Feel Hanoi's Hearbeat

At every steps, you can feel Hanoi's pulse. The city is so alive at night and day!

Saturday, I left the guest house for my first adventure by my self in the city! First barrier, the language!! Often the case when you are traveling... but I tried to be creative. With my French/Vietnamese dictionary or my guide book, I point at the words or pictures of place that I want to go, and I manage to get the information that I want! So after 10 min of discussion, frenetic hand gestures, and laughs, I am in a taxi heading for Hoan Kiem Lake and the Water Puppets show!

They are both part of the historical heritage that now attracts tons of foreigners. This big lake is in the center of Hanoi. It is known for its red bridge and its temple. The story passed on from generation to generation claimed that during the Chinese invasion, a turtle with a magical sword attached to its carapace emerged from the lake to General Le Loi and was purposely given to him to defeat the Chinese. He than was acclaimed as the Vietnamese Emperor and they have constructed a temple to honor this Emperor and the divine turtle.

The water puppet theater is also typically a Vietnamese attraction. The scene is a water pool where the puppeteers are half way submerge in water. Accompanied by live signers and instrumentalists, they animate the puppets with gracious movement, sway by the water flow, with sometimes surprising special effects, like fire, smoke or water spurt. Stories are told in Vietnamese, but just watching the puppets capture enough my interest that the Vietnamese speech adds to the melody.

During the weekend, at night, the old quarter becomes an lively and entertaining part of the city. Contrary to other countries, where at night you should avoid wandering in the street past 9 pm. Around that time in Hanoi, the Night Market is the place to be! So many locals and foreigners are shopping and bargaining for the item they were looking for. Around this main street, some street vendors offers ice tea, real tea with ice and a slice of lemon. They try to alleviate the heat and this sticky feeling still present even after the sunset. People gather around small tables on plastic colourful stools (at first look like it was made for children) and chew on sunflower seeds while passively looking at motorbike driver honking at other motorbikes or simply pedestrians trying to cross streets.

I came back to the guest house with lots of new experiences to share but almost no pictures! sorry! Next time I guess...

Take care!

Kathleen.