Mahayana: Buddhist Temples, Monasteries and Buddha Images Part 2

7 Temples, 6 Pagodas, 1 Dagoba and a Turtle (Roughly)

Mahayana

Attempting to explain the differences between Mahayana and Theravada is beyond my level of understanding of Buddhism, and not helped by both being ‘broad churches’. I will confine myself to a few basic points and hope not make too many howlers.

Distribution of the Different Buddhist traditions
This is a simplified map by Javierfv1212
To see his more complex map, click here

Mahayana came from India before Buddhism was abandoned in the land of its birth. It accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism, and adds new doctrines and texts, particularly the Mahayana Sutras, writings from between 100 BCE and 100 CE preserved in Chinese, Tibetan or Sanskrit manuscripts. Mahayana also consorted with the various folk religions it encountered on its eastward journey.

There is a heavenly hierarchy in Mahayana. Arhats are those far advanced along the path of enlightenment who have escaped the cycle of death and rebirth but lack the altruism to advance further. Bodhisattvas, however, are struggling to become fully awakened Buddhas. There were Buddhas before Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and Maitreya, the ‘Future Buddha’ will come after him.

Mahayana Buddha images often come as a triad, the Bodhisattva Maitreya (the Future Buddha), the Buddha, and Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (The Compassion Buddha).

A monastic tradition exists, but is less important than in other forms of Buddhism.

China

There are roughly 244m Buddhists in China, almost half the world’s total and most follow the Mahayana tradition. Tibetans have their own Vajrayana tradition, sometimes regarded as a branch of Mahayana.

Buddhism arrived in China during the latter part of the Han dynasty around 150 CE. Travelling teachers brought writings from India that were translated and formed the basis of local Buddhist thought. Periodically a feeling would arise that modern practices were drifting from earlier teaching, so someone set off to fetch some more written wisdom

Yuan Zhao in Suzhou

One of the earliest know teachers was Yuan Zhao, who may have been Chinese or may have come from India and been given a Chinese name. He brought Buddhism to Suzhou, near Shanghai in eastern China and his statue looks Chinese, but as he lived in the 2nd or 3rd century the likeness may not be exact – or even approximate.

Lynne and Yuan Zhao in Suzhou

He sits facing Ruiguang Ta (Pagoda of Auspicious Light). Built to house his teachings around 250 CE by the local king, it was rebuilt in the 10th century and again in the 12th and restored in 1879. By 1978 it was a ruin but has since been restored yet again – or maybe completely rebuilt, the Chinese are unfazed by distinctions between restoration, rebuilding and outright fakery.

Ruiguang Pagoda, Suzhou

See Suzhou (3), The Lingering Garden and City Gate: Part 5 of South East China (2016)

Kumarajiva and Baime Ta

Locations mentioned in the Kumarajiva story

Born in Kucha in 344 the son of a Kashmiri priest and the King’s sister, Kumarajiva studied in Kucha and then Kashmir. Back home, he became the royal priest and a renowned Buddhist teacher.

The ‘Later Qin’ Emperor in Chang’an (now Xi’an) wanted Kumarajiva to come to what was then the world’s largest city. After various vicissitudes, including time spent imprisoned by a war lord, he arrived about 400.

His life is well documented, but it is unclear who he was fleeing in 384 when his white horse dropped dead in the Dunhuang Oasis. As the horse turned out to be a disguised Dragon God rather than merely a white horse, it felt reasonable to build a Dagoba over his tomb.

Baima Ta, the White Horse Dagoba, seemed in fine repair considering its antiquity. Only as I left did I spot the plaque bearing the (English) words: 'the White Horse Dagoba, rebuilt by Dunhuang City government in 1992’. I felt cheated, but then I also doubt the horse was really a dragon god. Kumarajiva was among the greatest intellectuals of his age - sad then that his hokum is his major memorial.

Baima Ta - The White Horse Dagoba - Dunhuang

Kumarajiva’s finest achievement was the translations of a vast number of Sanskrit documents and the development of language for expressing Buddhist concepts in Chinese. Previous translators had made do with adopting words for similar Daoist or Confucian ideas. For all his efforts it can still be difficult to tell Daoist from Buddhist temples.

