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ADVENTURES IN ASIA WITH LADYB AND GONGGONG
Story #21: a teeny taste of Vietnam after our return home and all about your family.
Northern Vietnam and Puli Town, Taiwan, China.
This is going out tomorrow at the post office!
Dear Grandaughter Mila,
Laolao and I just got back after traveling for three weeks (17 March-7 April) in Northern Vietnam. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! LadyB was with us every step of the way. I look forward to sharing some of it with you in future letters. Here are a few photos to whet your travel appetit,
Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and fully deserves it. It is dotted with thousands of karst islets and caves.
This is in a Tay minority tribe village in Ha Giang, in a traditional home raised on 3-meter stilts, so the farm animals and equimpent have refuge during storms. All of us ate on the floor and had a great conversation, thanks to translation apps on our phones.
We walked almost 19km that day in the Tay village. This wet rice is one month old and will be harvested in July. This area of Northern Vietnam is hot enough to get two crops a year, including late summer-early winter.
Vietnam is very famous for its beautiful, terraced rice fields. These will be planted in May and harvested in September. At 1,600 meters above sea level, Sa Pa only gets one crop a year. We walked almost 22km that day!
Vietnamese women, especially older ones, love to get together, get all dressed up in traditional dresses and takes lots of pictures in scenic places, like Ha Long here.
We must leave Taiwan every 90 days to renew our visas. Vietnam is not only super stunning, but the people are wonderfully kind, helpful and it is really C-H-E-A-P. It’s less expensive to travel there than live in Taiwan China!
As a souvenir from Vietnam, we want to give you a child’s birthday bracelet, enclosed. They are put on babies at birth or on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd birthday.
Laolao is sending one to her grandson, Kyle, in Paris, France. You and he are cohorts, both being born in June 2022.
If the bracelets are too small for your hand, you can pull the two coils together to open them up, slide your hand in and then push the coils back, so they are round again.
Both amulets say the following,
长命富贵 （changming fugui）= Wishing you long life and riches!
出入年安 （churu nian’an）= Enter and leave the year in peace!
We also bought two handmade needlepoint bags to keep them safe. They were sewn by Vietnamese Hmong women. Aren’t they pretty?
Why two bracelets? We thought that when your new brother/sister is born in September, you can give the other one to them!
It’s very important, as the elder sister, that you give your new sibling a small gift to welcome them into the family and the world.
You can see in the enclosed photos that your mother gave your Aunt Chara a little stuffed pink rabbit when she was born. It was so cute to go with your mother’s stuffed bird.
You can also see your Grandmother Maflor and me, celebrating Aunt Chara’s birthday in Caen, France, 19 August 1996! Maflor was a very beautiful younger woman back in the day.
I put an explanation on the back each photo.
Your mother gave Aunt Chara the cute little pink rabbit when her new sister was born. Your mother was 4.5 years old.
19 August 1996 in Caen, France. Your Aunt Chara had just been born and that’s your mother looking surprised.
A few days later and Maflor is getting up and moving around in her hospital room. Ask your mom about her little bird friend!
Your mom wanted one last picture with her new little sister, before taking her home.
Five days later, the family was all together again in Arromanches. Your Great-Grandmothers Nané (my mom) and Mamine (Maflor’s mother) were there to welcome us back.
Maflor with very busy with Aunt Chara, so your mother and I played lots of fun games!
I am also including four little calligraphy drawings, suitable to put on your refrigerator with small magnets. Guess who drew them? Why, I did! They are from Laolao’s and my very first calligraphy lesson here in Puli Town. Our Taiwanese friends said they are not bad to start out. On the back of each is their translated meanings.
Not bad for a beginner.
Last but not least, Laolao was out shopping, thought of you and wanted to give you the enclosed kaleidoscope. Made in China, so it must be good! LadyB can’t get enough of it…
W-O-W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love from Asia,
Gonggong, Laolao and LadyB
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