Hanoi - Walking Tour

Up bright and early but not jet lagged, Ang and I were luck enough to bump into our tour group in the lobby at 9 am. Turns out we are joining the second leg of an ongoing tour and they were about to head out to see the temple of literature, Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and museum, French quarter, and water puppet show - exactly what we had planned!

Ken (our guide) let us tag along early even though we don't technically start our tour until late tonight. 

We started in a spice market created by the old city gates by the French during colonization. We learned a little about the use of ginger in medical procedures, tamarind for bug deterrent, and galangal (a spicier ginger) in food. 

Next we headed over to Hoan Kiem lake where we tried to find the water puppet show the night before. We were so on the wrong side of the road... Anyways, we heard a little about the legend of King Le Thai To and Ngoc Son Temple. In the Vietnamese resistance against invading China, Le Loi was the leader of the Vietnamese people. To defeat China, the Dragon King gave Le Loi a sword of great power. When the Chinese were defeated around 1465,m and Le Loi was crowned king, he was boating on the lake when a golden turtle came to retrieve the dragon sword. King Le Thai To renamed the lake ‘The Lake of the Returned Sword’ (Hoan Kiem Lake). It is one of the stories played out at the water puppet show. 

Next stop was Hao Lo prison museum. It was built in 1896 by the French colonialists to hold thousands of Vietnamese revolutionary fighters. The colonialists displaced more than 45 households off their family lands to build the French style prison in Hanoi - the capital of the French administration. 

A guillotine used in the execution of criminals and revolutionaries. 

After the restoration of peace and liberation of north Vietnam, Hao Lo continued to be used as a prison and house criminals. 

There were many escape attempts and successes. These are cross sections of sewers that prisoners managed to escape through. 

Conditions were abhorrent and prisoners included women and the children they bite in prison. Detainees were often locked in a stock by one or both ankles. There is a book by a group of female prisoners I'm hoping to track down called "Unforgettable Time" that details life behind bars at Hao Lo. 

Between 1954 and 1973, part of the prison held captured American pilots shot down in north Vietnam - including U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain. According to the displays and guide book, the Americans were treated well with luxuries like sports teams and Christmas parties.  

In 1993, it was turned into a historic site and museum. 

After Ha Long prison we made our way over to Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, museum and steel house. Uncle Ho's remains are interred in the mausoleum and available for people to give their respects. Except when it is Liberation Day and all of the sites are closed... which it was on October 10. Oops!

We turned around and headed back toward the Temple of Literature, passing the last standing statue of Lenin from the breakup of Soviet Russia. 

The Temple of Literature was founded in 1070 and honours Confucius and literary scholars. It's a monument to higher education and a huge honour to have a child accepted to the prestigious university. As such, it turned out to be a hot spot for graduation photos. 

All around the temple are stelae dedicated to great scholars. They are held on the backs of tortoises, one of the four sacred animals in Vietnam lore. 

Some derpier than others. 

Rushing back to where we began, it was time to actually see the water puppet show. Us and a few hundred of our closest tourist friends all piled in the little theatre for the show. The marionettes are controlled by puppet masters behind the scenes with the mechanics hidden below a shallow pool of water. There was a live band playing traditional music and voice acting to accompany the show. 

They super looked like they were not enjoying their third performance of the day, out of six or more, every day. 

The show depicted traditional scenes from Vietnamese life or folklore. Here were the scenes in order:

1) Clown Teu

2) festival drumming 

3) dragons dance

4) Buffalo boy playing flute

5) agricultural work

6) catching frogs

7) chasing the fox that chases the ducks

8) fishing 

9) hymns dedicated to Holy Mothers - a folk belief of the Vietnamese people. 

10) Phoenix dance

11) returning the sword (see legend above)

12) unicorn's dance (horse body and lion head)

13) eight fairies' dance 

14) four sacred animals' dance (dragon, unicorn, tortoise, Phoenix)

After the show it was time to meet the rest of the group for orientation and dinner. The tour was supposed to be a full 15 people but we learned one girl ended up in hospital the first night in Bangkok with an undiagnosed GI condition, which mean her and her husband are out of the tour but could possibly join again later. In the existing group there is one girl from the U.K., one girl from the U.S., five Australians, and six Canadians. It's a fairly big age range too from mid-twenties to late sixties or so. After a fairly fancy dinner, half the group went out on the town and half headed back to the hotel to prepare for our excursion to Ha Long Bay. I wasn't feeling great (jet lag or a cold), so I packed, tidied and turned in. 

Ang went out with some folks from the tour and our guide. They got back pretty late after closing down the bar and being told by the police it was time to leave (which we learned is common - no need to worry). We have to be in the lobby packed and with a day bag by 7:00 am. Time to go jump on her bed!