down by the bay

the next portion of our trip was one of the most highly anticipated - our excursion to halong bay. we set the trip up just a day before, with our super friendly hanoi hotel staff. the price difference between the mid-range and top-range boats wasn't much and we'd heard the food was substantially better, so we opted for a slightly nicer package. and so, the next morning we found ourselves in a van with a bunch of other tourists, who i assume were all, like us, trying to determine what in the world our guide was talking about. something about bridges? where he went to school? who can say.

on board

the trip (after he stopped talking) was pleasant and largely uneventful - except for a stop at a horrific shopping warehouse. you know, the kind where they have faux greek goddess statues and giant paintings with gold flecked backgrounds and everything's eight times what you'd actually pay for it. the kind of place they must go to decorate every single cruise ship. and we were left to peruse for forty-five minutes. i think i left with a postcard and a pack of gum. anyway - after a few more miles of rice paddies we arrived at the bay, where we boarded the tender (weird name) to our junk (even weirder name). our little boat was quite cute. we had a cozy little stateroom (isn't it weird that there's a 'stateroom' on a 'junk'? such a disparity) and, upstairs, a shared dining room/common area and, above that a deck with some lounge chairs.

it was about lunch time by then so we all sat down at the table and prepared to tuck in. this seems like a good time to introduce our boatmates, as it was when we actually met them as well. there was the russian couple.. the male part of which looked exactly like a butch-er ron weasley - his face was as red as his hair - who generally kept his arm firmly around his girlfriend (probably because she did seem rather out of his league. but really, on this boat there was not a lot of competition). then we had a fun chinese couple from singapore - he liked to make jokes then sometimes repeat them in case the whole table hadn't heard; she tempered him and told interesting anecdotes, following every phrase with 'yeah..'. then two portuguese men who we assumed were either together or a very odd father-son duo. and finally a german couple who looked like they walked out of a nursery rhyme - he was so slight he could have been walter mitty (glasses, mustache and all) if it weren't for the thick, almost stereotypical german accent. she, on the other hand, was a rather zoftig women with beady little eyes who, unfortunately didn't speak much english. it was a fun bunch.

green waters

oh right, lunch. it was delicious! the plates just kept coming and coming from the kitchen. pear papaya salad, shrimp cocktail, stuffed crabs (di-vine!), fried fish, spring rolls, french fries, bak choi, tofu, chicken. i'm pretty sure we cleaned every plate - all 37 of them. then we had a few hours to lazy about and enjoy the views of the bay which were, by the way, beautiful. 'ha long' evidently means dragon, which makes perfect sense when you see the cliffs (karsts, apparently) rising up out of the water like scales. it wasn't as clear as it might have been in the summer and the water was probably not as bright. but even in the misty weather it was dramatic.

surprise! it's a cave

after an hour or two we arrived at our first stop: surprising cave. there are generally two cave options for day-trippers: this one and dragon cave. we had heard the former was better so we set out to see the surprise for ourselves. i guess the first surprise was that we had to go up a bunch of steps to get there. actually we're still not entirely sure what the real surprise was. perhaps that it was so big inside? (some might say.. cavernous..) at any rate it was well lit with greens and oranges and we dutifully wound our way around the path inside.

once back on the boat we had a few minutes before our next little excursion: kayaking! neither mom nor i had ever kayaked before. we seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. and what a beautiful setting! we made our way out away from the boats and paddled along the sides of the cliffs. the water was so clear and bright turquoise from down there. about 45 minutes later we were back on our boat, a little wetter and sorer but certainly better for it. we popped upstairs to the deck to chat for a few minutes before dinner and watch the sun go down.

one fish, two fish, shellfish, squiggly thing

the europeans were discussing the economy - the portuguese and german views were predictably different. then down for dinner - more of the same from lunch. different dishes, all delicious, that just kept coming out of the kitchen. we lingered over the empty plates discussing this and that and all retired to our little rooms stuffed and satisfied.

mobile market

the next morning it was up for a markedly less exciting breakfast and to enjoy the view. a quick stop to the local fish market was pretty much all that was on the agenda for the day. that itself was fairly interesting though. who knew you could eat so much of what's in the water? or that some of it was so weird looking.. and striped. nearby were a few houses with clothes hanging outside.. pretty normal-looking except surrounding them was just water and giant cliffs. there were a few floating markets too. some with candy bars and essentials, others with fruits in just about every color you could imagine.

