~ nomad with a vision of marble ~
Back in March he wrote: “There's a definite buzz that I get when I arrive at a place...even just returning to one after 4 days. With a new place that buzz usually lasts a good 3 or 4 days. I rarely smoke these days and don't drink so gotta get a buzz from somewhere, I guess!”. Well, that feeling's back.
The Monday arriving at China Beach he's pretty bushed and the weather isn't up to much but he wanders along the beach to suck in the feeling of freedom. Never mind the weather. This is so different from Hanoi that it warms his wandering soul. He's not so sure about the slight guilt feelings. They're culturally instilled he knows and so unavoidable. He's sure he's done the right thing by quitting the job and heading south...again. But right now on the beach he's happy again. The waterline fascinates him...the boundary between earth and water. Ankle deep in brine he saunters.
Later, back at the room the soaked clothes and other personal effects have dried out and there's no real damage done by those DaNang flood waters. The room's pretty basic of course for $6. A room with it's own bathroom...no TV, no AC, no fridge. Just a couple a single beds and one of those big overhead fans that he likes.Their noisiness doesn't disturb anymore. This room's a bit dark and dingy for a longterm stay. But there's really not a lot of time spent in it over the next few days. And after the constraints of Hanoi...
The Tuesday morning he's up and out early in the clear, sunny morning. But not down to the beach again. Rather, along to the carving village, Non Nuoc on an exceptional morning. He knows that this place has a stone-carving tradition pre-dating Vietnamese sovereignty over this part of the coast about 400 years ago. That carving tradition goes back [at least] to the Champa who were of Hindu religious belief. Heavily into stone carving, just as their western/southern neighbors the Khmers [Angkor Wat etc.] were at the same time. Along what is now the coast of The Socialist Republic of Vietnam there was the Khmer Mekong Delta south, the Champa central coast [of Annan] and the recently independent from China Vietnamese Tonkin based north around Thang Long/Hanoi.
“Since the fifteenth century, Non Nuoc has been inhabited by stone-carvers, who coax life out of the local white, grey and rose marble. Nowadays workshops generally churn out mass-produced souvenirs using marble imported from Thanh Hoa Province, but it's fascinating to watch the masons at work – just follow your ears” [Atttribution: The Rough Guide 2006:326].
Some of the motifs are kitschy tourist interpretations of traditional Cham designs. What to the casual observer appear to be almost traditional Chinese motifs. As well as at archeological Cham citadel sites in Annan, in DaNang city, at the Cham Museum, you can find authentic Cham stone carvings. They're largely out of context and most have some damage. But they the real thing nonetheless.