Ming:
We’re playing catch-up here, it takes a surprisingly long time to get photos organized, culled and the best shots from each shooting day separated out. Then there’s the resizing and uploading.
We are taking a break from touristing to do some laundry and get sorted out for our imminent early morning departure for Laos. We’ll have to hit the road by 6:30AM to get to the airport on time for our 8:30 flight as traffic jams are common at any time of the day or night here and can delay you by as much as an hour or more.
So here are some photos that go with the last blog entry to prove that we weren’t making up the hello kitty gate story.
And here are some water puppet photos. I wish we could show you some movies instead.
Mike:
See ya Hanoi, Hello Laos
Well Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Happy Lunar New Year) everyone! We're just waiting for our laundry to dry in our now humid hotel room. Ming is sorting through photos, so we can do a photo-blog, but I guess I'll just fill in some blanks in the meantime.
Let's see, how did we spend the last two days in Hanoi? Tours, food, and family time.
Jan 24th , Hanoi City Tour: The tour that wasn't, Uncle Ho's Friendly Mausoleum, the woman who loved the world, and quest for food.
Well, after recovering (some what) from our initial jet lag, Ming, Dad n I set out nice and early for a Hanoi City tour, provide by AST tours (Affable, Safe, Trustworthy. Well, Ming and I spent some time discussing possible meanings for the acronym, but they are so far not fit for public consumption (I'll explain later). The funny thing is we had all seen the city tour when we first arrived in Hanoi, 8 years ago. At the time, the tour, was a quick sprint around the city, with everything packed into a few hours. This tour was quite a bit more leisurely.
Ming:
So the day after we fell into bed absolutely dead tired, we got up for an 8AM tour of Hanoi. The tour company was named AST for Affable, Safe and Trustworthy.
After doing 2 tours with them, I think it may stand for Awfully Shoddy Tourguiding myself. Oh well, live and learn. Unfortunately, I don’t think they will be around to avoid next time I’m in town to take a tour, as these things seem to come and go very quickly here.
The tour we took on this day replicated a lot of what we saw in Hanoi on our first ever trip to Viet Nam in 2001, but that one was with an even shoddier tour company, so we did get to see much more of the places we went to see than we did the first time. We just never got any information about the places we saw. I listened with envy as other tour guides told their groups all sorts of fascinating things about the attractions as our tour passed by, led by an indifferent tour guide who was “just filling in for the day”. He basically herded us from one place to another, leaving us to wander around by ourselves until it was time to pile into the bus to head for the next spot. Then he handed out evaluation forms to fill out and avidly read them as soon as they were passed back to him. I would not be surprised if any negative ones conveniently disappeared fairly soon afterwards. Anyways, enough with the grumbling and on to the interesting places we went to which were fascinating in their own right, even though we got no information about them.
Actually, that’s not true. We had our own personal tour guide in the form of my dad who is absolutely brimming with information on all sorts of things. So we did get a lot of information, and all unofficial and non government censored to boot!! The unstructured nature of the tour made it more of a hanging out with dad and take some pictures kind of time, which was very nice.
Our first stop was at the oldest temple in Ha Noi, located on West Lake. Our tour guide told us one fact and one fact only on each day that he guided us, and this was it for this day, along with an aside that John McCain’s plane was shot down on the lake just beside it… after which he was taken prisoner for the remainder of the war.
The day was very cold and windy. We were unprepared for this weather, imagining that we were coming to vacation in a tropical country. I regretted wearing my sandals without socks. Similar surprise and chattering teeth was expressed by all the others we met on both days of touring. I am looking forward to finally ditching the fleece when we get to Laos.
The temple made for some nice photos, which we took before on the 2001 trip but they are only on film, so we got to take them again in digital format so we can post them!! We met a VERY bubbly Australian lady who gushed over everything and ended up the day by borrowing a street vendor’s getup for a photo. She found what Dad had to say fascinating too and told us that she would write about him when she gets published – she is planning a 6 part memoir of her life, as she gave up everything at age 60 and traveled around the world (she has settled in China for now and is making a fortune teaching English) and wants to inspire other women to follow their dreams too.
Mike:
We then headed over to the Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. This was rather a serious affair as the security was tight and the soldiers were stern. All cameras were barred, and everyone had to go through a security check before heading in to see Uncle Ho. The staff even had the nerve to try confiscating my key chain flashlight!? Not a chance...
The harsh security measures continued... A guard actually removed my hands from my pockets! Ming was quickly shushed by another guard after that because she was laughing too loud. It's a serious atmosphere to command respect for the father of Communism in Vietnam.
It's also quite over the top. We were herded like cattle around the amazing well preserved body of Ho Chi Minh encased in his glass box. Dad later speculated that Uncle Ho was likely wax, as he was just a bit TOO well preserved (he passed away in 1969). We left the mausoleum, and went to find our tour leader and re-claim our cameras.
Next we went exploring the grounds around mausoleum, checking out Uncle Ho's re-claimed French Palace, his humble shack where is said to have worked (he detested the opulence of the palace, and preferred to work in much more basic quarters), as well as his car collection (One French Peugeot, and one unknown Russian car).
After that, we explored the Ho Chi Minh Museum, dedicated to his life and work. The funny thing is, our last tour (8 years ago) was so rushed, it didn't include a tour of the grounds, so this was all new to us!
In any case, the museum was a bit dry, consisting of photos, essays, and various items from Ho Chi Minh's life (look, Uncle Ho's broken glasses and pen!). There were a few interesting wartime exhibits, but on the whole, it was nothing horribly inspiring.