See Dunhuang, Dunes in the Gobi (2008)

Xuanzang and the Great Wild Goose Pagoda

Xuanzang, an illustration in Journey to the West
In Public Domain

Born in Henan Province in 602, Xuanzang became a novice monk at the age of 13. Unrest forced a move to Chengdu, where he became a full monk in 622 and then to Chang’an, capital of the peaceful and orderly Tang Dynasty. Concerned about misinterpreting the incomplete Buddhist texts available he decided to journey to India.

He left China in 629 journeying through what is now Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He travelled throughout India and Nepal before returning to China to much acclaim in 645. The Great Wild Goose Pagoda was built in Chang’an to house the writings and Buddha images he brought back from his 17-year sojourn.

The (much restored) Great Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an (formerly Chang'an) 2004

In 646 Xuanzang completed his Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. the longest and most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia of the period. 900 years later his journey was fictionalised by Wu Cheng'en in Journey to the West, one of the earliest Chinese novels and 500 years after that set to music by Damon Albarn in Monkey: Journey to the West.

The photograph of the pagoda is from our pre-blog 2004 visit to Xi’an. We re-visited in 2008

Pagodas and the occasional dagoba are easy to find in China, but temples are less obvious. It is easy to book a Chinese tour and see no temples at all – an impossibility in India or Thailand. But they do exist, and I will start with the most important (though for political rather than religious or architectural reasons)

Guangji Si, Beijing

Power in China is centralised and Xi Jinping is their most authoritarian leader since Mao; religions can offer an alternative power base so the government keeps a firm grip on all religious activity. Guangji Si, in north central Beijing, is the headquarters of the Chinese Buddhist Association, so although the Buddhist flag flies, this is as near as makes no difference a government department.

Buddhist flags fly around the Incense incinerator, Guangji Si, Beijing

The temple was built in the 12th century but most surviving structures are Ming (1368 to 1644). Inside are some important sculptures and pictures, but we missed them. From the outside it is a typical building of its period.

Guangji Si, Beijing

There were also many closed doors - the offices of the association we presumed.

Visited 06/09/2013, see Beijing (2): Xicheng and Beihai Park

Yuantong Temple, Kunming

When we visited in November 2010 Kunming had forgotten that it is the ‘city of eternal spring’ and was practicing ‘Incipient Winter.’

The Location of Kunming and Xingyi

A little north of the city centre, Yuantong was built in the 8th century, rebuilt and expanded in the 15th and took its present form in the late 17th. It is (according to the Rough Guide) the ‘most important Buddhist site in northern Yunnan Province’ - faint praise or what?

Approaching from the south an ornamental gate leads into a garden.

Entrance, Yuantong Temple, Kunming

Beyond the garden an octagonal pavilion sits in a luridly green pond.

Octagonal Pavilion in a green pond, Yuantong Temple, Kunming

At the end is space for devotees to light their incense sticks and hold them in a bunch while bowing in each of the cardinal directions.

Burning incense, Yuantong Temple, Kunming

Prayers may then be offered while kneeling before a Buddha image.

Buddha image, Yuantong temple, Kunming

see Kunming to the Stone Forest (2010)

Cave Temple, Wanfengling, Xingyi

Xingyi is a small city (by Chinese standards) some 300 km east of Kunming. On the edge of the city is Wanfengling, the Forest of Ten Thousand Peaks. It is an area of karst geology and the peaks are jagged, other-worldly limestone cones.

One of the Wanfengling peaks. I cannot vouch for there being 10,000, but there are lots.

Temples and shrines – some Buddhist, most Daoist – abound and we encountered the temple below in a cave on the side of one such peak. The cave has been sacred since ancient times, but the statues of the Buddha are relatively new, the originals having being destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. The residue of scrubbed out Cultural Revolution graffiti was still visible on the cave wall.

Main Buddha Images as a triad, Wanfengling Cave Temple

To the left, in front of a wall of small Buddha images, sits Budai, often erroneously called ‘Happy Buddha’. A possibly mythical Chinese monk, he allegedly travelled and taught in the Wuyue Kingdom (the Hangzhou/Shanghai region of Eastern China) during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960CE). His name comes from the Budai (cloth sack) in which he carried his belongings. His cheerful nature and humorous personality distinguish him among Buddhist masters and some venerate him as Maitreya, the ‘Future Buddha’.

