destination by sunset (part one)

At 700 feet above sea level, and temperatures around a glorious 80 degrees, with a hat on my head and sunscreen on my skin, I set out for my day’s journey. Armed with a water bottle in one hand, and a camera in the other, I had a snack and sunglasses in my pocket, and extra film ready to be used at a moment’s notice. I knew that the shoes on my feet would let me walk on the variety of terrain that I would be encountering. My goal was to get to my destination by sunset!

Well, ok, this wasn’t some epic hike to the top of a mountain, or across some sandy, hot desert. But it was to be a walk of beautiful scenery, some adventure, and a mission to witness one of the most breathtaking sunsets in the world. During my day, I would be wandering through several small towns, amongst the local whitewashed homes. The blue domes and pastel colors of the churches and other buildings would add color to my excursion.

I would have opportunities to walk on the rooftops of local churches, where I would see the church bells, domes and steeples up close. The vast blue seas below, and the wide blue skies above, would fill my background. I would even be able to shop in local stores along the way, eat local food, and watch local artists create paintings and other forms of art of the very towns that I was walking through.

Santorini, one of the many picturesque islands in Greece is where I was; where I took this spectacular day-walk from the town of Fira in the middle of the island, through small towns built on hillsides, to the town of Oia on the north end. It can be a three-hour walk, but I took all day, because I wanted to take my time and really experience the splendor of the island.

My Santorini journey has made it to the top of my list as far as one of my favorite places that I have ever traveled. (Along with Venice and The Cinque Terre in Italy. See previous blogs.) From the very first steps of my walk, I was in awe of the scenic architecture, churches, homes, seas and skies surrounding me. It looked very much like the pictures of Santorini that I had seen in brochures and postcards, but it was much better in person!

I shall now take you on a photojourney of my day in Santorini. It was a good thing that I took all that extra film with me, as photo opps were definitely available at a moment’s notice!

The churches of Santorini, from the very beginning of my day-walk to the very end, were the biggest subject of my photos. I became completely entranced with the architecture and sheer elegance of these structures. With their blue domes and other pastel colors; with their various shapes and sizes; with their church bells and steeples; with their spirituality. I wanted to take pictures of every single one of them. And I practically did. Many of the pictures I took were of the fronts of these churches.

Some of the more artistic pictures I took were of the church bells and steeples up close. Notice the blue dome and cross in the background of these photos.

The famous Santorini blue domes are the subjects of these photos.

Notice the shadows in these more creative pictures that I took.

Or how about a close up of the colorful door and windows of this church.

And one of my favorite photos…four church domes and steeples in one photo!

Please read my next blogs for more about my journey, including more photos, to my destination by sunset.

Sweet Travels!

All photos taken by Debby.

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I think I am realizing that I am living my life “in the moment.” I’m not really thinking about later today or tomorrow or next week, let alone next month. In fact, the past few days of my trip, like today, I don’t even know where I will sleep tonight or what I will be doing tomorrow. But, I’m not worried. I’m not scared. I’m not concerned. I know something will come up and I will be taken care of. Trust. Faith. Luck. Worst case is I will have to sleep in the street tonight, and do nothing tomorrow, which I am sure won’t happen…

This has been a “life changing” trip for me, in the sense that instead of being organized and knowing where I would be every moment, such as I had planned on my Alaska and New Zealand trips, that instead, for nearly five months, I was just spontaneous most of the time, not really knowing where I was going the next day, or where I would be sleeping the next night, and many times, not even knowing what I would be doing a few hours later. It has been great to live like this! The freedom and flexibility. Spontaneity at its finest…

These are two paragraphs from my journals that I had written at different times during my five-month solo European journey back in 2004. The first paragraph was written very early on in my trip, during my second week; the second paragraph was written during my fourth month. Reading these two paragraphs today, brings back thousands of memories, and gets me filled with the excitement that I felt back then. Man, what a great feelings I had during those five months – the spontaneity; the freedom. The exhilaration of being able to decide at any given moment where I wanted to go next, and what I wanted to do!