from there it was just another hour or two on the boat, enjoying the last of the view. by noon we had reached the harbor and we had one last meal on the boat (one wonders why we couldn't have done this farther from the rather ugly shore) before heading out. we stopped yet again at a giant warehouse - a nearly identical but different warehouse with the exact same merchandise - in the middle of our drive and as we reached hanoi were dropped off at our respective hotels.

every meal a new dish

my mother and i had one more night and half day in hanoi. the night we spent, of course, eating. after thailand, vietnam had some of our favorite food of the trip. this time we went out in search of com ga, seasoned rice with shredded chicken and lemon. the place we found it, like many of the others i had found recommendations for, happened to be within walking distance of our hotel, which was very handy. this particular walk also provided us with a promenade along the night market (yes, one in every city it seems) - one of the less exciting ones though, mostly cosmetics and fake leather bags.

the next day we went to see the last places we had on our list before our flight. this meant several taxi rides and a little bit of rushing. mom had really wanted to see the vietnam museum of ethnology, which i was all for. the inside had a few displays which looked interesting, but we breezed through it in favor of the traditional houses out back. the size of this section was really quite impressive. there were all sorts of houses - one something like an iriquois longhouse, another with a roof as tall as the stilts on which it was built (which was, uh, pretty tall). each was well signed, with good information on the region it was from and the people who would live in them, along with - of course - who sponsored its construction (a lot from germany).

we wrapped up there a little early, missing out on the last few abodes. but we wanted to be sure to get back to hoa lo (aka the hanoi hilton) before it closed for lunch. the prison was initially used by the french to hold vietnamese prisoners. the vast majority of the space was devoted to that. and it did seem that the conditions there were pretty grim. i mean, there was a guillotine. but when you get to the two rooms devoted to the american soldiers it was all sunshine and christmas parties. the videos and text actually proclaimed that soldiers enjoyed the "best living conditions". no mention of the physical torture or mentally crippling isolation. sigh. but then, i suppose it is still a communist country. (did i mention they had blocked facebook? not quite the same, just another aspect) it had us both a little annoyed, but luckily this came at the end of our journey in vietnam so didn't sour our perceptions too much.

from there it was off to cambodia! our last country of the four

caves of wonders

after giving my mom a whirlwind two-day tour of bombay we headed out for aurangabad. we ended up flying which seems a little ludicrous given that it's in the same state. buses and trains run regularly but we were short on time so for us this was the way to go. why go to aurangabad? well it has the advantage of being a small city between the cities of ajanta and ellora, both of which have ancient caves with sculptures and paintings.

the first day we checked into our fabulous hotel (i'd forgotten what it's like to have a room with a tv, much less a refrigerator or a hotel pool - traveling with your mother has definite advantages), got ready and set out to find an auto to take us to ellora. mom was ready to agree to the price our cab driver had quoted (to be fair, less than the hotel's prices, yes, but those were ludicrous) but i wasn't having it. in
the end we got an auto and payed a modest but ample sum for the 2 hour round-trip drive.

to contextualize this a bit, i should add that ajanta and ellora were two of the earliest discoveries of ancient indian sculpture, made by early british 'orientalists' (to oversimplify: the good kind, not the edward said kind). it was also some of the earliest indian art i was exposed to (along with the stupas at sanchi), in asian and indian art classes so they have something a sentimental/nerdy, art historical appeal for me as well.

notice the faux-wooden ceiling beams

when we reached ellora we of course had to fend off the inevitable book peddlers and would-be guides before buying our tickets (10 rs, for me, thank you very much). once inside the path led to the middle of the set of caves; we chose to visit the latter half first. there are over 30 caves (mostly hindu and buddhist, but a few jain), some only separated by a few meters, others quite a bit farther. the guidebooks like to choose their favorites to highlight so we kept that in mind but also stopped wherever we felt like it. the first few caves we stopped in had minimal, but quite excellent, carvings of larger-than-life bodhisatvas and guardian figures. i had to remind myself there was much more to see. we continued on, exploring caves with, usually, a central buddha figure in the back niche and other figures flanking it. there were some lovely carvings of scenes like 'shiva and parvati playing dice' and 'ravana shaking the mountain' (ravana proved hard to find though, as he didn't appear to have 10 heads). at one point we came to an impasse, the narrow path, which followed some steps down and then edged along the curve of a small cliff, was blocked, presumably because the steps were a little worn. this was probably the dumbest thing anyone could have done - since the scaffolding they placed over it didn't preclude anyone from climbing around the side of it along the border of the stairs. which is exactly what people did. surely edging along the side of a staircase (and cliff, as it were) clinging to some bamboo scaffolding is much more unsafe than some worn-down steps. i was convinced we could get across - as we watched many people do the same, but mom was unsure (rightly so) so we had to turn back. one of the authorities - who would sporadically yell at people not to climb around (to no avail) - told us there was a path above. somewhere. perhaps there was, but if so we never found it.