Budai, not really the 'Happy Buddha'

See Xingyi and on to Huangguoshu (2010)

Lingyin Temple and Felai Feng, Hangzhou

The Lingyin-Felai Feng Scenic area is a 20-minute drive into the countryside outside Hangzhou in eastern China.

According to tradition, Lingyin (lit: Soul’s Retreat) Monastery was founded in 328 CE by an Indian monk given the Chinese name ‘Huili’. His ashes are allegedly entombed in the small, weathered Elder Li’s Pagoda.

Elder Li's Pagoda, Feilai Feng

Between the pagoda and Lingyin is Feilai Feng (lit: The Peak that Flew Here). Limestone is so unusual locally that the outcrop was surely whisked through the air from India by the power of Buddhist philosophy. It is covered with carvings many dating from the 10th century when Lingyin housed 3,000 monks.

Carvings, Feilai Feng

In the monastery courtyard visitors are presented with incense sticks.

Main courtyard, Lingyin Monastery

Which they light in the brazier...

Lighting the incense stick, Lingyin Monastery

…and bow in the four cardinal directions before planting them in the incense the burner.

Bowing to the north, Lingyin Monastery

The Guardian Hall, like most of the existing buildings dates from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). It contains four scary guardians who frighten off evil spirits…

Guardian, Lingyin Monastery

…while the main hall contains the primary Buddha image.

Main Buddha image, Lingyin

See Hangzhou (1) West Lake, Lingyin Temple and Longjing Tea (2016)

West Garden Temple, Suzhou

And finally for China, a brief look at the small and outwardly unremarkable West Garden temple in Suzhou.

Either the Drum or the Bell Tower, West Garden Temple, Suzhou

It has magnificent statues of the arhats, though doing them justice in a photograph was beyond me.

Arhats, West Garden Temple, Suzhou

But, best of all, is the pool at the back. For over 400 years it has been home to a colony of Asian giant soft-shelled turtles. As they only surface to breath twice a day it is very unlikely one will pop up when you have your camera ready. But it can happen.

Turtle, Fangsheng Pond, West Garden Temple, Suzhou

See Suzhou (3), The Lingering Garden and City Gate (2016)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is China, but not China – as long as Xi Jinping permits.

The Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery, Shatin

The temple its on a low hill near Shatin railway station. The path up the hill is lined with arhats.

Arhats on the path ip to the 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong

As an ensemble they always look eccentric, but that effect is multiplied when seen singly.

Arhat on the path up to 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong

Even the courtyard at the top is surrounded by them. Clearly there is a story behind each one, as there is a story behind each Christian saint, but the statues do not make guessing easy.

Courtyard, 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong

And, of course there are Buddha images, too, big ones….

Compassion Buddha, 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong

….and little ones. Maybe there really are 10,000.

Little Buddhas by the thousand, 10,000 Buddha Monastery Hong Kong

North Korea

The Koreas with Sariwon circled

Buddhism arrived in Korea from China in 372 CE, largely supplanting Shamanism. Early Korean monks perceived inconsistencies in their inherited Mahayana traditions and their quest for harmony resulted in a distinctive Korean form of Mahayana known as Tongbulgyo ("interpenetrated Buddhism"). There must be something in the Korean air as over a millennium later the remarkably stable genius Kim Il Sung similarly resolved the inconsistencies in Marxism/Leninism/Maoism to create North Korea’s ruling ideology.

Songbul Monastery, Sariwon

Today the majority in both Koreas describe themselves as irreligious with only 16% of South Koreans and 5% in the North claiming to be Buddhists. There is of course complete freedom of religion in the worker’s paradise of North Korea and to prove it we were taken to Songbul Monastery near the city of Sariwon.

Founded in 898, the monastery consists of six buildings in a rough square….

Songbul Monastery, Sariwon

….including two of the oldest wooden buildings in Korea. The Kukrak Hall was last rebuilt in 1374 and the little pagoda outside is of much the same date.