You see, prior to my Europe trip, as I alluded to in the second paragraph above, I was completely organized in my travel planning. For the Alaska and New Zealand trips (both approximately two-week trips), I had made myself itineraries, knowing exactly where I was going to be on any given day. I planned; I reserved places to stay; I booked things to do; I made lists. About the only thing that wasn’t so predetermined was where I would eat. Now granted, for these particular trips, I enjoyed this type of pre-planning. And, I needed to do this type of arranging considering the short amount of time that I had in those places. And believe me, because of all this preparation, both of my Alaska and New Zealand journeys were fantastic!!

But, something was different about having five-months time. It was too much time to plan out day-by-day. It would have been near impossible to make about 150 hostel reservations, or make sure that I didn’t miss a train, or know exactly when I wanted to visit each museum, or see each sight. Yes, I had done quite a bit of pre-planning for this Europe trip, such as picking out what countries I wanted to visit, and what cities, and what I wanted to do in each city. In fact, I did a lot of research prior to this trip. I read books, many books, highlighting and writing down the places of interest that I wanted to see; I attended travel lectures about places to visit; I looked on the Internet; I talked to people who had already been. I even had a map where I circled in pink all the general places I wanted to go, and I wrote a list of the general direction of travel, including the order of the countries, that I wanted to take. I was organized…but as it turns out, only to a point. There was no way that I could plan out day-to-day; and before I knew it, even my general direction of travel got all turned around.

My “Planning” Map

The first week of my travels, I did stick to my original plan. This was because I had made a few flight and hostel reservations that I had to stick with. But after that, the rest of my well-thought out planning mostly just went up in the air. I began realizing the joy of being spontaneous; the fun I was having just winging it; the amazing experiences I encountered when I just happened upon something that I was not planning on. Sometimes I realized that I wanted to spend more time in one place than originally thought; sometimes, I realized that something I thought sounded interesting to me before I left, no longer had its appeal; sometimes something else would happen to me that just changed my course and direction for the day, or for the next few days.

Now this is all not to say that the pre-planning I did was worthless; in fact, it made my spontaneity all that much better because at least I had a sense of the places I wanted to go, and the things I wanted to do, so that became my base. But the order in which I did them was completely changed. And after all was said and done, I found that some of the places I originally thought I would get to, I never did; but conversely, I got to many places that I did want to; and on top of that, I had thousands of experiences that no planning could allow for.

What is interesting about me is that for most of my life, I had been the planning-type (as evidenced by my Alaska and New Zealand adventures). I wanted to know where I was going, what I was doing, and to be sure that I had a place to sleep. I had always been a very organized person, paying attention to all the details, and really thinking things through. (I sound like I am writing a resume.) But during my European journey, a new part of my personality emerged. A part of me that just threw caution to the wind. A part of me that was traveling by the seat of my pants. A part of me that was living in the moment. A part of me that had faith and trust that it would all work out. A new-and-improved me!!

And the best part about everything is that fortunately luck was on my side during my five month solo European journey, and knock on wood, I never had to sleep in the street, and I always had something to do tomorrow…

Sweet Travels!

I will say, however, that the planner in me returned when I went on my journey around the Baltic Sea.

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I’m not quite sure how this collection began. I’m not quite sure why it began. I’m not quite sure when and where it began. But somehow during my travels, I started to collect what I call “junk” jewelry. Actually, maybe it began because I wanted some small souvenirs from my travels that would fit in my backpack, without taking up a lot of space or weighing much. And, well, this stuff didn’t even need to fit in my backpack; instead I just wore it on a finger, a wrist, or around my neck.

Since I started this collection, I haven’t stopped, and now I try to buy some memory that I can wear from everywhere I travel. Sometimes it has been one piece of jewelry representing an entire country. Other times, I have collected something in each city that I was visiting during a particular trip. I must say that it actually has become quite fun to shop around for my perfect piece of “junk” jewelry.

