Full of history, tradition and legend, the capital city has been continuously inhabited for almost a millenium. in 1831, emperor Tu Duc (remember i visited his tomb in Hue>?) renamed the city Ha Noi city on the Bend of the River. After Tu Duc acceded to French demands much of the old city was destroyed to make way for French buildingds and it became capital of the French Indochinese Union. Street life was fascinating and chaotic. Crossing the roads was definitely an experience I will never forget! Due to exhorbitant taxes for car owners there are millions of motorbikes qwhizzing arounfd the place and to add to that, there appears to be no evident traffic system. During my whole trip, i dont think i ever figured our a safe way to cross the road! in the end, you just take a deep breath, say a quick prayer (time permitting) and just go for it. i realised "if you hear horns honking-fear not! it means they;ve seen you! keep going!"
We were staying in the old quarter and spent the first morning walking through the chaotic neighbourhood. it's full of character and commerce. it was known as the area of the 36 streets as guild names were applied to the streets according their trade- silk street,paper street, basket street, ,metalworker street etc. 3 of us took a local bus to see Ba Dinh Square. it was here that Ho Chi Minh AKA uncle Ho adressed half a million Vientamese with his declaration of indepenendence speech in 1945. Today it's a shrine and pilgrimage site. one of the main tourist attractions is the mausoleum that contains uncle ho's embalmed body. it is closely modeled on that of Lenin but as luck would have it, in october ever year his body is sent to Russia to be re-embalmed so we missed out on an opp to see him in the flesh!
We visited the Ho Chi Minh museum- a quirky kitsch place which documents the story of HCM and his quest for independence from the French. It was undoubtedly full of communist propaganda but very interesting nevertheless. We got there 15mins before closing time and were subsequently hurriedly ushered through the exhibits- one of the downsides of this tour for sure. The lack of time to explore in each destination. the price one pays for choosing to cover so much ground in such a short space of time i guess. i would have liked to have spent more time at the museum to fully understand the history of vietnam and Ho Chi Minh's influences, though on first inspection it appears to me that the French revolution and the uprising of the proletariat over the petit bourgeoisie that occured during the industrial revolution in the West had a lot to do with it.
that night we ate at a streeet stall which served traditional Vietnamese noodle soup called PHO. It was delicious and one can definitely see how asian peo9ple are so thin when all they eat is Pho for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It consists of boiled water, semi cooked green veg and rice noodles- no oil whatsoever! It was rather bland i must say- you wouldnt catch me living off it but very nice that night/ At just over $1 a bowl it was kind to the purse strings! Went to see a water puppet show after dinner but sadly, like father like daughter, i fell asleep during the performance. this was no reflection of the show, just my tiredness! from what i caught of it, it was an innovative reproduction of the water puppetry hat the Vietnamese enacted in the rice fields as entertainment and to help pass their free time.
Next day ``19th Oct
Visited temple of literature- Hanoui's best preserbed anceient site dating from C11th. it's vietnam's oldest institution of higher education. It was dedicated to Confucius, and the temple served as a national univerity for over 700 yrs. FYI- the basis of confucianism: central to the concept is the idea of a long life through attainment of wisdom, propriety and order. The founder- K'Ung Fu Tzu AKA confucius, was born in China, lived during the Zhou dynasty - a period known for its moral laxity. His philosophy emphasized formal education, structured society, tradition, ancestors and an instinctive understanding of opposites- that's where your yings and yangs come in. The responsible exercise of political power by authority is essential to wellbieng of both the state and the individual. Most people in vietnam are Taoist, Confucian or Buddhist or followers of all. There is thus a strong influence of Chinese customs and supersittions on social structure.
Ate lunch at KOTO- a social project similar to "friends" in Pnom Penh (if you can remembver that far back!)I ate an excellent falfel but moreover i ate the BEST CHOCOALTE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING I HAVE EVER EVER HAD IN MY LIFE! It beat my homemade one hands down and that's pretty good if i say so myself! I;'ve taken a picture of it in all it's glory for you all to see and for all your mouths to water like mine did. except i got to eat it- hah!
After lunch, walked off the big lunch and made our way back to the hotel for a rest and freshen up. 3 girls were leaving us the next day so we had a farewell dinner in a nearby restaurant and a few drinks before getting an early night.