Kukrak Hall and small pagoda, Songbul Monastery, Sariwon

Inside are the expected Buddha images (another appearance of a triad)...

Buddha Images, Kukrak Hall, Songbul

…while beside sits what what looks like an overlarge jury but is, presumably the arhats.

Arhats, Kukrak Hall, Songbul

They wheeled out the abbot to greet us….

Actors, Songbul Monastery

… but it’s not this chap, he is an actor like those lining the buildings in the top photo. The North Korean film industry is booming and ancient monasteries make excellent locations. The ‘real abbot’ is the guy below.

Lynne and the Abbot, Songbul Monastery

‘Are there any other monks?’ I asked through the interpreter. He assured me there were. ‘But where are they?’ ‘They are not here, but they are nearby.’ After a few days in North Korea you get used to the bland and unconvincing. I preferred the actors, at least they admitted they were just pretending.

See Sariwon to Nampho (11/09/2013)

Vietnam

Although officially atheist, Vietnam seems to permit genuine freedom of religion. According to the government 15% of the population identify as Buddhists and 8.5% as Christians (French colonialism created a catholic elite). Most of the rest are lumped together as no religion/folk beliefs. Folk religion has seen a revival and every house we entered, whether grand or humble had an ancestor altar in the entrance hall. Vietnamese Buddhism has no hierarchy to direct teaching and there is a growing overlap with folk beliefs.

Buddhism has deep roots in Vietnam, but it has never been the majority religion and Buddhist temples are harder to find than catholic churches.

The locations of pagodas mentioned below (and Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon)

The One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi

The tiny One Pillar Pagoda, once considered a symbol of Hanoi, is today overshadowed by the adjacent Ho Chi Minh museum and mausoleum. Built in the 11th century by King Le Thai Tong, it has suffered some heavy-handed restoration; the concrete single pillar looks anything but 11th century.

See Hanoi (3), the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Temple of Literature (2012)

The One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi

Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue

In Vietnam ‘pagoda’ is applied to the whole temple complex not just a particularly shaped building, though the 17th century ‘pagoda style’ building at Thien Mu is a symbol of the city.

Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue

The pagoda was busy and the local school parties noisy…

Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue

….but inside the atmosphere was calm and subdued, like the lighting.

A novice monk and a triad of Buddha images, Thien Mu, Hue

In one of the sheds around the courtyard was an elderly, rusting Austin Westminster.

Thích Quàng Đúc's Austin Westminster, Thein Mu Pagoda, Hue

In the early sixties, as the Vietnam war picked up ferocity, the autocratic, Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem marginalised Buddhist voices and ensured all positions of power went to Catholics. Buddhists felt persecuted.

In June 1963, Thích Quàng Đúc, the abbot of Thien Mu, drove to Saigon in this Austin Westminster and notified the foreign press that “something important” would happen. He sat in the lotus position at a major road intersection while a monk poured petrol over him, then he set himself alight. The “Buddhist crisis” was old news and only one press photographer turned up. Malcom Browne’s picture was World Press Photo of the Year 1963. It is an appalling image, as are many that came out of the Vietnam war. I will not reproduce it here but it can be seen on the relevant website.

The shrine of Thích Quàng Đúc on the corner where he died, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon)

See Hue (2), A Self-immolating Monk, an Impotent Emperor and an Imperial Dinner (2012)

and
The Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Great Temple (2012)

Vinh Trang Pagoda, My Tho

In the heart of the Mekong delta, My Tho’s Vinh Trang Pagoda resembles none of the previous temples. Completed in 1850, it was seriously damaged ten years later during fighting between the French and Emperor Tu Duc. There was more major rebuilding after a tropical storm in 1907.

It has been described as ‘like a rajah’s palace’ or ‘blending classical European and Asian architecture’ but to me Vinh Trang is typical southern Vietnamese exuberance, not always in the best of taste but always vigorous, even flamboyant.

In front of the façade is a garden of tropical profusion....

Vinh Trang Pagoda behind its luxuriant garden, My Tho

...with a Disneyfied shrine...