When I look at my collection now, sometimes I wonder just what I was thinking when I bought something, as there were times when I must have picked the gaudiest item around. Like the big dark pink bracelet I bought in Venice, Italy – although, it does have its own appeal. Or the gold-wire-looped ring I bought in some other European city. On the other hand (no pun intended), I have also purchased other pieces that are actually really quite nice.

The most exquisite piece I bought was in Paris. Prior to my trip, my sister had shopped at a store, called Metal Pointu’s, that sells unique jewelry made out of metal. I purchased a bracelet that is truly a conversation piece. Ironically, my sister had purchased the matching ring years earlier, and when I returned home, she gave me her ring, so now I have a complete set! (Thanks, sis.)

I try to buy my jewelry mostly at local outdoor markets, flea markets, festivals or fairs, in order to get something locally made, individually made, and handcrafted by a local artist. One of my favorite pieces was purchased in Copenhagen at an outdoor Art Market. This bracelet was hand-made using stones and reed from the Amazon, and I love it! Truly a sample of art.

Here are some other “junk” jewelry stories: When I was living in Australia, I actually made my own matching pink bracelet and necklace set. I bought pieces made out of amber in the Baltic Sea. (Please read a previous blog about this.) I purchased a ring made out of wood, specifically Siberian Birch, which I bought at a local festival in my own neighborhood. The purple-beaded, bent-metal bracelet came from an outdoor market in Brussels, which is another piece that I consider a sample of art. Finally, the necklace with the red stones was given to me by a special stranger, while I was in Cappadocia, Turkey. (Again, please read a previous blog about this.)

All in all, whether I purchased some jewelry that was truly “junk,” whether it is something really nice to wear, whether I consider the piece to be a sample of art, or whether the piece is for sentimental value, I must say that collecting “junk” jewelry while I travel is a fun way to not only shop, but also a great way to experience the local flavor of a city, a country, a store or market, and a local artist.

Collecting “junk” jewelry is a great way to have a small souvenir that doesn’t even need to fit into a backpack, and brings back many memories each time I wear something.

Sweet Travels!

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It was a quiet and peaceful morning. The sun had just begun to rise. There was a slight crispness in the air, but you could tell that as the day approached, it would get warmer. I decided to get up early this one particular morning; before the planned activities of the day were to begin; before all of the other tourist awoke. I wanted to experience the early morning life of the locals; to observe them in their daily activities, living their lives. I wanted to explore life in a floating fishing village.

A floating fishing village is just that…a village of people who fish for a living, with their homes all built on floating wooden planks on the water. This village that I wanted to explore was on Cat Ba Island of Halong Bay, in Vietnam. The population of this village was 1,000. The homes were small on these floating wooden planks – about the size of an average living room, but comprised of a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom for each family. The planks themselves were just wide enough to support the homes, and to allow room for the villagers to walk around. Around the homes, the planks extended out in order to allow fishing nets to drape over rectangular shaped holes in the water where fish were gathered. These holes held a lot of fish.

I wanted to experience this floating fishing village via a boat. Not just any boat, not a motorized boat, not a sail boat, not a yacht; but a tiny wooden boat, powered by oars – the oars powered by a local Vietnamese woman. A small, but strong, woman. She paddled and maneuvered these oars of the wooden boat in between the homes, and around the fishing holes, and through this floating fishing village with ease.

I saw the local people catching fish in this early quiet morning; I saw them feeding larger fish with smaller fish, carrying fish in baskets, cleaning and rinsing fish, transporting the fish via wooden boats, chopping fish, cooking fish, and preparing fish to be sold. I smelled the aroma of the fish being cooked. These activities were done by both men and women, who waived a friendly wave to me as I was being taken around in a woman-powered boat. The children would run out of their homes as I floated by, and in their best English, they would say to me, “Hallo. What is your name?”

The woman taking me on this exquisite private tour would point out things for me to observe. I would smile at her after seeing the sights, in order to thank her, and she would smile back. She had a beautiful smile, warm, friendly, and full of wisdom and strength.

As I was watching the local life, with all the fishing activity, and the other movements of the early morning, I chose not to take any photos, except for one. I just wanted to observe, to sense, to feel what it was all about. It was all about making a living, living life, supporting a family and a community. It was about joy and happiness. It was about peace and harmony.

