Relief Map of Vietnam, 2001, Public Domain, Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
I’m a connoisseur of maps. I tape, tack, and paste them up around me in all environments: work, studio, home, journals, and sketchbooks. My blog partner ybonesy is visiting Vietnam for a few weeks and I’m following her progress — from Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), north to Da Nang, and even further north and inland to Hanoi.
Are there any other map lovers out there? I thought some of you might want to travel along, a vicarious December trip to Vietnam.
There are reams of maps across the Internet. One of my favorite places to visit is Sacred Destinations, a site that contains satellite maps of sacred places all across the world. With a view much like Google Maps, you can click on the little blue balloons and find links to photographs and commentary on each site.
Though her schedule is tight and structured and she may not have time to do much sightseeing, I wanted to note that one of the oldest sacred destinations in Vietnam, Thien Mu Pagoda, is just north of ybonesy’s weekend destination in Da Nang, right outside the city of Hue:
Built in 1601 between a river and a pine forest, the Thien Mu Pagoda (“Heavenly Lady Pagoda”) in Hue is one of the oldest and prettiest religious buildings in the country. Among the many interesting artifacts housed at the complex is the car that took the monk Thich Quang Duc to his self-immolation in 1963 Saigon.
The power of place. You can read more about Thien Mu Pagoda at Sacred Destinations, along with history and photographs. You can also upload reasonably priced PDF travel guides at Travelfish. And find a collection of over 250,000 maps covering all areas of the world at the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
Dear yb,
I’m thinking about you half way across the world and holding the space (imagine virtual map pins with tiny red-dotted heads!). Because of one of your travel questions, I learned today that Minnesota has the 13th largest Vietnamese population in the U.S.
I miss you on red Ravine and look forward to your next check-in. Hope your journey is going well.
oo,
QM
This is ybonesy’s second trip to Vietnam this year. To read more about her travels, see her posts and doodles below:
- The Goddess Inside My Heart
- Peace On The Mekong
- Thank You For Keeping An Eye On Me, Mary
- Reflections Of A Weary Traveler (aka Unloading A Bit)
- Blogger In Vietnam – Is Speaking Your Mind So Dangerous?
- Reflections Of A Stay-Away-From-Home Mom
- Reason #1 To Be A Cool Cat While Traveling: The 16-Hour Flight
-posted on red Ravine, Saturday, December 6th, 2008
Oh, I’m so behind on my reading, I didn’t realise she’d gone again…..
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[…] the colors and tones seem consistent with my already fading memory of Hoi An. -Related to posts Love Of Maps (December In Vietnam) and Local Color — My Favorite Shots From The Mekong […]
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Thanks, QM, for the post and for following my trip. I love your curiosity.
Just a quick note here to say that I had a fabulous day today. Did a post on it (and sorry for not having the time to give each of my photos a caption and such, but I ran into difficulties with the new WP dashboard, so I’ll leave it as is).
Isn’t that central part of VN amazing? It’s so skinny. Lots of stormy weather during rainy season. I called Jim and girls after I arrived to let them know that I was safe. Apparently, later that day they did a Google Earth of Da Nang, and so when I called them this morning, Jim was so excited that I was here. “That’s one of the most beautiful places ever,” he said.
He’s right. There’s the South China sea, so an ocean just the other side of the river that I can see out my window. We ate a restaurant on the sea. China Beach. And then mountains, these big rocks jutting up from both the sea and the land, covered with vegetation. It’s gorgeous.
Got to run. It’s late now, and I have a full day tomorrow.
xxoo
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ybonesy, it’s so great to hear from you! And a post to boot. Was expecting that you might not even have Internet Access so glad you are able to connect. (No problem about the photos. I’ll add a collective caption at the bottom.)
I don’t think we’ve downloaded Google Earth yet, have to make a point of doing that. But when I looked in Google Maps at the three different cities — Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An — there’s an amazing difference. What I can see of Da Nang is stunning — lots of water and forested areas. Hoi An looks more inland and densely forested. I don’t think it’s even on the map in this post.
