Travel Monk

Greetings,

From the Temple of Literature to temples, art, the street. Delightful. Get a manicure and a facial after a day of exploring. Circumvent the planet with clean skin. Peal it all off. Shed old memories, dreams and potentials.

West lake - Ho Tay or Lake Mist or Big Lake. Legend: in the 11th century a Vietnamese Buddhist monk provided a great service to emperor of China. He received bronze, made a huge bell, rang the bell and a Golden Buffalo Calf in China, thinking it was his mother ran south and trampled the site turning it into a lake. 

The Pho Lin pagoda is on a estuary on the northern shore in an area called Quan Thanh. It was recommended to me by Tran, the manager at Just Massage where I enjoyed a 90 minute shiatsu workout.

Pristine. No traffic. Water. Dragons. Lovely murals. Female monks sweep leaves. Burial chambers in shade. 

Museum of History has a small petri dish filled with carbonized rice. Hunters and gatherers sweep in from southern China. Humans live in caves. Discover fire. Make stone bladed tools. Weave bamboo clothing. Use clay to make pottery. 

Metta.

Temple of Literature

Greetings,

Sitting down in Hanoi. Before dawn Hoan Kiem Lake is tranquil.

Hundreds of residents walk the circumference, practice tai-chi, stretch, meditate, lift weights, play badminton, read morning papers, chat with friends, and relax. Women spin red fans as their teacher watches, instructing them in movement. Dance.

The Jade Mountain Temple sits on an island in the lake accessible by a narrow red bridge. Turtle Tower stands on a small island in the center of the lake. Orange light dances off the surface.

I walk to the Temple of Literature. Founded in 1070 as a Confucian temple and established at the first university or Imperial Academy in Vietnam in 1076. 

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Metta.