Marble Mountain
There's Chùa Non Nước, Water Garden Temple, touristed as Marble Mountain, and it's true, there's a lot of white marble in its bones. It looks kind of like Pincuylluna in Ollantaytambo, which is a hard four-hour hike to the top, so I saved it for a good day. It was a good day, so I went up. Not so tough, but the steep stone stairs require a rest for breath every now and then.
It's full of painted temples, fancy with sculpted dragons and pagoda roofs, mostly modern moulded concrete, and cookie-cutter Buddhas - the Machu Picchu of Vietnam; but likewise, the mountain does have its spirit and behind the new-age music piped from plastic rocks there is a serenity that endures. And a 360 degree view full of choreographed feathered beings.
Hoa rented me this 100 cc Honda Wave.
Took the bike into the countryside a couple days ago. There is a lot of beauty here, much colourful architecture, real farmers in coolie hats planting rice paddies. Such an easy place to live, so smooth, will it seduce me away from the hard strong mountains and chill nights? As I secretly feared coming here?
And the crash - the definitive intentions of the word don't describe what the waves do, but the sound of the word, the onomatopoeia, does; carashhhhhh...
The crash of the surf, the mighty unending motion, is a panacea for the soul. A profound nourishment. The vision of it and the sound. What a great place to pace, if you want to think, or just reverie.
The construction is a virus, a new wall went up this morning blocking the view from this street. New sprawling resorts everywhere. The Vietnam vets talk of the thatched huts that used to be metropolitan Danang. This little street is I think government-owned, and for at least fifteen years will not be overbuilt. After that, the beaches will still be there. And if we fish the oceans out, leaving nothing but jellyfish, or anaerobic bacteria in the Challenger Deep, wait a while. It'll be back. With new and alien creatures, not ours or us.
There's Chùa Non Nước, Water Garden Temple, touristed as Marble Mountain, and it's true, there's a lot of white marble in its bones. It looks kind of like Pincuylluna in Ollantaytambo, which is a hard four-hour hike to the top, so I saved it for a good day. It was a good day, so I went up. Not so tough, but the steep stone stairs require a rest for breath every now and then.
It's full of painted temples, fancy with sculpted dragons and pagoda roofs, mostly modern moulded concrete, and cookie-cutter Buddhas - the Machu Picchu of Vietnam; but likewise, the mountain does have its spirit and behind the new-age music piped from plastic rocks there is a serenity that endures. And a 360 degree view full of choreographed feathered beings.
Hoa rented me this 100 cc Honda Wave.
Took the bike into the countryside a couple days ago. There is a lot of beauty here, much colourful architecture, real farmers in coolie hats planting rice paddies. Such an easy place to live, so smooth, will it seduce me away from the hard strong mountains and chill nights? As I secretly feared coming here?
And the crash - the definitive intentions of the word don't describe what the waves do, but the sound of the word, the onomatopoeia, does; carashhhhhh...
The crash of the surf, the mighty unending motion, is a panacea for the soul. A profound nourishment. The vision of it and the sound. What a great place to pace, if you want to think, or just reverie.
The construction is a virus, a new wall went up this morning blocking the view from this street. New sprawling resorts everywhere. The Vietnam vets talk of the thatched huts that used to be metropolitan Danang. This little street is I think government-owned, and for at least fifteen years will not be overbuilt. After that, the beaches will still be there. And if we fish the oceans out, leaving nothing but jellyfish, or anaerobic bacteria in the Challenger Deep, wait a while. It'll be back. With new and alien creatures, not ours or us.
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