Shrine, Vinh Trang Pagoda, My Tho

... and a large Budai, often, though incorrectly called the 'Happy Buddha'. It may have something to do with my build but I have occasionally been greeted with the words ‘Happy Buddha’ when sitting down in restaurants, I have even had my stomach patted. This should be taken as a compliment, the Vietnamese consider being well-nourished a sign of prosperity; they do not (yet) live in our strange inverted world where obesity and poverty so often walk hand in hand.

Two Happy Buddhas, Vinh Trang Pagoda, My Tho

The temple courtyard is lined with monks' cells and beyond there are more courtyards, more statues and a hall, but Vinh Trang is not about inside, it is a place to be enjoyed outside.

see The Mekong Delta (3) Cai Rang and My Tho (2012)

Finally

When I compiled the same sort of posts about mosques, it was obvious that, with rare exceptions, the buildings retained a definite Arabian style in deference to Islam’s Arabian origins. The opposite is true of Buddhism, Chinese Temples look Chinese, Vietnamese look Vietnamese – though different in north and south - and Korean look Korean. Buddhism is far more flexible and readily bends to the society in which it is taught, both in doctrine and architecture.

Buddhist Temples, Monasteries and Buddha Images

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Mahayana Buddhism
Part 3: Tibetan Buddhism
Part 4: Theravada (1) Sri Lanka
Part 5: Theravada (2) Myanmar
Part 6: Theravada (3) Laos, Cambodia & Thailand

Return to Saigon, Cookery and Music, Part 1 of Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

Passport Photos, a Cooking Lesson and an Introduction to Vietnamese Traditional Music

11-Feb-2014

Vietnam

Our morning arrival in Ho Chi Minh City followed a journey which had been long and tedious, though otherwise unremarkable. I am not complaining, I can think of few memorable experiences that would be welcome on a plane.

As we trundled our cases through customs Lynne realised that the photographs for our Cambodian and Lao visas were in her other handbag – the one she had not brought with her. This presented a problem that needed solving before we left the big city, so as Phu the driver piloted us across the city to our hotel we sought advice from Phu the guide.

Acquiring Passport Photographs

We checked-in, had a nap and ignored lunchtime – it just did not register on our body clocks - and then Phu (the guide) returned. Advice, he had told us was not enough, we would need help.  He was right, the solution involved rather more than finding Tesco’s and shovelling coins into a slot. Vietnam has no Tescos – nor any coins - and we would have had difficulty finding a photographer.

We took a taxi across the city centre (the area still known as Saigon) to a shop-front photographer.

After enquiring what they were for, our pictures were taken and pulled up on a computer. Before cropping to size, the photographer deftly removed the inappropriate background and then the bags from under my eyes. This was kind of her – after an overnight flight they were at their most capacious – but it was a passport photo and those bags are permanent features of my saggy face. She had less work to do on Lynne, but we both looked ten years younger when the photos were printed.

Lynne is prepared for her photograph, Saigon

Dinner with Phong

We dined with Phong, the manager of Haivenu Travel's Ho ChiMinh City branch and the man who did the hard work for this trip and our 2012 visit. We ate at Hua Toc one of half a dozen restaurants in a quiet courtyard off a busy street. The clientele were mainly tourists, with a sprinkling of Japanese businessmen – the city centre is home to many Japanese expats.

Spinach & Green Mango Salad, Hua Toc, Saigon

Phong had arranged an upmarket Vietnamese menu, fishcake wraps with spicy fish sauce, spinach and green mango salad with barbequed chicken and shallots, stir fried fillet of beef with watercress, pan fried tilapia with sautéed pineapples and finally banana and sago pearls in coconut cream.

Pan fried tilapia with pineapple, Hua Toc, Saigon
It may look like fish and chips, but the 'chips' were definitely pineapple

It tasted as well as it read and we were just awake enough to appreciate it. Thanks are due to Phong for the meal and the meticulous organisation of our entire journey.

Lynne & Phong, Hua Toc, Saigon

Before bed we watched ten minutes of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’. Being a millionaire in Vietnam is no big deal (1 million Dong buys around £30) so maybe they use a different title. The top prize was written as 150,000 (presumably 150,000 thousand, less than £5000). ‘Ask the Audience’ involved quizzing individual audience members, but otherwise the format and music were unchanged.