I’m glad Jim and the girls are following your trip via Google Earth. That’s pretty cool. Have a good sleep. I know you are 14 hours ahead of me and it’s late at night where you are. Sweet dreams.
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No, I was looking for Hoi An on your map and didn’t see it. It’s actually a long town, starts at the beach (so there is a Hoi An Beach) and then stretches for a few miles into the center of town.
Jim and the girls are excited. Jim tells me he’s becoming a Google Earth pro, “flying” all over the places where I am and where we’ve been. He checked out all of the spots from our recent drive south, too.
Thanks for looking into that collective caption. That would be perfect.
Well, it’s 6:30a now, and I’m sitting in a robe. Time to get dressed and go eat breakfast before our meetings start. Take care, and THANK YOU for holding down the fort.
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ybonesy, I mentioned to Liz that we needed to download Google Earth and she said, “It’s right on the desktop. I downloaded it a while ago.” I had no idea.
Anyway, tell Jim we were just flying around up there beside him, right over Hoi An, De Nang, and all the other places. Also honed in on my mother in PA and us here in MPLS. I love how the earth spins and zooms in. Really wild.
Some great photos on Google Earth, too. You should add yours after you get back. You really got some nice shots. Forgot to mention, that yes, they will stand just fine alone, too. I’m glad you saved a few photos for future posts.
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You know, QM, while I was on my trip I really appreciated your being out there to take care of the blog and, more importantly, to send me intentions—for being safe and for having a good trip. I’m making edamame to go with the chicken that Jim roasted, and while waiting for the water to boil and now the edamame to cook, I just re-read this post.
Thank you. It’s really wonderful. You’re an awesome blog partner and an awesome friend.
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[…] sixth since 2005. I’ve written several posts about travel and specifically Vietnam; this post contains links to a bunch of them. Vietnam was the inspiration for finishing the doodle in this […]
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I love maps, to, and have them up in both home and office. I’ve got a simple black and white USA rainfall map up at work that I enjoy both for what it shows and what you can infer, especially about agriculture and demographics.
During my dog walks out at dawn on our former naval air station, I’ve gotten to know a Vietnam vet who also walks his dog out there. Every so often he vents his frustration about how the VA treats vets with health issues stemming from agent orange. Aging vets with diabetes, cancer, on respirators, he feels the VA stalls and stonewalls them and I listen, thinking of how our country has used and abused its veterans so often, all the way back to the Revolution (check out the Whiskey Rebellion, circa 1792, to see vet discontent).
And, too, I think if it’s that bad for servicemen who handled it and passed it off, think of the Vietnamese people, and of the ecosystems still ravaged. Where is a VA for them to appeal to?
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Ben, it’s kind of fun to come back to this post. Especially since ybonesy just returned from yet another trip to Vietnam. I love the idea of a rainfall map. When I worked my corporate job, I had a pretty big cube where I had tacked up a world map and a U.S. map. The 3 teams I lead varied from 25 to 30 people and many were from other parts of the world. I’d tack up map pins to designate their hometowns.
It’s sad what happens to many veterans. I’ve watched a couple of documentaries on vets that come home from war. It’s many times not a pretty picture. I’m struck by women veterans, too, and how they are treated by their own fellow soldiers during their tour of duty.
I never thought about it extending back to the Revolution. But I’ve read a lot about the Civil War and I know a lot of abuse went on during that time. It’s hard to imagine what we must have left behind in Vietnam. And how much healing has had to go on between our countries. My uncle was killed during that war, too, so it has affected me personally.
Last weekend we watched The Hurt Locker (LINK). Did you see it? What an amazing movie. You felt like you were right there, in Baghdad, in the middle of the war. Intense film. Up close and personal. And it was directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow. Powerful movie. I still think about it.
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