we came back to the middle, where had begun, and continued on, skipping the central cave, which we knew was by far the largest and most elaborate. we walked on and saw some fantastic structures - caves with arches and beams that mirrored those in wooden architecture at the time (it's amazing how many cultures have done that), and of course humbling, reverent buddha figures at the far end. it was quite a sight, and the crowds were such that if you waited a few minutes you'd probably have any of the particular caves to yourself. we made our way onward, exploring some caves and not others, stopping for a sit in the shade and a snack of oranges.

not sure this does cave 16 justice.. it was massive

finally we arrived at cave 16, the main attraction. this cave blows all the others out of the water, in terms of both scale and sheer amount of sculpture. it can't even be called a cave, really, except that it was underground until it was discovered in the 19th century. it's actually a series of multi-storied temple structures surrounded by a covered arcade. the structures themselves have fabulous heavy relief sculptures, from goddesses (these are largely hindu) hybrid animals to giant, almost freestanding elephants (who sadly had a lot of broken trunks). there were even some traces of paint on some of the sculptures. what an amazing sight, and a good note to end on.

we had a long leisurely auto ride back punctuated by a stop for chai and pagodas. back at the hotel we relaxed by the pool, enjoyed a lovely hotel dinner and ordered a movie to our room. this is more like it!

the next day was ajanta, a longer (about 3 times longer) ride that my mom didn't relish taking in an auto. instead we hopped an auto to the bus station where, indeed, we were approached by someone offering us a cab. there was apparently a dearth of cabs that day due to a local election but we still got a pretty decent price and were able to travel alone. one long nap later and we arrived at ajanta to the same fanfare of perspective guides and all sorts of vendors. cold drink? ice cream? book? postcard? we bypassed them all - including one very insistent man who was convinced my mom needed to be carried on a chair over the site's various steps. no thanks, bud.

entering ajanta

a bit like ellora, the caves at ajanta are arranged around a small sort of valley. they follow a horseshoe shape, so you walk around the curve of the hill. evidently in the rainy season there are waterfalls to be seen but of course, being february we saw none of those. no matter, the main attraction was the caves themselves.

we walked into the first cave and i was astounded to see one of the most famous paintings there, right off the bat. if you've perused any books on indian art you may have seen this image - of a sinuous figure whose torso seems to follow the curves of the lotus vine he holds. the cave walls and ceiling are all covered with detailed paintings such as this, some in better repair than others. there were quite a few people there but once again, with some patience, and a tripod, i was able to get a few worthwhile shots.

and now a moment on the state of the sites. i, and perhaps you too, have been reading lately about UNESCO world heritage sites and the effects of that label on their security and protection. in theory that status is meant to protect the sites from destruction and provide funds for their preservation. however funding seems uneven at best and often sites are left with few resources and a lot of extra attention (thanks to this new label). what i witnessed at each of these sites was some sporadic conservation and even more sporadic security. at the entrance of some caves guards were stationed, warning people against using flash and ensuring they removed their shoes. of course for every group of 50 that went in there were inevitably 1 or 2 who ended up using the flash either in ignorance or blatant disregard for the posted rules. at one point i was reprimanded for using a tripod (which, with its round plastic bottoms, surely did less damage than the feet of the 30 people who shuffle in there every other minute). as i was asking why this policy was in place, a buddhist family had gone up to the main idol to touch and take pictures with it. as the guard realized what was going on, he went (belatedly) to stop them, but as i pointed out to him - surely that's a more important problem than my 8 oz. tripod. then later at one of the more famous caves i was horrified to see scores of people going up and touching the reclining buddha figure. surely if my tripod's not allowed, that shouldn't be either. so, i suppose my final conclusion is that security is uneven and haphazard at best.

paintings everywhere

alright, back to the caves. we continued on admiring the impressive paintings (sadly few remain in good condition) and more buddhas figures. the final cave was that with the large reclining buddha. it was as impressive as the cave was crowded, including a japanese group that seemed bent on standing in front of the statue, taking pictures, and touching it as long as possible. not quite as quiet as the day before had been, but we still enjoyed the spectacular sites.

we hiked back, this time down through the small valley, past the vendors and back to our cab with a fanta for the road. one more night at our fabulous hotel and it was back to bombay the next day. from there it was just a quick stop in the city and then back to the airport. this time, bangkok-bound…