12-Feb-2014

With Chef Mai at Banh Tanh Market

A good night’s sleep put my mind and body into the same time zone, though Lynne was less refreshed.

As arranged we met Chef Mai at Ban Thanh market at 8.30 where we were joined by a French foursome for a look at the produce before our cooking lesson.

Tropical fruit was abundant – and of high quality – exotic looking dragon fruit, pineapple, papaya, juicy mangoes, mangosteen, rambutan, longan, huge pale green custard apples and piles of durian smelling, as durians do, like overfull chemical toilets left out in the sun.

Durians and dragonfruit, Banh Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City

Vegetables come from the cooler upland regions round Da Lat, 200km to the North. Many were familiar, but we had not previously seen lotus roots in their natural state (though we have often eaten them) or elephant ear plants whose stalks are used in soups.

The meat section was also high quality and included those parts of the beast we have difficulty finding at home; tails, tripe and huge marrowbones – though what you would do with cows’ tendons was a mystery

Impressive ox tails, Ban Thanh Market, Saigon

There were many types of fish, mainly from the Mekong delta, some brightly coloured. Tilapia and bassa are becoming increasingly well-known at home, but many others were new to us and have no English names. There was fresh fish – much of it still alive – piles of dried fish and, incongruously, packs of imported salmon.

A selection of fish, Ban Thanh Market, Saigon

I am not a vegetarian and I know animals die for my food. I am not squeamish - I can skin and butcher a rabbit when required – but I am not uncaring. I believe it our duty to ensure the animals we eat live a natural life and have a quick death. I have often enjoyed eating frogs (they really do taste like chicken) and if there are many small, often sharp and shattered, bones, well that is a minor inconvenience. I had heard that frogs are not well treated in eastern markets but this was the first time I had seen a woman sitting on a low stool using a large pair of scissors to cut the legs off live frogs. Like Lynne and our French companions I averted my eyes and hurried past, which seems an inadequate response, but I don’t know what else we could have done. I will not eat frog again.

Soft shell crabs, Ban Thanh Market, Saigon
Just so we can all take our minds off the frogs

Cooking at the Mai Home Kitchen

A short drive across town brought us to the Mai Home kitchen, more elegantly (or pretentiously) styled the Saigon Culinary Arts Centre.

Crossing the city it was clear that the shoals of motorcycles are as vast and undisciplined as they were two years ago, but I do not remember there being so many sites cleared for new building. Vietnam’s economic miracle is well behind China’s, but momentum is gathering.

At the Mai Home kitchen the six of us were guided through the preparation of fish spring rolls, green papaya salad with pork and shrimps and a Vietnamese chicken curry.

At our work stations, Mai Home kitchen, Saigon

We bought rice paper from a ‘factory’ in Cai Be two years ago but my attempts at producing spring rolls have been lamentable. Now I know how to make them so they do not disintegrate in the pan I will have another go.

Now those are proper spring rolls, Mai Home kitchen, Saigon

We also made the sweet chilli dipping sauce that accompanies most meals in Vietnam and Thailand. At home we buy it ready made, but the ingredients, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic and chillies are readily available so we can make our own. In England we can only easily get Thai fish sauce which (Mai told us) is made from tuna, while the Vietnamese version, like Worcester sauce, is based on anchovies.

The filling for the spring rolls involved snake-head fish and dried ear-mushroom, but we can find suitable substitutes.

The same cannot be said of the green papaya salad, the main ingredient is irreplaceable. Green papaya is shaved by hand into spaghetti-like strips and used as a salad vegetable. The papaya, with mint and other herbs, is topped with ready cooked pork and prawns (tom and thit in Vietnamese) and eaten with the dipping sauce.

The chicken curry was the only actual cooking we did, the rest was chopping and mixing. It was a simple dish relying on coconut milk and a commercial curry powder. Those who like to eat wet coconut based curries (and that includes me) would be better off in Thailand - or southern India - rather than Vietnam.

Eating our morning's work, Mai Home kitchen, Saigon

For lunch we ate our morning's work, and pretty impressive it was, too, even if I say so myself. We must have been good, we have certificates to prove it.

