Two Qualities - Hope and Compassion

I love this photograph, which was taken at my friend's temple in Binh Dinh.
Quan The Am (Kwan Yin), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, stands on the lower terrace, and Di Lac Phat, the Buddha of the Future, stands on the upper terrace above her.
For me it represents two important qualities, qualities which my friends in Vietnam always seem to embody: Compassion and Hope.
Quan Am is the Gentle Mother, the Hearer of the Cries of the World - she can always be turned to in moments of frustration, of betrayal, of confused feelings and pain.
Above her is Di Lac (Maitreya), fat and laughing, representative of a hopeful future, a time of plenty. He always stands in a prominent place in Vietnamese temples, reminding us to retain our own lightness and sense of fun in the face of the often considerable sufferings of this world.

Travel Saturday, Sydney Mechanic's School of Arts (SMSA)

Great session today by SMSA, the first Travel Saturday, organised by Ambra.  Pretty good crowd of around 70 in the audience talking about all things travel writing.

Walter was on the panel with other travel writers, Erin O'Dwyer and Brendan Shanahan.

Binh Dinh

At Binh Dinh, an obscure little province in South-Central Vietnam which I think is one of the country’s best-kept secrets, they are really pushing a leper colony which is being run as a tourist park.
It is exquisite, I’ll give them that – the leprosarium is situated right on the ocean, and there are beachside seafood restaurants owned and operated by the lepers themselves.
But I think that pinning your hopes on a very-much-active seaside lepers' colony is a strange kind of tourist strategy.

Quang Tri

I spent some time in Quang Tri, visiting the site of the apparitions of Our Lady of La Vang.
What I love about these out-of-the-way places is that they tend to make peculiar claims for themselves.
At Quang Tri, people were always proudly telling me “We are the poorest province in Vietnam!”
A winning claim, I should think – a real tourist magnet.

TRAVEL SATURDAY—write around the world

SATURDAY 24 APRIL 3:00-4:30PM

We all love to travel, exploring different countries and cultures around the globe. But when we can't travel ourselves, the next best thing is to experience travel vicariously through the words and photos of others.

Our first Travel Saturday, Write Around the World will include a panel of writers and journalists talking about travel writing, how to transform observations into works of fact and fiction, and their own areas of interest including spirituality and travel, the 'crisis' in travel writing and the effects of cultural tourism.

Write Around the World is guaranteed to stimulate both your travel bug and your creativity.

Walter Mason is a travel writer, speaker and brilliant raconteur with a special interest in spirituality. His book 'Destination Saigon' gives us a taste of the real Vietname and its people on a sometimes funny journey from the bustling cities to out-of-the-way villages, visiting Buddhist monasteries and travelling along the Mekong. Walter first visited Vietnam in 1994 and has been back 11 times since.

Author and journalist Brendan Shanahan travelled through Turkey's secretive east, where he found himself in the middle of a gunfight and was propositioned by a gang of teenaged boys. Brendan's book 'In Turkey I am Beautiful' has been described as "laugh-out-loud funny" and is an affectionate portrait of a country and a people on the edge.

Erin O'Dwyer is an award-winning Australian journalist, a feature writer for the Sydney Morning Herald and a UTS lecturer. Erin examines our search for an authentic cultural experience and the impact that has on fragile cultural destinations. Erin poses the question: "Are we killing the very cultures we travel to see? How can we travel in a way that is not only environmentally sustainable, but culturally sustainable?"

Free Event—Everyone Welcome
No booking required

@ Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
280 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: 02 9262-7300

Walter Mason reading extract from Destination Saigon

Walter Mason reads an extract from his new book, Destination Saigon at the book's official launch

Walter Mason at Stanton Library Thursday, 22 April, 1pm

Walter will be speaking about his new travel book Destination Saigon at North Sydney's gorgeous Stanton Library on Thursday, 22 April, 1pm.

Walter will be giving listeners a taste of the real Vietnam and its people on a sometimes funny, always fascinating journey.

Writers @ Stanton

Stanton Library, weekdays 1pm-2pm, enquiries 9936 8400

Writers @ Stanton is the library's visiting author talks program which includes noted national and international authors, best-sellers, and lesser-known authors selected by publishers as authors of the future. The author talk is followed by question time, light refreshment, and the opportunity for book signing. The program is free and no booking is required.

Writers @ Stanton is presented by the Stanton Library and Constant Reader Bookshop.
Books will be available for purchase at the talk.