Home - via Hue, Bangkok and Tokyo

How nice to be home after the last few days being so full. Friday morning Duc, one of the Vietnamese staffers, took us to the amazing market in Dong Ha.  It was great to have a local along to explain everything and also get the discount they're given.  Such a busy place!  While I enjoyed all the faces and exotic things for sale, it was quite difficult to see animals in cages, fish still squirming, and all kinds of fowl squawking and flapping their wings.  Also a bit uncomfortable to be grabbed and have people yelling , "You! You!" at you to buy their goods or give them money.

Then off to Hue, a lovely town (that has an airport) on the Perfume River.  Still a French influence, and easy to see that in its day it was quite the place.  We visited the citadel, the royal compound that we bombed.

We had an early flight Saturday to Hanoi, so we could get back to Bangkok.  After being cold and damp in Vietnam, it was nice to be in Bangkok and feel that 90 degree heat again.  We managed to figure out how to take the new local train to downtown, transfer (twice!) to the Skytrain and find our destination, the Jim Thompson House.  Rumor has it he was a CIA agent and one of the first Americans to be a big silk importer, and he mysteriously disappeared in the 60s.  Only trouble was, we ended up going to one of the stores, not the lovely house that is open for tours.  But we laughed and agreed that it's the journey.... and we saw a bit of Bangkok and got out of the hotel for a while.

Our long trip home had a layover in Tokyo, and fortunately we made it through without any delays. Our hearts go out to the Japanese in this very very difficult, tragic time.

So thanks for coming along with me - I've got a photo album posted on my Facebook page and will get a slideshow up soon, let me know if you want the link.

Take care!

In the field

This is Binh, and he lost a leg to a landmine when he was still quite young. He's fallen on hard times recently and a grant from Clear Path allowed him and his wife to buy piglets to raise, breed and sell for income and food. I love his smile!

Kha was out playing in the street near his home and picked up something shiny that had a couple wires sticking out of it. He stuck those wires in a kitchen socket which exploded the device and damaged his left eye and his hand. Skin was grafted off his leg to repair his hand and he continues to get care for his eyes. Life has become even more difficult for him as he had to miss a lot of school, studying is more challenging, and simple tasks like showering must now be done with more care and concentration.

Between visiting the beneficiaries homes today, we took a side trip to the DMZ and the Vinh Moc tunnels. Very interesting and educational. Learned a lot more about what happened before our intervention in the early 60's. Also fascinating to see photos from the war, which looked so dated, but was just in my childhood. The tunnel system is very impressive. An amazing network of hand-dug tunnels where people fled to avoid the bombing. Tiny, tiny rooms, lit only by candles or gas lamps, and small niches called the "delivery room" or "hospital", but just a space. Three different levels, one 23 meters deep, some with exits to the beach, some on the hilltop. Can not imagine.

The souvenirs we left behind:

The Dong Ha CPI Office

The Clear Path team in Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, is truly inspirational. It has been so heartwarming to see them in action, both in the office and at the homes of the beneficiaries. Chi, Duc, Nhi, Phuong, and Tam are compassionate, attentive, and very respectful. I was happy to learn that Clear Path is well-known here in Quang Tri, and 95% of the time they respond to an accident within 24 hours, even on weekends. It was also nice to see the Clear Path logo on display in restaurants and museums. The locals know they can count on CPI to help them if needed for victim assistance.

Besides providing direct assistance to UXO (unexploded ordnance) victims in the form of reimbursement for medical costs, CPI also helps them in other areas. An accident can leave a family without a breadwinner, a devastating loss. Only children living below the poverty level here (about $2800 annual income per family) are allowed to go to school for free, so Clear Path helps with scholarships for those children that need them. Grants can also be made to help a family get back on their feet after an accident. The economic impact of a UXO accident is dramatic. Besides medical expenses, the time spent in the hospital is time away from farming or working. If a child is in the hospital, a parent is usually with them as well, or the transportation costs to get continued medical care are steep.

Some people request a grant to use the money to purchase chickens, piglets, cows, or other farm animals which can generate income and provide a food source. Clear Path takes care to learn the specific needs of accident victims.

The staff here has also started a program to get accident victims in touch with each other to provide caring and support. A recent victim can get inspiration and affirmation from one who has overcome his disability. Groups are taken on field trips, a very special event here. They also participate in the Vietnamese version of special olympics, a wonderful program.

It's sad to think that more than 40 years after the war accidents still happen from UXOs, ruining lives and families. CPI Vietnam provides stellar services in victim assistance here, and I salute them.

Dong Ha

Wednesday morning we went to the CPI office here in Dong Ha where Chi gave us our full schedule which includes home visits and a few historical sites along the way. Chi used to be a tour guide in the DMZ, so I'm sure that will be very interesting.

Yesterday Chi took Laurie and me to three separate homes of people that have been helped by Clear Path. The first was Tuan, a vry reserved man who lost an arm and a hand to a UXO (unexploded ordnance). The money he received from CPI helped him start a little storefront business in his home where his neighbors can come to purchase various items. He also bought some chickens for eggs, to breed for sale, and for meat. Being able to take care of one's family is very important to heads of households and helps them maintain their dignity.

