Hoi An & Hanoi - Day 116-117
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2008
1
81
251
Trip End
Ongoing
Hanoi,
Vietnam
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
A very very late night, left the Salsa club at 5.30am, walked out of the bar in the morning sun to the locals practising thi chi on the riverside. Quite a surreal sight! Woke up in the late morning for obvious reasons and caught up on some admin on the Internet while I waited for my taxi to take me to Da Nang airport, which is around 30km away.
The flight to Hanoi only takes one hour and fifteen minutes. If I opted for the bus you're looking at an 18 hour journey on bumpy Vietnamese roads. When I arrived in Hanoi I caught a bus to the Old Quarter which is where all the merchants in French colonial times use to trade from. I found a place to stay called the Elizabeth hotel. I really nice place just north of Hoan Kiem lake which is the true center of Hanoi
Hoan Kiem Lake
. All the locals congregate here to talk, eat, exercise and generally hang out. Day 117 - 18/06/08
Today I woke up quite early after a good night sleep. I wanted to have an early start to see some of the sights of Hanoi as I've booked a 3 day tour of Ha Long bay which departs tomorrow morning. Will only have one partial day in Hanoi when I return from the tour before I fly to Hong Kong. So I wanted to make the most of today.
I started by having a walk around the French Quarter and Old Quarter. Then a short walk around Hoan Kiem lake. On an island in the lake there's a temple called Den Ngoc Son. There's a giant stuffed turtle in a side room of the temple. A famous story of the turtle swallowing the Vietnamese hero Le Loi's sword in the lake, the stuffed turtle wasn't from Le Loi's time but found later in the lake which enforces the myth.
In the afternoon I went to the water puppet theater in the old Quarter to watch a performance. Water puppetry is basically puppets which dance on the water. The puppets are controlled by moving underwater poles. The puppets appear to float on water and depict scenes of Vietnamese culture and folklore. A traditional live band accompanies the the visual show. Really impressive art-form. The puppeteers in Hanoi are suppose to be the best in Vietnam. Really enjoyed the show even though I didn't understand a word being said, but you can get the gist of what's going on by just watching and listening to the music.
Bridge to Island
On my way to the puppet theater i saw an old Zippo lighter in a shop which was obviously lost or taken from an American GI in the war. It had a really profound engraving on the case. "When the power of love is stronger than the love for power, then the world will be at peace". Such true and thought provoking statement. Really wanted to buy it, but it was a rare model and the women wanted $50 for it. May treat myself when a return to Hanoi after my Ha Long Bay trip.
While in the theater a big storm broke out and the streets of Hanoi were completely flooded by the time I left. The rain lasted for hours and well into the night. Had to put my waterproofs on to go out to dinner. Hope the weather is OK in Ha Long Bay. Don't fancy being stuck in a boat for 3 days and not being able to enjoy the fabulous scenery. Ha Long bay is a 120km drive from Hanoi, so hopefully the weather will be better on the coast of the South China sea.
