Day 2 - Hanoi Tour

 We started the day with an hour long Rickshaw ride around Hanoi.  Although slow, it was very hair-raising at times with motorbikes, pushbikes, cars and buses squeezing  past all the time.  We all had a rickshaw each and went in convoy, 19 rickshaws in total.

 
Overtaking Pauls Rickshaw

 
Brush saleslady

 
Fruit Seller

 
Convoy of Rickshaws

 
Video taken from Rickshaw

 
Video taken from Rickshaw

  

                   Video taken from Rickshaw

 

We then visited the Museum of Ethnology which is based on the 54 different ethnic origins of people in Vietnam including how they came to be in the country and what their lifestyle was and where they are now.  The Viet people account for 87% of the population and the other 13% are from the other 53 groups.

 

 
Junk racing boat

 
Tomb for 30 as used by one ethnic group

 
House on stilts which is extended widthwise 
when the family grows

 
House on stilts reached by a wooden set of steep steps


 
Rickshaw overloaded with fishing equipment.


After lunch we were taken to the Ho Chi Min complex where we saw his tomb, the Presidential Palace, the house that he lived in and the lake and grounds.

 
Tomb of Ho Chi Min

 
Memorial to those killed in the Vietnam Wars

 
Presidential Palace

 
Ho Chi Mins bullet proof Mercedes

 
Ho Chi Mins home overlooking the lake

 
The Pagoda temple

 
Unidentified bird which was very vocal

 
Unidentified bird

 

After a short rest back at the hotel we met up to go to the Water Puppet Theatre.  The coach could not drop us off outside because the area around the theatre, and the lake that we visited yesterday is completely closed to traffic at weekends so that local people can enjoy this area in safety.  The Water Puppet Show was really good.  It is traditional Vietnamese entertainment and dates back over 1000 years.  It arose in the rice growing regions of North Vietnam originally to celebrate the end of the rice harvest.

 
Scene from Water Puppet Show

 
The musicians on the left

 
The musicians on the right

 
Scene from the Water Puppet Show

 
 
Video of Water Puppet scene

 
Video of Water Puppet scene

 
Video of Water Puppet scene

After the show we had some time to see the lake region after dark before going for dinner.  Being a Saturday there were lots of families with their children and many people were eating street food in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

 
Red Bridge over Hoan Kiem Lake 
to Ngoc Son Temple

 
Gates to Ngoc Son Temple

 
Water Puppet Theatre

 
Street Food Restaurants - guests sit on tiny plastic chairs

 
Insect sellers in Hanoi Old Town




 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 13 - Cu Chi Tunnels

Image
We were out early for the 2 hour drive to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  It was only about 40 miles away but the Saigon traffic makes it very slow going.   These are a network of underground tunnels created by the Viet Cong when fighting against the US forces during the Vietnam War.  We did a walking tour above ground and saw how the tunnel entrances were camoflaged, how the Viet Cong soldiers hid underground and were able to surprise the US soldiers by apparently appearing from nowhere, the booby traps that they laid to capture and kill US soldiers and how the underground bunkers were used to recycle the captured weapons, ammunition and militiary vehicles.  Some of their tactics were barbaric to say the least but very clever.  We were able to go through one short section of the tunnel but it involved almost crawling through.  I also had a go at hiding in an underground hole.  The tour finished with a film showing some actual scenes taken by the Viet Cong. ...
Read more

Day 23 - Luang Prabang to Vientiane

Image
We went out at 5.30 am to take part in the daily giving of alms where food is given by the local people to the monks.   As tourists we could buy pots of rice for £1.  We had to sit on small chairs and were given a scarf and plastic glove.   We were told to put a small amount of rice into the bowls that the monks carried as they passed by.  Some others were giving fruit, biscuits or money.  This is how they get their daily food. Anything left over is given to the poorest families.     Us giving alms to the Monks We then visited the nearby temple of Wat Sene before going back to the hotel for breakfast and checkout.   Wat Sene   Vintage Citroen owned by a hotel.  1 of 2 remaining Citroens in Laos  from the French Colonisation After breakfast we were taken back to the town centre to climb the 300 steps to the top of Mount Phusi where there is a stupa created in 1804. Legend says that the mountain was moved from Sri Lank...
Read more

Day 18 - Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

Image
This morning we learned about the Khmer Rouge regime of genocide from 1975 - 79.  We first visited the Genocide Museum which was the prison in Phnom Pehn where the overthrown government officials were sent at the start of the regime.  Later educated people and those from minority backgrounds were also sent here. Most would be killed here or sent to the Killing Fields for execution.   Entrance   Cells where men were kept   Cells where women were kept   Monument to those who died here  Later we visited the killing fields which is a peaceful area today but was the scene of some very macabre times in the 1970s.  It is the Asian version of Auschwitz. People were brought here, executed and buried in mass graves. Over time some bones have become visible after the rains and have been left on display. It was extremely gruesome and the atrocities were largely hidden from the rest of the world.   Remembrance building containing hundreds of skulls...
Read more