Day 260 (March 8): Hanoi Hodgepodge

Just us, walking through Hanoi

I want to record an assortment of things we did in Hanoi that I didn't capture in any of the date-specific posts. 

Water Puppet Theater

This is one of the emblematic cultural traditions of Vietnam. Friends and fellow travelers communicated that this was a "most do" activity, especially in Hanoi. So we obliged. Fortunately, we were in the third row and the theater has boosters for the smaller kids. Also, the show is less than hour long. Regardless, we had to suppress boredom and fidgeting.

The music is live and wonderful. 

The visual experience is dazzling. The puppet performance is mystifying. I really couldn't comprehend how the puppeteers do what they do. 

Vietnam Women's Museum

This museum is nicely organized: one floor each for the role of women in history, fashion and the country. There was a lot of information about Vietnam's ethnic minorities, including their fashion, customs and ceremonial traditions. There was also a lot about the role of women in Vietnam's independence movement(s) as well as the American War. But what our kids, especially Henry, liked best was the "discovery centre," a room for kids on the first floor.

As usual, the twins didn't exactly thrive in a non-participatory museum

Temple of Literature

For our final outing, on our final day in Hanoi, we took a cab to the Temple of Literature. I have to admit that it wasn't as magnificent or overpowering as I felt led to believe but it was still extraordinary. Lily enjoyed listening to an audio guide while Henry made drawings in a notebook he picked up the day before. It was hot with little breeze so we didn't spend a lot of time.

"It's only a model"

It's striking that this site has been revered for so long. Tremendous care has gone into its preservation, especially during bombing campaigns by American military. I am certainly biased by I like the idea that there is a temple celebrating knowledge and learning. I appreciate that students continue to visit this place to pray for their studies. I happened to stop and read one sign, which offered an educational mantra that resonated with me: "learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, learning to live together and particularly, implementing education with no social discrimination."

Ali is balancing, Henry is drawing, Lily is audio-guiding; Elise and Cate are taking in the central reflecting pool

Dragons breathing fire on incense: brilliant!

One of several sites where students pray for luck. I'm sorry that I've forgotten the symbolic meaning of the phoenix standing atop the turtle.

This central gate is square, with the floor representing the earth and the ceiling the heavens; the circle represents a constellation associated with knowledge; there are dragons and a lunar emblem on the roof; the overall symmetry is meant to correspond with the needed balance in an intellectual life.

Each tablet records the names of graduates from the Academy. They were packed with sand and encased in concrete to protect them from American bombing.

Train Street & St. Joseph's Cathedral

Again and again, I forget about the French influence on Vietnamese culture through Catholicism. Here in Hanoi is a neo-Roman cathedral that was built near the end of the 19th century. It's said to "echo" Notre Dame.

Henry and Cate with St. Joseph's Cathedral

This was a stop on our way back from visiting a temple of transportation geekiness, Hanoi's "Train Street." We passed on the opportunity to ride the "Reunification Express" from Hoi An to Hanoi, which would have brought us along this or a similar corridor. We didn't see much evidence of it, approximately 90 minutes before the next scheduled passage, but supposedly the shops expand onto the railroad and then retract their tables/chairs/displays for the few minutes around the train's passing. Still, it was a great photo-op. (The government has restricted tourists from walking along the rails and has actually posted officers to enforce it!)

This location appears on Google Maps as "Hanoi Train Street Selfie Spot"

The Spa

It would seem that a trip to Hanoi is incomplete without a little bit of "Treat Yo'self!" Pretty arbitrarily we picked a spot around the corner from our hotel and nearly commandeered the whole place. There were manicures and pedicures for Ali and Cate and Lily while Elise got a foot massage. Eventually, Henry couldn't resist and got a foot massage, too.

Meanwhile, I visited a barber who has a chair on the sidewalk at a busy intersection with a mirror hanging off the outer wall of a pharmacy. I didn't expect great conversation but it was terrific, exactly the experience that I had hoped for when we set out on this trip. He explained his business model (a shop is too expensive), his social life ("I'm a free man, no girlfriend!") and his travel philosophy (he prefers Bangkok and the, ahem, recreational opportunities there). A highlight for me was a fellow tourist who wanted to take our picture: he is from nearly the same Philadelphia suburb (Glenside) as my childhood home (Jenkintown), which we got to because of his Eagles hat (yes, Ben, I sang the song).

Then I joined the rest at the spa (and got a foot massage while I was there, of course).

Pizza and Burgers

One thing I kind of hope we forget about Hanoi is that the kids completely quit on Asian food. Fortunately, there was a pizza place down the block and a burger place around the corner. We ate at the burger place at least four times. With a burger called the "Mac Daddy" and a brunch dish called "Eggslut," how could we not?

The Mac Daddy