The moto revolution
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
129
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Hanoi,
Vietnam
Monday, March 10, 2008
chatting in the morning
We left our backpacks in the hostel and went down to the park around 6. I had been looking forward to this opportunity since it's usually impossible to get Erin out of bed this early. The park in the center of the old quarter is quite an active place at this hour. We circled the lake and watched Hanoians warming up for the day.
People ringed the lake, facing towards the water. At first they were doing stretches in an obviously second-nature routine. Many of them were older men and women. There were also many joggers. Some people sat in outdoor cafes and exercised the muscles in their faces. We passed a huge group of women doing aerobics to pop music. It was funny because there were a few women across the street who hadn't paid for the class and were copying the moves from a distance. A little later larger groups formed and moved along with prompts from a cassette tape. We passed an outdoor gym where men were benching beside the path.
On my second circuit of the lake people had finished their stretches and had flowed into a graceful tai chi routine. I stood to watch several woman practicing with brilliant red fans. They would snap them open and close them again in graceful harmony
group tai chi
. The groups had grown even larger, some approaching a hundred people. It was still 6:30 in the morning. The whole place was cool, quiet, and wonderfully peaceful.We went back to find that the hostel was full (a rather rare thing in our travels), so we walked down the street and had a pricey breakfast in a French cafe. Then we checked in at Camellia #5 (there are four more) up the street. For the same price as the hostel we got a huge room with a TV. Not bad I guess.
For lunch we enjoyed a gourmet baguette at another cafe. Mine was stuffed with big slices of gouda cheese and vegetables, and I was craving it for days afterwards. Cheese is rare in most of the countries we've been to. We spent the afternoon exploring the old quarter. We've heard a lot of negative reports from travellers about Hanoi. True, its hard to like on the surface. Vietnam, like many other Asian countries, is almost drowning in motorbikes. Hanoi has almost 3 million of them. There are hardly any cars in the center of the city. Enormous herds of these bikes zoom around at all hours. Sidewalks are not for people to walk on. Sidewalks are a giant, free parking space for row after row of bikes. These aren't personal vehicles, but the equivalent of the family car (and moving truck)
tai chi with fans
. It's not uncommon to see a family of four and a baby cruising around. The loads they carry are equally enormous, and slightly unsafe. Dig a little deeper, however, and its a very interesting place. On the island in the center of the lake sits an enormous stuffed tortoise. The legend goes that a tortoise took the emperor's magical sword (used to defeat the Chinese) and returned it to his divine owners. These giant creatures are still believed to inhabit the lake. We wandered down a street devoted to a shoe market, with every conceivable style. In a local market we bought a fruit that I still don't know the name of to munch on. A little further on we passed shops that engrave plaques for the deceased, including a colorful photo. We stopped at an old temple and saw the various offerings (including a rather colorful pyramid of coke and heineken cans). At one point we passed vendors selling enormous bullfrogs (for who knows what end). A special street was devoted to offerings and decorations. You could buy giant stacks of fake hundred dollar bills to burn as an offering.
In the evening we attended a water puppet show. We ended up with seats front and center. First we were treated to a solo by the most interesting musical instrument I've ever seen
the tortoise pagoda
. Apparently young girls were forbidden to listen to this instrument because they would fall in love with the musician. You could lay a tone by plucking the string, then vary that tone by moving a peg back and forth. It produced incredibly complex effects. Water Puppetry supposedly developed in the rice paddies as a method of entertainment. The puppeteer is hidden behind a screen, and a wooden pole extends under the water to the other side of the screen, and the puppet is supported by this above the water. The water can be used to good advantage, especially with fish, frogs, boats, and other aquatic things. The show was really well done, with several short acts. In one scene two phoenix dance around and then disappear into the water. Soon an egg bursts forth. The egg then transforms into a baby bird. Another shows a fisherman in his boats who catches frogs. It was a great evening.For dinner we sampled a Hanoi specialty - Cha ca. Simply put it is sauteed fish chunks with dill and lemongrass, served with peanuts over rice noodles. It ended up being a little pricey, at least for our budget, but I would say that it was definitely a treat worth tasting. Especially in Cha Ca La Vong, supposedly the restaurant where the recipe originated generations and generations ago. And if you do choose to do the cha ca, it's very simple - there's only one thing on the menu.
~Travis