As we were driving to the different homes, we learned many interesting things from Chi. A high percentage of the UXO accidents happen while people are scavenging for scrap metal. They can make a significant amount of money, in their terms, by selling metal, and it's fast and easy for them. Metal detectors are readily available and most people are still unaware of the dangers involved. Chi also said that most accident victims don't understand that these explosives came from us, they think it's just their bad luck if they are hurt by them.

We also met Lang, a very gregarious man in his fifties who lost both his hands to a UXO. He has learned to ride a bicycle, he's cleared several acres of land by himself, and he participates regularly in the Vietnamese equivalent of Special Olympics as a swimmer.

And Tai, a young woman whose husband was killed by a UXO when he was searching for scrap metal. Losing her husband meant losing all her income as he was the breadwinner. CPI helped cover the funeral costs and provides scholarship money for her two children to stay in school. She faces many challenges now, as she will also need to relocate and provide for her son and daughter.

While it is so very sad to hear some of these stories, it is also encouraging to see the CPI staff helping peole and providing the support they need to lead as normal a life as possible.

International Women's Day

is quite the big deal here! This is the equivalent of Mother's Day in many countries, but bigger. When Melody and I walked around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi this morning, there were many people giving flowers and being very kind to their wives and moms. Later we flew to Hue and were driven to Dong Ha to meet the CPI staff and join them for dinner, and they gave us all pretty flowers, too!

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present, and future. Hilary Clinton has mentioned it and supports it. We were even honored on our boat in Ha Long Bay with a salad plate with cucumber slices arranged in a heart with a tomato rose in the middle! Here in Vietnam, they also celebrate Vietnamese Women's Day in October, so women here get two honoring holidays.

So hats off and good wishes to all my women friends who read this.

Tomorrow we meet with staff here and visit home sites.

Ha Long Bay

Just got back from two nights on a funky boat in Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site, over 350 islands. We each a had a room to ourselves and felt very well taken care of by our Captain, Lion, cook Toan, and guide Tien. The tour company we chose was the only eco choice for Ha Long Bay, and while we did not exactly have luxurious accommodations, we were very comfortable. Some sunshine would have been nice, but we felt so at home in the fog and drizzle. Because this company willingly picks up trash (there's a lot, unfortunately) they are allowed to go off the usual tourist course and find more secluded anchorages.

The water is that gorgeous tropical turquoise and many limestone karsts, or towers, reach up out of the water. We saw many fish farms, basically floating shacks with many pens for growing fish. Not a bad place to live, but definitely not a hub of cultural activity. Dogs live at every farm and are very adept at walking across the narrow wooden planks between pens. It's their job to scare the birds away so they don't eat the small fish.

Kayaked quite a bit, a couple times through some caves with many stalagmites - very prehistoric feeling, quiet, beautiful. Rode bikes (like ancient beach cruisers, no gears) in the rain to a remote village on Cat Ba island, then trekked to some caves we walked through.

Our guide, Tien, is a 22-year-old who recently finished university getting a degree in business administration. He has only learned English on his own and tried so hard to talk to us and learn all he could from us. A real gentleman, he often held out his hand to help us old ladies across bridges and slippery logs. His father is a cardiologist who also served as a medic during the war, helping both Vietnamese and American soldiers.

Our cook, 28 year old Toan, fixed us the most fabulous meals from super fresh local fish and produce. I really saw our lunch swimming in the galley in the morning. It took us a little while to get used to the staff watching us eat, but they would leave after all the many courses were delivered to our table and they were certain that we were doing OK.

Our captain, Lion, kept us safe and took us to the most beautiful, secluded, quiet anchorages where we were the only boat. He used to have a fishing boat and be out on the open water, but now loves this easy life of taking tourists to beautiful quiet places.

We also visited Monkey Island and saw wild monkeys! They are a rare species and we couldn't exactly understand Tien as to their proper name, but they had the longest tails and were very cute! The matriarch of the tribe has a bright red face.

And now we are back in Hanoi, where there is no Facebook per the government, so hopefully Ed will log into my accounts and post these. Can you imagine?

It is still cool and rainy, and the traffic is just as bad as it was when we left. I am truly terrified to cross the street, as no one even looks at the traffic lights, when they work, and the congestion is beyond belief. I'm looking forward to going to Hue tomorrow and seeing a different part of this country. Also anticipate meeting the Clear Path staff there and doing some home visits, some filming, and learning more about the projects in that area. But before we leave, a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, similar to Green Lake. Maybe we'll have some sun tomorrow, tomorrow....

