Nho-Quan is a small town in Ninh-Bình, next to thị-trấn Me.

Sunday – Anh Thịnh picked us up at the hotel at 6:30AM to go to Nho-Quan. Even though the town is only 100 km from HaNoi, it took us about 3 hours. Dirt roads, motorcycles, truck stuck in o-ga, cows crossing the street, cars waiting for their turn to cross a one-way bridge …

We stopped by Ninh-Bình to see some relatives. Chi Hồng is the daughter of a cousin of Hưng’s father. Her mother is bác Lộc .

I have never been good at remembering who is who. Hưng’s family, including Nội and Ngoại, is huge. Anyway, we re-told the story, talked about possibilities, and sipped tea. Every house here has at least one portable fan. Chị Hồng’s husband, anh Trường offered to help us on our search. What we were looking for is, according to anh Thiên, một ngôi mộ tàu, but is not a mộ tàu, in xã Đồng-Phong, next to xã Hòa-Bình. It’s a stand-alone grave. Not part of a cemetary. There is a catholic cemetary and a church nearby. You need to cross a bridge to get to the church. The grave is on a gò, at the foot of some mountains. From the grave, you can see the river. Pretty clear and specific info, eh? Should find it in a breeze!

Anh Trường again took us to see his cousin, who grew up in the area. So we went to the store. Fans are blowing. Again, the men did more talking, smoked a few more cigarettes, and sipped tea. Here, you don’t know how long such a visit can last. So you don’t want to sit in the car. From the description we gave him, he took us right to the spot. He used to play in that area as a child. According to the locals, the church is called nhà thờ Châu Sơn. It’s at the foothill of a series of mountains. On top of one of the mountains stands erected a cross. There’s a bamboo bridge leading to the church. But no grave. So weird …

By then, it was already noon. Hot and humid. The van couldn’t cross the bridge. So we went back to town to find another way to reach the church. I called anh Thiên to confirm the place. He said to look for a church named Phú-Sơn, not Châu-Sơn. So we talked to the locals again. Yes, they said. The same church used to be called Phú-Sơn. It’s one and the same. Allrighty, we’re on the right track…. Very weird …

You know that there’s no street signs in Vietnam? Our men would have big problems driving around here. Because you need to open your mouth and ask for directions! But we eventually got to the church, after driving through few towns and rice fields.

The church is hidden away from the town. As we turned left onto the only path leading to the church, the whole view lies exposed to us. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, and wanted to get out of the car to take pictures. I can’t believe there’s this old magnificent church out-of-nowhere. Notice the cross on top of the church is aligned with the cross on top of the mountain. The french priest who built this church in 1938 was also an architect.

The problem with having too many parties in any search or any project, is each has his own opinion on how to proceed. Anh Thịnh and anh Trường wanted to talk to someone from the church. I went talking to the locals, trying to find the eldest catholic woman there. We were searching for an elderly catholic woman named Maria Nguyễn Thị Miên. And Hưng was trying to make sure I didn’t get lost.

After talking to several families, one girl agreed to take me to this grave. The only grave she knows in the area that is at the foothill, and on the gò. The only problem is it’s on the other side of the river. Which means I had to cross the river. My whole life, I have seen rice fields a few times, but never had to lội ruộng. There could be điã in there, waiting to suck blood from my fat legs …

I gingerly placed my leg into the murky red water and felt my foot sink and sink like there’s no end. Finally, it stopped at my knee. Which is scary enough … Every step I took in that river felt like từng bước từng bước thầm, nghe lòng mình đang wíu…

Here are pictures of the surrounding and of the grave itself.

Called anh Thiên again. He said he felt that it’s the right grave. He saw Hưng’s father standing on top of the grave. But we need to go around the grave towards the sunset direction and look for a rat hole. So here’s the picture of the rat hole. Even weirder …

I took some dirt from the grave. If this is the right grave, we’ll place it on our altar at home.

The men wanted to leave. I gave my “guide” girl all the money I had with me. She turns out to be 20, about to be married. I didn’t get to go inside the church.