till thefamily can save enough to move them.

In the village, i got to meet Mrs Bick, she is 86 years old and works every day. The ladies here though, consider black teeth to be beautiful. She chews three times a day to keep her teeth black, and she chews on Beetle Nut leaves with lime and calcium lyme. She showed me, and her lips, gums and tounge immediately went red, it must play hell on her health, but apparently not. She was really fun, lived in her new house that has marble stairs, but not enough money yet for doors, paint or stair rails.

Mrs Bick, at 86, black teeth is beautiful, just ask her. She gave me a hug, i think she felf sorry for me, i didnt let on i had just spent 4 grand on my teeth.

Walking the village, they were making noodles, vermicceli noodles. They make them in a little home factory, then dry the sheets of noodle out in the sun, along the roadside, getting covered in dust, i have eaten them whilste here, and i survived, so i guess it cant be too bad.

Transport is by bike, no matter what you need to move out.

Back to Hanoi for a last dinner as i leave for Bangkok early in the morning. Its been a great trip, loved it all, but i am not a fan of the city. There are 80,000 people per square kilometer, that means each person lives in a space of 0.5 to 1.8 sq meters,each a little too tight for me.

Before heading to the hotel, i am here, so ivisited the Maison Centrale, also knon as Hoa Lo Prison, which the american prisoners nick named The Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War.

It was built in the late 1800s by the French, who used it for political prisoners till the 1954, touring the place, its obvious the French were brutal, but the propoganda about the americans is quite laughable, apparently the Americans were the devil and treated innocent Viet very badly, performing many attrocities, and bombing Hanoi, which they did once, for 12 days.