The Pagoda “Garden of Eden” + Random Thoughts on Vietnam

31JULY07 – The Pagoda “Garden of Eden” + Random Thoughts on Vietnam

The Faure B&B is immaculate, writing my blog at the computer around 6am yesterday morning, I observed why, as the young “chambermaid” Diem (“diem”) wet mopped and dusted every surface in the house before breakfast. That includes the front steps – the front double doors to the house are always open but the front gate is always locked. I must take some pictures of the wonderful countenance of the cook and caretaker, Duyen. She's about 4'6" with a smile that would melt anyone, and we are "buds" despite not being able to exchange anything but sign language! She also fixes the best Iced Coffee I've ever had - I'm getting a slight addiction!!

My main difficulty here is waiting to be served and asking for everything rather than getting it for myself. I much prefer to be self-sufficient and helpful – but I’m afraid it is an insult to do anything for myself here.

The diet is so healthy – I don’t think anyone exercises and there is not that much manual labor in the city and yet everyone is thin – the primary protein source is tofu, fried or boiled, and put in virtually every soup and rice dish, along with bean sprouts and local fish. According to Phillipe, the Vietnamese are fiercely independent compared to the Chinese and Japanese – much more like the Germans or French who have a very independent philosophy. Although there are some large high-rise apartments, they were largely built by foreign investors who didn’t understand that the local people would much prefer a very small house – a 12 to 15 foot store front by 40 ft deep with 1 or 2 stories of living space above it – than an apartment in a luxury building..

The prices are so interesting – initially unpredictable -- I think I am beginning to understand the basics:
Land is very scarce since Vietnam has more than double the population of California (84 million to 38) and less than half the land mass;
Natural resources are limited and expensive;
Imports or goods produced with imported energy or technology are expensive;
Anything based on local labor and local renewable resources is cheap.

Thus, a big house like Phillipe’s is worth $1.6 million but an hour professional massage is $3 or $4 and the basic food like rice and local vegetables and fruit are equally inexpensive.

To begin our day’s adventure, after a morning 5-mile run and “photo-trip” around the “neighborhood,” Mr. Chau and one of his young driver monks came in a 12-person van for a wonderful, and somewhat different, lunch at the Faure’s home: first course of shredded red and green cabbage, carrots, fried tofu, a few other unknown vegies; second course of stir fried veggies – mushrooms, a black rubbery tree fungus, green beans; final course of soup with several kinds of large beans/peas like giant black-eyed peas and lima beans, thick slippery rice noodles, coconut milk sauce, some sweeter fruit type things. [I was gently chastised for trying to eat the third course first!]

It was a long ride in the countryside out to the huge farm owned by the Pagoda: 66 km or about 40 miles but it took us 1hr 45 min. – averaging about 23mpg – with maybe 2 stoplights in the city. If possible, the traffic pattern is worse in the country than the city in that there are more bicycles, trucks, backhoes, tractors, buses and every slow moving type of vehicle you can imagine mixed in with the same dizzying array of motorbikes swerving everywhere. But the same speed limit prevailed: ignore the posted speed limit and go as fast as you dare (without hitting anyone)!

One interesting construction note: on the dirt road leading to the firm, the road builders had dumped a half mile of 2 – 4 inch sq. rocks, piled 3 ft. high on half the road, which reduced the 2 lane road to 1 lane, such that meeting cars had to back up to find a place where they could pass. We could see down the way where a team of men were shoveling the rocks over the full road and a steamroller was smoothing them into the dirt – not US construction standards, even in TN!

Arriving at the farm, we had no idea what to expect – but it was an incredible “Garden of Eden” with dozens of crops including rubber trees, bananas, mangoes, potatoes, Vietnamese medicinal herbs. The farm is 50 hectares: 1 hectare equals 10,000 sq. meters, or 2.5 meters = 125 acres. Apparently Mr. Chau first bought the land for the Ky Quang II Pagoda in 1996 with the idea of building the Orphanage there – he had less than 30 children at that time at Ky Quang II in HCMC. But the government wouldn’t approve the plan so he has expanded Ky Quang II to accommodate the 216 children they have now. [“Children” really means dependents since there are blind and semi-paralyzed residents as old as 35 and many blind students in the massage training program in their 20’s and 30’s.] But the plan remains to build a children’s center in the country there where the children can have land to live on rather than being in their small rooms in the city, and learn to cultivate the variety of crops that can grow there including dairy cattle. There were a couple families who lived there in rustic, if dilapidated surroundings, and a beautiful 9 month old boy who Aly quickly befriended!

On the way back. Mr. Chau asked Aly if she would remember him when she went home. She immediately exclaimed: “of course, I LOVE you!” which is no exaggeration, and you can see he has a great affection for her as well. I think it has been as a great bonding as I had hoped for with Aly and both the children and Mr. Chau. He is so accessible and so open, kind and affectionate with everyone – and has taken at least half of each day to spend with us! Being with him feels like the difference between being with a “holy man” and a “minister/administrator of the church.” The other memorable discussion we had was sitting having a glass of “lemonade” – which we were afraid to drink since it was not bottled or boiled water, but I risked a little anyway to be polite. Mr. Chau asked: why do you give your funds to us, is it to have a better life in heaven? He explained that for him doing good deeds created good karma, which creates better life in your next reincarnation. I explained that for me, it comes down to the simple imperative that if I or my loved ones were in need, I would want someone who had more than they needed to share. So that ethic is my duty since I have more than I need. It’s hard to say what he thought of that, except that my actions would create good karma and a good reincarnation, which I don’t totally discount.

We ended the ride back with some back and head massages – now that’s something you don’t expect to give and receive from just any “man of the cloth!”