Out to Hoa Lu and a Journey Through History

A boat ride after visiting the 17^th Century Temples of  Đền thờ vua Đinh - Hoa Lư- Ninh Bình.

Sunday we visited the medieval capital of Vietnam.

Out of the old quarter, we journeyed, people out in the drizzle.

Scooters zoom.

“I hope we have good weather and it doesn’t  rain,” notes  our guide.

“That’s ok.  I’m happy when it rains.”

And we make our way,

 out to Ninh Binh.

To the Hoa Lu, mountains stretching into the sky, silhouettes in the sky.

Out to the 10th-century capital.

Dai Co Viet under the Dinh and Le dynasties and legends.

Our guide tells us stories  about the history  of Vietnam.

Two dragons chasing the moon, the  capital moved to in 1010 Hanoi.

The dragon visited the lake explains our guide, history and legend blurring.

I’m trying to follow the story.

Vietnam is like an S, he explains.

To control it is to control Southeast Asia.

That’s why we have so many enemies, he continues.

China North to the old civilization of the Khmer people to the South.

Borders and nations blurring,

Between Chinese and Cambodian conflicts.

There are four periods of our history to understand.

The Chinese occupation from the first to the ten centuries.

Resistance and dynasties from 968 until the period of wars,

With the French of the Americans from the 19^th through the 20^th Centuries.

We were there for thirty years.  After we left the Cambodia conflict raged.

A fourth period of peace ensued only in the mid 1980’s once the conflict with Cambodia ceased.

According to history. Net:

"Vietnam has a long history of being ruled by foreign powers, and this led many Vietnamese to see the United States’ involvement in their country as neo-colonialism. China conquered the northern part of modern Vietnam in 111 BC and retained control until 938 AD; it continued to exert some control over the Vietnamese until 1885. Originally, Vietnam ended at the 17th parallel, but it gradually conquered all the area southward along the coastline of the South China Sea and west to Cambodia. Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. The two sections were not unlike North and South in the United States prior to the Civil War; their people did not fully trust each other."

By 10:30, we arrive, visiting the 17^th Century Temples of  Đền thờ vua Đinh - Hoa Lư- Ninh Bình.

The Temple to the Den of Kings.

 Off to visit TenCok, a village for a boat ride.

There are 54 ethnic groups here, our guide explains
He plays his flute.
A boat ride, out on bikes.
Through villages and people.

 I hope you enjoyed learning about something about the history of our people,  he bids us adieu. 

 More questions than answers.

 Tomorrow we’ll travel on our own.