I was not only intrigued by this floating fishing village, but also by the woman who paddled the wooden boat around for more than an hour. She had something that attracted me to watch her. She seemed strong. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Her physical strength was evident, as she rowed the boat with little effort, using her entire upper body to paddle, bending at the waist, sometimes standing up to get more control when going through a small area that required some maneuvering. Her emotional and spiritual strength showed through her great smile and kind eyes.

When my tour was all over, the woman brought me back to the rocky shore. She took my hand in order support me so that I would not slip as I exited the boat onto the slippery rocks. It was truly then that I felt not only her physical strength through her grip, but her emotional and spiritual strength also radiated through, through that grip and through that smile.

The one and only picture of my whole experience in this floating fishing village was of this woman…it is a picture that I hope reflects the strength of a woman…

Sweet Travels!

The photo of the fishing village itself was taken the previous day.

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priceless experiences and memories of a journey in Iceland with my youngest sister… this is the final blog describing some of the adventures, along with photos, of a time when two sisters, who are 15 years apart in age, who had never traveled together before as adults, met in a far remote corner of the world to explore together…

—Driving around on Snaefell Peninsula, with Snaefellsjokull, a glacier-covered mountain on one side of us, the farmland surrounding us, and the Atlantic Ocean to the other side of us.

—Seeing my sister take photos of our priceless memories.

—Saying how lucky we were that the weather we had mostly cooperated, giving us warm, sunny days.
—Piling rocks on a cairn during a walk through a volcanic landscape, to give us good luck.

—Seeing the scrunch on our faces as we got a whiff of the rotten-egg smell of the sulfur of volcanic activity, seeing the colors of an area that looks like Yellowstone, and making shadows against those colors.

—Experimenting with Icelandic food, such as lamb soup, hot spring bread with smoked trout, and salted cod. Yum!
—Standing near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, over-looking a crack in the Earth.

—Seeing Iceland (which is more green than ice), from the air, as we took a flight from Reykjavik to Lake Mývatn.
—Looking at old Icelandic memorabilia, and old-style homes (some with grass on their roofs), at a couple of museums, including an open-air museum.

—Exploring and walking around a small crater lake at Kerio Explosion Crater.
—Seeing geysers spout warm water into the air, and then feeling the “rain” from it getting us wet.
—And finally, hearing my younger sister say, ‘”this is wonderful. I’m so glad we did this,” with crampons on our feet and ice axes in our hands, as we walked on a huge glacier, with its white ice and black volcanic rock, surrounded by brown and grassy landscape, with the Atlantic Ocean looming in the distance. Oh, and then trying our skills at ice climbing!

—And don’t forget to look back at the first blog with a photo of two sisters playing on swings…

Sweet Travels!

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it was worth every penny…that trip that I made to Iceland with my youngest sister…the trip where, due to our 15-year age difference, we had never really had the opportunity to travel before together…the trip where we bonded, agreed, and laughed…the trip that was expensive, yet priceless…

In my travel journal, I kept a list of the activities that my sister and I did when we were in Iceland. Some of the items on the list are typical tourist activities; other items describe the Icelandic landscape; other items are just things that we experienced together, as sisters, exploring and having fun. I’d like to share some of the items on that list, in random order, along with photos for the visual impact, to get an idea of what happens when two sisters meet in a far remote corner of the world.

—Soaking and relaxing (and playing) in the heat of the sulfuric water of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa and hot springs, only hours after my sister arrived in Iceland.

—Sitting on a black rock/sand beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere on the Snæfell Peninsula, as we drove ourselves around.

—Putting our feet in hot water in a cave near Lake Mývatn. (Note the feet theme…)

—Sitting in a natural hot springs river, out in the middle of vast lava fields, of black rock covered with green moss, while it was raining out, near Hjálparfoss waterfall.

—Looking at several waterfalls throughout Iceland, many with rainbows, plummeting lots of cold water from melting glaciers, and hearing my sister say how ´beautiful´ it was, as we walked behind one of these waterfalls.