And we got certificates! Mai Home kitchen, Saigon

The Truc Mai Music House

In the afternoon we went to see another Mai, this one a musician rather than a chef. At the Truc Mai Music house, Tuyet Mai and her son Nhat played a variety of traditional instruments with great skill and panache.

Mai on a dulcimer (of sorts) accompanied by Nhat on monochord, Truc Mai Music House, Saigon

The monochord (if it has a Vietnamese name nobody used it) we have seen before. I could understand how manipulating the gizmo on the left tightened or slackened the string and allowed the performer to bend a note or apply vibrato, but I could not see how plucking the single string nearer to the gizmo raised the tone. After the performance I had a go and learned that as you pluck with the bamboo pick you lay the side of your hand on the string, thus shortening it and raising the note.

Letting an idiot loose on a monochord, Truc Mai Music House, Saigon

She played a series of bamboo tubes by clapping at one end to send a puff of air through the tube. Lynne and I could sometimes produce a note, sometimes no sound at all. Mai produced complex tunes with apparent ease.

The skilful can produce a tune from this while the beginner struggles to get a note
Truc Mai Music House, Saigon

Another set of bamboo tubes were set up as though you might rig a sail on them and struck with a double ended striker so both ends could be used at once or in rapid succession. Sliding the striker over the tubes produced a mellifluous glissando.

A sort of a bamboo xylophone, Truc Mai Music House, Saigon

The finale is best described as Fred Flintstone’s xylophone; tuned slabs of rock struck with wooden hammers. It looked crude, but sounded anything but.

Back to Bank Tanh Market via the Opera House and the Hotel de Ville

One CD purchased, we returned to the hotel for a coffee and then strolled down to the market to buy some coffee beans to take home. Our walk took us past the opera house....

Saigon Opera House

....and the Hotel de Ville.

Lynne and a bougainvillea outside the Hotel de Ville, Saigon

Dong Khoi, The former Rue Catinat

On the way back we turned down Dong Khoi and walked to its end at the Saigon River.

Dong Khoi, the former Rue Catinat, Saigon

Dong Khoi was known as the Rue Catinat when it was the heart of French colonial Saigon. It was here that Graham Greene’s Thomas Fowler lived, where he met The Quiet American and drank Dubonnet with French policemen and American diplomats. The street has mirrored the fortunes of Saigon. As its colonial elegance faded, the American occupation turned it into a street of brothels and seedy bars. Under the first communist regime it became drab and run down, then came liberalisation and the Vietnamese economic miracle, so now it boasts names like Armani and Louis Vuitton. The Majestic Hotel, the shop called 'Nguyen Frères' and the small Hotel Catina (sic) are the only obvious remnants from colonial days.

The Saigon River at the end of Dong Khoi

In the evening we returned to Dong Khoi to eat, not at the Majestic (French food, French prices)....

The Hotel Majestic on the corner of the Rue Catinat (Dong Khoi)

...but at Pho24, a nationwide fast food chain which, unlike Kentucky Macpizza Whoppers is essentially Vietnamese and relies on fresh ingredients rather than trans fats. Cheap and wholesome, it was exactly what we needed.

Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
 

Part 1: Return to Saigon, Cookery and Music

Part 2: Through the Mekong Delta by Sampan

Part 3: Chau Doc

Part 4: Phnom Penh (1) Royal Palaces and Museums

Part 5: Phnom Penh (2) Killing Fields and Torture Chambers

Part 6: Across Cambodia to Siem Reap 

Part 7: Siem Reap (1) Angkor Wat
Part 8: Siem Reap (2) Angkor Thom and Other Temples
 Part 9: Siem Reap (3) Tonle Sap Lake
Part 10: Luang Prabang (1) The Old Town
Part 11: Luang Prabang (2) Back on the Mekong
Part 12: Luang Prabang (3) Elephants
 Part 13: Luang Prabang to Phonsavan
Part 14: Phonsavan, the Plain of Jars and UXO
Part 15: Vientiane (1) Wats, Stupas and a Heavy Buddha
Part 16: Vientiane (2) A Buddha Park and a Fond Farewell