The noise level in Vietnam is an aspect of living here that is rather jarring. We are so accustomed, on Salt Spring Island to the silence of forest walks, evenings by the ocean, moments on hilltops and the sanctuary of our own home.
Here there are gongs and drums, public radio blasting from loud speakers atop the telephone poles, motor bike engines and horns, karaoke, and shouting voices often all at once. Thankfully in our village neighbourhood there is relief unlike the downtown core which seems to never sleep.
Our Hoi An family are also seekers of solitude. Yesterday they treated us to an outing to a fabulous retreat centre for a few hours of blissful silence.
A few miles down the road, towards Da Nang, Mangala Garden, http://www.mangalagarden.com provided the tranquility that we sought.
The guest house, decorated in simple Feng Shui lines with Buddhist art and statuary throughout can accommodate 15 people in spacious yet commodious rooms. The televisions are hidden, the views and gardens the focal points.
Our hosts were most gracious in introducing us to this peaceful place of retreat. Early morning meditation precedes breakfast. Calming, continuous chanting softens the atmosphere. Even Gao, at three years old seemed to sense that being quiet was expected. He and our hostess Nam's young son played without noise, quietly colouring and exploring the garden.
While touring the house with us, Nam found a beetle suffering on an upstairs deck. She rescued it. (Bruce says it was a cockroach) Here you see her ministrations. The bug sits on her phone listening to a healing chant. He was deposited back into the garden when he seemed to revive.
Lunch was served in a beautiful dining room, with views of the ocean. We shared seaweed soup, lightly steamed vegetables, spring rolls, little tofu sachets stuffed with flavourful fillings and vegetable meat as Sesame would call it....a tofu dish with a distinct and spicy flavour. Not only was everything delicious, it was visually very pleasing too.
After lunch we experienced a tea ceremony in a room reserved for this ritual alone. Our host The (pronounced Tay) took great care in making the tea and showed us how to drink the tea. The first sip, with two hands on the small cup was taken as we thought about our God or Buddha or the concept of One. The second we gave thanks to our teacher, someone whose influence had led us to wisdom. The third sip was taken with gratitude for our own health and happiness. At this point the teaching did get a bit "preachy" and somewhere along the way it veered off into a story about how children were taught to put money away in order to help others. A beautifully embroidered bag appeared on the stone table and unsure, I waited and watched Quyen to see what the right thing to do might be...ready to dig into the wallet. But this did not seem to be expected.
Binh and Quyen who are dreaming about building their own home were ever mindful of the decor and finishings. The highly polished floors and tatami mats, wide doors and lack of barriers for Binh's wheelchair were things that they admired.
It is Canadian Thanksgiving today and we are grateful for this afternoon of quiet peace with our Vietnamese family. We are grateful of our family and friends who are sharing the harvest at home so many miles away.
No comments:
Post a Comment