—Riding through the countryside of shrubbery and meadows near Geysir, on Icelandic horses.

—Looking at lighthouses on the coast, small community churches, and red roofed homes on green farmland, in various areas of Iceland, including during our drive around the Snæfell Peninsula.



—Watching Arctic Tern encircling our car, almost like in a bad movie.

—Overlooking the city of Reykjavík, with its colorful-roofed homes, from the bell tower of Reykjavík Cathedral.

—Seeing a red/orange sunset over the Atlantic Ocean at 11pm at night; and waking up at 2am, while sleeping in our tents, noticing that it was still light outside.

—Blowing on dandelion flowers and making wishes.

As you can see, this trip was quite special for both of us. Stay tuned for another blog with more photos of these priceless experiences and memories.

Sweet Travels!

arctic tern photo from Wikipedia

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This is part one in a series of blogs of what happens when two sisters, who are 15 years apart in age, who have never lived together, nor traveled together before as adults, meet in a far remote corner of the world to explore together. It is somewhat like a MasterCard commercial:

Me and My Sister in Iceland

Flights to Iceland: Expensive, at least for me, as my sister was already in traveling in Europe.

Car rental to get around parts of Iceland: Expensive, compared to rental car rates in the United States.

Gas for car rental: Even more that the rising gas prices of the United States. (Although that was a few years ago, so now-a-days, who knows…)

Guided tour excursions of other parts of Iceland: Expensive, but worth it because from them my sister and I learned a lot about the country, and we were able to go to places, and see things, that we could not get to with the rental car.

Hostels or guesthouses, mostly in Reykjavik: More reasonable than hotels, as my sister and I slept in a tent some of the nights.

Food in Iceland: Unbelievably expensive, but delicious.

Experiences and memories of two sisters traveling together in Iceland: Priceless…

Tents and Cars in Iceland with my Sister

For me, the journey with my youngest sister was like a MasterCard commercial. Yes, Iceland was expensive, but it was also priceless. Not only did the actual experiences my sister and I had, and the things we saw together, make the trip priceless, but it was also about spending the time with my youngest sister, bonding, getting to know each other, laughing, and having fun together. It was about seeing the expressions on my sister’s face, witnessing her reactions, hearing her comments, and being playful, curious, and adventurous together. What was also priceless was that even with our age difference and the fact that this was our first time traveling together, we got along beautifully: we had the same travel styles; we agreed on what we wanted to do and see; we even agreed on what we wanted to eat, where we wanted to sleep, and how we got to places around Iceland. We had a fabulous time together, and I would travel with her again in a heartbeat.

Playing with my Sister

The experiences and memories of traveling with my youngest sister are, for me, truly priceless…

Please read future blogs for some of the priceless experiences that my sister and I had while we were in Iceland.

Sweet Travels!

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A few days ago, I experienced what I am considering a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. His Holiness the Dalai Lama was at a 5-day gathering in Seattle, sponsored by an organization called “Seeds of Compassion.” I was able to attend one of the events, where this man, one of the most recognized faces in the world, spoke about compassion. My seat in a stadium of 55,000 people was too far to see him up close, but as I watched him speak on the big screen, I actually felt like I was not only hearing some very important and powerful words and ideas, but it also felt like a travel journey for me that I was experiencing in my own city.

My Ticket Stub, the Brochure, and a Reminder

What first made this feel like I was traveling was how I approached the event. I was figuring that with the crowds, parking would be difficult near the stadium, so I chose to park a few miles away, and walk. This afforded me the opportunity of exploring parts of downtown Seattle, where unfortunately, I don’t get to very often. During my walk, I was able to browse in and out of many shops that I never even knew existed. One of the shops I walked into happened to be selling photographs of Native Americans taken by Edward S. Curtis. These were amazing photos showing the people and the land of those that lived here around 100 years ago. Needless to say, the photographs were selling for an average of $5,000 each, so I chose to buy a couple of postcards (which I usually do when I travel) of $1.00 each. More my budget.

