Holmestead Farms on Vashon Island: Wandering Pilgrims

We do not practice or follow one particular religion. We celebrate Jewish holidays, and enjoy the myths that accompany them. We try to live a spiritual life and encourage each other to think of how our actions affect others and fit into the grander scheme of the universe. So it was not too surprising after booking planes, trains and automobiles that we realized we would be arriving in Vietnam two days before Easter. Not a big deal right? Right, except Gus and Freja were worried that the Easter Bunny would not visit a mainly Buddhist country. Fear not! We awoke to bags of candy in our shoes, and fizzy bath bombs shaped like eggs in our bags. Thank you Easter Bunny, bawck bawck!

We decided to see if anyone in or around Hanoi celebrated Easter and found an eclectic gathering at St. Joseph's Cathedral. So many people that the marching band had to sit outside on stools.

We learned that although the cathedral was sanctified in 1886, Catholicism was outlawed and worshipping in the cathedral was only allowed starting in 1990. There is now an entire city block that is dedicated to the cathedral, a convent, a monastery, and a school; all very neatly maintained.

After "church" we visited two Buddhist temples. The first was a very famous and ancient one called the One Pillar Pagoda. It was originally built in 1054, destroyed by the French in the mid 1950's and rebuilt soon there after. The second was the temple of Hoa Kiem, on an island in the lake right near our hotel. The temple is dedicated to a giant turtle that lived there, and is now preserved there and displayed for the public. A legend about the symbolism of the turtle as a good omen and a keeper of power for the people was the basis for building the temple. Outside the temple many elderly men, some in their pajamas, played a raucous game that looked like a cross between go and chess. We were glad we did not know any curse words in Vietnamese!