Hanoi

Another long exciting day! It started in Luang Prabang with an early wake-up call as we joined our innkeeper in his daily morning ritual of giving alms, or food, to the monks. It's a beautiful procession as there are about 3,000 monks living in over fifty temples in the small town. They all walk barefoot and carry a bucket with a tin pan lid on it which they constantly open and close (with a bit of a flourish) to receive rice balls and cookies and other food items. When the procession ended we went to the closest temple where Von gave the monks there a bucket of rice. Any extra food from the monks goes to the very poor on the outside of town.

Then off to the waterfalls outside of Luang Prabang in a van shared with a couple from Switzerland. Beautiful waterfalls, kids swimming, bugs chirping, and butterflies. Bit of a mixup timewise as Von thought our plane was at 1:30 instead of 3:00. No wonder our driver was so anxious and drove like a crazy man!

And now we are in Vietnam and Hanoi! Wow, a very busy, intense, crowded, and interesting city. And you thought New Yorkers honk their horns a lot! Went to a little local hole-in-the-wall and had some pho, the local noodle dish. All three of us ate for $5 and it was good.

Tomorrow off on a boat for two nights, so no electronic communication till Tuesday probably. Stay tuned!

On the Mekong

We arrived in Luang Prabang yesterday afternoon via prop plane, which was surprisingly smooth. The interesting thing was that we asked for seats up front in the plane, and we boarded through the rear, and first class seats are in the back! Who knew? The terrain changed from the flat of Vientiane to rolling hills and actual mountains. Luang Prabang is right on the Mekong River where it converges with the smaller Nam Khan River. This town is very old and definitely has more of a French feel about it.

We were so happy to be greeted by Von, the innkeeper at our guest house, Chitdara, right on the Mekong. He is so warm and friendly with the most lovely accent that we feel quite at home, and all the beautiful, rich wood paneling adds to the charm.

In the afternoon we walked around the main part of town, did a little shopping, and climbed, according to Melody's count, 328 steps to That Phousy, a hilltop shrine/stupa. While at the top we just relaxed on the steps and watched the sun sinking beyond the mountains.

Below - the night market! Abuzz with people of so many nationalities and locals selling handicrafts. So many beautiful fabrics and colors - scarves, linens, bags, clothing. Sometimes you want to buy something just to give the sellers money as they seem to need it so desperately. It doesn't seem worth the bother to haggle a price down a dollar or two, I'd just as soon give it to the them.

Today we took a boat excursion up the Mekong to Pak Ou Caves, which are set into limestone cliffs and crammed with supposedly over a thousand images of Buddha. These big steps made the ones yesterday seem like a walk in the park! We also make a stop at Whiskey Village where we sampled Laos Whiskey, a sweetish kind of rice wine/liquor not much to my liking.

But more fun than the stops was the boat ride itself and the nice young captain who took our party of five, me, Melody, Laurie, and two German women. Turns out they were both traveling solo and had just met here in Laos and decided to stay together for a while. They were so delightful. One was about our age, lives in Munich and works for a large corporation that checks out hotels and rental cars for tourists. She just got back from nine months in Israel and decided it was time she did a trip on her own and she was having a blast. The other younger woman was actually Austrian and on her way to meet her boyfriend in India. As the ride was two hours there and one hour back we had time for several interesting discussions about national guilt, relative to a German in Israel and Americans in SE Asia. Also talked about families and kids, etc etc. A very enjoyable day, a lovely, lush river. (Couldnt' help but think about Apacolypse Now and the Ride of the Valkyries.) But seriously, it is so hard to imagine what it must have been like for those soldiers, not to mention the villagers, back in the time of the war.

This morning I got up early before we caught our boat to go to the cash machine and was fortunate enough to see the monks walking through town asking for alms. The locals give them rice and food and pray at the temple. Tomorrow morning we'll go back and watch the whole ritual, then in the afternoon we fly to Hanoi. From Hanoi we will go to Halong Bay for two nights on a boat, so no internet or blog for a while.

Could write more about the wonderful dinner we had, the rickety bamboo bridge we walked over to cross the river, or the fabulous foot massages we had, but need to post this and get packed and get ready for another adventure tomorrow!

In Laos

Yesterday and today I met so many amazing, dedicated, courageous people: a woman with a disability who opened up her home to help other women with disabilities and now runs a sustainable educational center to teach those women with disabilities skills and independence; an eighteen-year-old student in that center who has learned to weave with one hand; women who run a nation-wide union of Laos women; a man who has lived in SE Asia for over twenty years and is dedicated to helping clear the area of unexploded ordnance; volunteers who help run a shop to build and deliver wheelchairs to those in need of them; and people determined to set up clinics in the provinces to provide the most basic of heath care. Traveling and meeting with other non-governmental agencies gives such an insight into the people and culture of a country, and truly makes me appreciate how much I have, and realize how some live with so little. While it's difficult to learn how much some of the local agencies are struggling to provide basic services, it's encouraging to see their optimism and determination to provide services.

On a different note, Vientiane is an interesting city - exotic smells, crowded streets, temples, heat, and humidity. We made an early morning visit to a stupa and enjoyed walking around watching the city come to life.

Tomorrow we leave this capital and head north to Luang Prabang.