Postcards of Native Americans; Photos by Edward S. Curtis

Once I arrived at the stadium, I felt like I was traveling around the world in only a few hours. There were people of all nationalities attending this amazing event, many of them dressed in their traditional clothing. The Dalai Lama pointed out to the audience during his talk of compassion, that we are all human beings, all part of humanity, over 6 billion people around this world, that the whole world should be considered part of each one of us, and that it is secondary that we are of different color, culture, religion, social background, etc. Seeing so many people in this stadium, to me, proved these facts that I also experience when I travel to other countries.

“Seeds” of Compassion

While I don’t want to reiterate what His Holiness spoke of, as you can listen to his talk on the website of seedsofcompassion.org, I do want to say that compassion can be defined in many ways. As the Dalai Lama says, it is “taking care of others,” and a “sense of concern for others.” Compassion can also be defined as acceptance, respect, kindness, affection, peace, love…towards all. Compassion can be put into action in many forms, from small acts of human kindness, to large humanitarian efforts. And compassion can be demonstrated on many levels, as the Dalai Lama says, whether on an individual level, family, community, national, or on an international level.

Braided Bracelets to Weave Your Compassionate Intentions

According to His Holiness, compassion is necessary for lasting world peace. In my opinion, whether one is a traveler or not, compassion is necessary for human existence…

Sweet Travels!

I came across this quote by His Holiness the Dalai Lama a few days after I originally published this blog…

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”

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To walk with conviction…to walk with confidence, purpose, strength; to walk with a sense of knowing one’s goal; to walk with courage, direction, certainty…that is my latest philosophy on life…I did not get this philosophy from some ancient source, or from some spiritual or religious path; I did not get it from any of the disciplines concerned with questions of how one should live; I did not base it on philosophical doctrines, such as realism, skepticism, existentialism, or pragmatism; it does not stem from either Western or Eastern philosophies; it did not come from Immanuel Kant, Jean-Paul Sartre, or St. Thomas Aquinas; nor did it arise from Aristotle, Plato, or Socrates. Instead, my latest philosphy of life developed during a few moments of my life when I experienced crossing a street in Hanoi, Vietnam.

In last week’s blog, I wrote about the traffic in Vietnam, and how what one could perceive as chaos, I found to actually be cooperation. All of the hundreds of cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, scooters, bicycles, and cyclos, weaving in and out and amongst each other, with no real lanes being followed, doing so effortlessly and smoothly. But what happens if a pedestrian, such as myself, needs to cross the street in a busy city such as Hanoi? Yes, there were a few places where there was a stoplight and a crosswalk; but even there, some mode of transportation was still moving. Most of the time, there was just a crosswalk, in the middle of the street, without the aid of a stoplight. So, one has to get from point A to point B, with the various vehicles weaving in and out of each other, and with no real great point in time where there would be absolutely no vehicles moving whatsoever.

So, how does one do this; cross the street in the cooperation of perceived chaos? The goal, of course, besides getting across the street, is to also avoid being hit, and also to try not to disrupt too much the cooperation of the traffic that was already in existence. Before I took the plunge myself for the first time, I observed a few of the local people, and how they crossed the street. I watched how they walked, and how the traffic moved around them. And I thought, well if they can do it, so can I!

From my observations, I decided that the way to succeed was to just walk. Walk with conviction and confidence. Walk with a sense of purpose and strength. Walk with knowing your goal, and having the courage to know your direction. Walk with being certain of where you came from, and where you are going. Well, ok, maybe I am exaggerating just a bit, as of course one needs to also still pay attention to the vehicles, and have some sense of timing, too. But amazingly, what happens is the drivers of the vehicles incorporate the pedestrians into their cooperation. They weave around you, too. They do this effortlessly, and with great timing.

And, like that, I crossed my first street!!

Once I accomplished this, as I was at point B, I thought what if life could be approached with the same ideas that I just used to walk across the street? What if I could walk through life with conviction and confidence? What if I could walk through life with a sense of purpose, strength, courage, and direction? What if I could be certain about life, and my goals, and where I was going? Of course, I would still need to pay attention, and also maybe have some sense of timing. But, from that moment on, I decided that one way I could approach my life was just like the way I crossed the streets of Vietnam…with conviction…

Sweet Travels!

