Wall of Tile

A fact that is staggering when your frame of reference is the United States, is this: Hanoi celebrated its millennial birthday, 1000 years, in the year 2010. In a worldwide perspective, a city that has been around since 1010 isn't that unthinkable. Damascus, for example, has been around for 10,000 years, maybe more. So a mere 1000 years might seem unimpressive. But where I'm from the oldest continuously inhabited city in the country has existed for less than 500 years. So 1000 impresses.

The full name of the city is Thang Long Ha Noi

I bring up the age of the city as it relates to the walk I took today. Today, I left early in the morning. The temperatures have, for the most part, been wonderful here. But now, in early April, it is getting hotter. First thing in the morning, the temperature was wonderful. It was just getting hot shortly before I got home.

Elephants

Cranes

I walked along Hanoi's Mosaic Wall. This wall is part of the dike system for the Red River. The wall is there to block floodwater, though everything on the river side of the wall must be in danger. In 2007, a project began to decorate over 6 km of the wall (about 4 miles) with mosaics of all sorts. Many artists were involved. And the goal was this: By October 2010, when Hanoi celebrated its 1000th anniversary, they wanted the mosaic wall to be so long it made the Guinness Book of World Records. Hanoi reached that goal.

Tells you they got the record right there on the wall!

The wall is fascinating. It has a lot of different artistic styles. The various sections were designed by different artists, and you can see it in the images.

A very different and playful style

Many of the artists were Vietnamese, but not all of them. In fact, the most recent section to be completed (after it was already the longest) was in 2019. It celebrates Sri Lanka and was sponsored by the Sri Lankan embassy.

This is in a section of the wall sponsored by Spain. One building is a pencil! Lapiz!

It took me around 25 minutes walking just to reach the closest point of the wall. And I didn't walk the entire length, but I probably did walk 5 km along it, admiring the images, the ceramics, and stories that are being told through this visual medium.

This section surprised me. How often do the Vietnamese make jack-o-lanterns. And how would they make snowmen? They don't have snow!

The mosaic wall runs along a very busy street. You might notice my pictures are sometimes at an angle. I couldn't step back far enough to get wide shots of multiple images. Well, I could have stepped back far enough, but I would have been standing in fast-moving traffic. I doubt that would have improved my photography.

I am not 100% sure I know what animal this is

I left the mosaic wall and crossed over the highway on a pedestrian bridge that was also artistically decorated with the theme of water. From there I went into the Old Quarter and just walked. I wasn't trying to get anywhere. Though I did have someone on a motorcycle stop to ask me where I was trying to go. I said I was just walking to walk. And then he asked if I wanted to buy marijuana. This was all in broken English, but did offer "Mara" and then followed up with "Wheat, Wheat!" I suspect that was his pronunciation of "Weed, Weed". I declined, but just to make doubly sure I wasn't missing out on this amazing offer, he flashed a view of what he was offering. I had understood him correctly, and I declined once again.

Beautiful in the day. I would be curious to see it at night too.

I passed by a shop selling various groceries. Some of the items on display out front (extending into the sidewalk) were dessert toppings, you know, like chocolate syrup. But they had a few extra flavors we don't normally see in the USA: taro syrup and matcha syrup.

If only we could take liquids on the plane

As I was walking back home, I realized I wasn't too far from the John McCain marker, so I took a detour to see it. It is a marker in tribute to John McCain, first erected in 1967. Though McCain was a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton, he was a supporter of Vietnam in his time in the Senate. And the Vietnamese celebrate him.

John McCain Marker

We only have a couple days left in Hanoi and I wanted to enjoy the sites, sounds, and culture. I really like the vibe of Hanoi. I imagine we will be back again one day. In less than 1000 years.

Historic, Hip, and Hilarious Hanoi

Hanoi is an amazing place. I really enjoy it here. One of the many things I enjoy is all the oddities, the strange sites or sounds or happenings that make up the city and my experience here. So in this post I want to have some light-hearted fun. Not heavy-handed, but light-hearted. Though, hands weighing less than hearts is surprising. But I guess you can have a heavy heart too. Perhaps hearts can change their density.

Edifices

The Tran Quoc Pagoda

Pagoda on an island in the lake

I visited the Tran Quoc Pagoda which is on a spur of land that extends into Tay Ho (West Lake). Here's what's amazing: Today, as I said, this Buddhist temple is on the West Lake. But when it was built between 541 and 543 CE, it was on the Red River. But no one moved the pagoda. The river moved. As I mentioned in a previous post, the West Lake is one of many lakes that are remnants of the former course of the Red River.

I kept hearing chimes but saw no percussionist. Eventually I figured out it was wind chimes.

The pagoda is very beautiful and has lots of people visiting it. It has many people just outside it ready to sell you offerings you can leave at the shrines. It has women who will lend you scarves for your shoulders because uncovered shoulders (and shorts) are not allowed. Though I'm not sure how tightly these rules are enforced.