So, where was our tour leader during all of this? I have no idea. Our tour leader basically shuttled us around, said a few words at the beginning about some local lakes, and basically left us to our own devices, giving us no info on our non-tour. Luckily for us, Dad is amazingly knowledgable about all things Vietnam. He told us stories about Ho Chi Minh, explained to us about the techniques and technology of the military exhibits, and basically conducted the tour for us. This about the time Ming and I were grumbing about the possible meanings for AST tours (Absent Silent Tour leader?)
After the Museum, we headed over to the One Pillar Pagoda. It's a simple structure, surrounded by a Lotus pond and evokes a sense of calm. We saw it in active use, and many were there praying for a child (It is believed that praying there will bring you a son.)
Lunch
Ming:
After lunch we walked to the shores of lake Hoan Kiem (not sure of spelling) where legend has it that one of VN’s kings received a magical sword from a magical turtle god which he used to lead his armies to repel Chinese invaders in some past century (I am ever so good with details). Once he achieved victory, he came to the lake to return the sword to the turtle. There still stands a monument to the turtle in the middle of the lake, and from time to time a giant turtle will make an appearance and cause an upsurge of devout believers to visit the lakeside temple for prayers. I’m not sure how much more often these appearances will be made in this age of increasing pollution…
We visited the temple on the lake. It had a very serene feel to it, you just had to ignore the guards sitting in the corner, the motorbikes parked out back, and the vendors selling all sorts of souvenirs. Really, I have some nice pictures to prove it!
After that we went to the Hanoi’s Temple of Literature, where young men were educated in imperial times. Those who did well and “graduated” got their names immortalized on stone stelae carried on the backs of turtles. I got Dad to pose in front of them because he would probably have graduated and gotten a stela, and Mike did his thing and took pictures.
There were pots of peach blossom everywhere – being sold in markets, on roadsides, displayed everywhere. They are a symbol of spring and the new year.
The Literary Temple complex is fascinating. It is built long and narrow, so it doesn’t take up that much real estate but it feels huge because you are moving from one large courtyard to another, passing through gates and portals to access from one to the other, and you feel like you’ve walked for miles by the time you reach the temple at the end of the last courtyard.
Dad used to live right beside it when he was young and led scout troop meetings on the temple grounds. Here he is showing where he used to live.
In one courtyard, there is a huge chessboard (Chinese chess) design drawn on the ground, with moveable pieces. In the times of the emperors, mandarins and high officials would play chess at a table overlooking the courtyard. Their moves were broadcast to the human “pawns” below by way of special songs sung by musicians. The servants dressed as soldiers would then move the human sized pieces around and if one piece was to take out another, they would draw their weapons and act it out. So really, JK Rowlings did not invent anything new with her Hogwarts magical chess games. Another fascinating fact from Dad.
We saw a demonstration of traditional music, featuring very unusual instruments. There was a xylophone made of hollow bamboo tubes that was played by clapping in front of the tubes. Each tube, being a different length, would make the clap sound different and you could play a tune this way. I have also seen other unique Vietnamese xylophones in the past – one was a series of upright bamboo tubes that was played by tapping the open end at the top with the palm of the hand. Another was made of stone, each tone a different size that would make a different sound when tapped with a padded stick. The stone xylophone came in horizontal form and also in a vertical hanging form.
Well that’s it, if you’re not sleepy from reading this hugely long blog entry, I sure am from writing it. I’m off to bed now, but stay tuned for the Ha Long Bay adventures on the next entry.
Mike:
Ugh. It's getting late, and I have no patience for blogging at the moment, so here's my mattering of random thoughts on Hanoi and Vietnam so far:
Squirrels for city planners? I swear, there must be rodents doing power planning for the cities. The power poles here are a tangle of wires, all about size of extension cords, with random wires spanning from pole to building, and loops of unused wires rolled up and tied together. In many places, stray electrical wires dangle about a foot above head level, it's pretty amusing.
Who said all of Asia was hot? Ming and I have been swaddled up in fleece, waterproof jackets and toques for the past few days. It has been damp, grey, and chilly. I look forward to checking out the warmer climes of Laos and Southern Vietnam.
Hey Fella, can you spare a buck? I hate to say it, but I'm not liking how everyone feels it necessary to nickel and dime you to death, at every opportunity. Not a great part of the culture.
Food, such Heavenly food. It's funny, we're eating such simple dishes, Mien Cua (glass noodle with crab), Pho Ga (Chicken soup with rice noodle) and even fried rice. It all just tastes so special here. I can't describe it or re-create it, but I just love it. I'm really impressed how Dad can find simple hole-in-the-wall restaurants with such great food (nice prices too!). It doesn't taste like the Vietnamese food at home, it's so much better..
What's the new hat Style? It was quite shocking to see so many people wearing helmets on their motorbikes and scooters! It seems the new helmet law (implemented Nov 2007) coupled with stiff fines has convinced people the value of helmets. Seems that head injuries have declined a drastic amount too!
It's interesting that the law does not apply to kids below 14 though...
Time wounds all heels. Those Vietnamese women still astound me. I cannot imagine how they can ride motorbikes, and tromp around all day in these streets in stiletto heels like that. Just amazing.
Traffic signs.... What traffic signs. Well guess some things don't change. It's still pretty rare to see working traffic signals in Hanoi. The streets are still filled with motorcycles so just walk slowly as you cross so they can go around you. Just be careful of the cars! Traffic is slow (often crawling) but everyone is very good at avoiding each other. And who says Asians are bad drivers!