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This is an excerpt from an email that I wrote back home to my family and friends while I was on my journey through Vietnam. It was written May 27, 2007, although I made modifications to the original email for this blog. Note that I live in Seattle, Washington, and that this was my first experience in an Asian country. Also note that I did not take many photos of what I am describing. Hopefully you can visualize what I am writing about.

And we thought driving and the traffic in Seattle was an experience…Well, let me tell you of my adventures within my first hour of arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam. First of all, before I describe this, I should clarify that this was actually a grand adventure, in spite of what it may sound like. I actually found myself rather enjoying what could be perceived as chaos, but what I decided was actually cooperation…

Traffic in Hanoi

After my nearly 24-hour journey to get to Hanoi, I started my almost hour-long taxi ride from the airport to my hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. This ride is where I began to experience the cooperation of traffic!! (Yes, it is possible.) But not just normal everyday traffic that we experience in Seattle, or most other US cities. Traffic of hundreds upon hundreds (if not thousands) of various types of transportation: cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, scooters, bicycles, cyclos, even pedestrians, hundreds, all sharing the same road. What really caught my attention was that all of these various vehicles were not following each other in straight lines as we are used to; they were not necessarily following traffic rules (if there were any); they were passing and weaving in and out of each other, in between vehicles, around and through vehicles, side by side, making for no real lanes, sometimes going down the dashed line of the road, or on any arbitrary lane that one wanted to go, with very few stop signs or stop lights.

Woman on Motorbike

I found that I became immediately enthralled with looking around, observing, and listening to what was going on outside of the automobile that I was in. It seemed like a random movement, perhaps some would think chaotic, yet it worked; people got around and through and in between other vehicles in what seemed smooth, effortless, cooperative.

Interestingly, most people, especially on the motorbikes, scooters, and bicycles were not even wearing helmets. Many were however, wearing masks over their face, to protect from pollution and sun. And in all of this, I felt completely safe. Of course, I would not want to drive in this myself; I was perfectly content letting my taxi driver do the driving.

Traffic in Tam Duong Town

And then there was the noise…honking horns, lot of honking horns. Sometimes the honk was out of courtesy to let someone know that you were passing; other times it was to tell someone to get out of the way, please. Seattle seems so much quieter. But for me, even with the noise, I was not overwhelmed, and I rather liked listening to the symphony of horns.

Carrying Goods (from postcard)

And then there was what was being carried on many of these moving vehicles, especially on the motorbikes, scooters, and bicycles, themselves. Not just people; but things, too – goods that were either just bought or wanted to be sold. A dozen huge watermelon-sized fruit; 50 crates of eggs (what a mess that would be if the driver lost balance); long slats of wood or steel beams sticking out of a basket; a dozen breakable stone carvings; food, fruit, live animals and birds, not-alive animals and birds, house-hold items, building materials, anything, you name it, they were carrying it! No, they were balancing it, weaving in and out of the traffic, smoothly, effortlessly, confidently, cooperatively.

Oh, and then there was the person talking on a cell phone (a sight commonly seen in Seattle), but while on their scooter, and carrying some goods. And then there were the people who decided to just stop in the middle of the road to say hello to each other, in the middle of all this traffic, without even flinching. And, I even witnessed on one scooter, an entire family (five people) – dad, mom, and three kids.

And, I will bet that in all of this, that I was the only one wearing my seat belt!

And, what I loved the best was the conical hats that the women were wearing!

Women on Bicycles (from artwork)

That was just my hour long ride into Hanoi. What is amazing though, is like I said – it all just works – the amount of vehicles, the various type of vehicles, the passing and weaving, the honking, the goods being carried….the cooperation of this perceived chaos…

Note that after spending two weeks in Vietnam, and getting very used to the traffic and the noise, getting back to Seattle almost seemed too calm and quiet…

Sweet Travels!

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