Closer View of the Central Chedi

I was particularly amused by a series of panels that explained the Laws of Karma. Each illustration explained that if you behave in a particular way in your current life, this is what reward or punishment you can expect in your next life.

You know what they say: Karma's a... well, you know what they say.

Cool architecture

Clever architect

I have no idea what this building is, but I love the design.

Maybe the scene is supposed to represent the very street it is on

Here's another: I was walking through a section of town where the walls along the street had a series of engraved panels. I don't know why, what it was on the other side of the wall that called for them. But how cool that they were there?

Not all the panels are street scenes

Restaurants and Coffee Shops

The Waffle House

Coming from the United States, when I think of a restaurant called The Waffle House I have a pretty strong (and primarily unfavorable) mental picture. I suspect that isn't the vibe they were going for here in a touristy part of Hanoi.

Not that "The Waffle House"

Functionality vs the Vibe

Question for you: What do you do if you have a quirky, trendy coffee shop and outside your building is a weird big standpipe? You paint it to be just as quirky!

Fun character and a bonus hydrant picture! It's a win-win!

Not Exactly The Same

Western Foods

Some "western foods" as they are called are very much like you remember them. Pizza here is excellent. But many are close without quite hitting the mark. Tacos don't taste quite like tacos. Doner kebab is delicious, but not quite like it is served in Turkey or Greece or the Balkans. And even Italian pasta can be surprising. I ordered linguine with seafood and it was delicious. But I didn't expect the linguine to be dark green, so dark, at first I thought it was black.

It was a dark and stormy linguine

Being a culinary adventurer, with my pasta I ordered "salt lemon soda" as my drink. Not my best choice. I don't really get into salty beverages, and the lemon in this one gave it a flavor that I associate with dish soap. This is not to say I drink a lot of dish soap, but I found the closest non-harmful alternative if I wanted to.

All the flavor of dish soap, and a mouthful of salt. What a bargain!

Background Music

Most Vietnamese restaurants don't play music. But some of the Western ones or the higher end ones do. And what seems to be super popular here is covers of American rock songs. But the covers always seem to be a female vocalist who is making the most mellow version of the song possible. Did the original have a driving beat? No more! Were there electric guitars? No more! Was it a power ballad? No more! They don't seem to be aware of what a power ballad is. Just yesterday we heard a cover of Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys. Let me tell you, the lulling melody felt like it was singing "This girl is sitting in the vicinity of a heater." Or perhaps, "This girl is wearing a warm woolen sweater."

Surprising Sightings

Dragons

Not too far from where we are living, there is a business that is like a big play area. It's too small to say it is an amusement park. And it is too big to say it is just a playground. But they seem to have events. Sometimes, those events require dragons.

Is the dragon draggin'?

We happened to be passing when a group was unloading their paper dragon that is on poles that they can carry. So we got a good look at the beast.

We were face to face!

The One Armed, Well, Not Bandit

When I was finding my way to the Red River, I came into an event space. There was no event going on at the time. But I did find this guy there.

I am so unclear as to what you are meant to be.

So yeah, he's wearing a loincloth and he's one armed. But a one armed what? Not really a demon. He has pointed ears. Maybe a red elf? A sunburned Vulcan?

Trees with Accessories

You might think trees are trees, right? But no, not here. Apparently here, the trees are electric!

"I have the power!" - He-Man

Does that seem like a fire hazard? No worries. The next tree over is prepared.

The tree equivalent of a bullet-proof vest

Funny, Random Extras

Translation Error

It's strange to see clothing being sold with English on it in a place that doesn't speak English. But how did they translate this? Google Translate and hope it's right? But why the incomplete sentence? And someone didn't know the word "reins".

What do you think you are supposed to let chance do? Not hold the rains of your life, of course.

Top Tier Trash

Have you ever had a situation where a confluence of events occurs that changes something you were saying mid-sentence and it results in one of the greatest sentences ever spoken? Here's what happened.

Alrica and I had purchased beverages while out exploring Hanoi. Now we were carrying the cups and eager to rid ourselves of them. As we walked past a club, there was a sign that said it was one of the top one-hundred clubs in the world. But I hadn't noticed the sign. Also, there was a couple of garbage cans just around the corner from the club.

So we're walking and Alrica is telling me about the sign that I missed, but turns the corner as she is doing so. And thus, she utters the amazing sentence. "This is one of the world's top 100... garbage cans." Naturally, I was thrilled to toss my trash into one of the most highly rated garbage cans in the world. And I had to get a picture to commemorate it, much to Alrica's annoyance (or is that Hanoi-ance?)

Honestly, not sure what raises this garbage can over its peers, but I can only assume expert judges were employed in the determination.

My Life as a Seven-Year-Old Girl

I have this problem. Some of the letters on my computer keyboard are wearing away (or entirely worn away.) For the most part, that's not a problem, because I know how to type without having to look at the keys. But it can be annoying t times. Particularly impossible to read keys included the A, the C, the E, and the S. I think that's amazing since it happens to be the four initials of the first names of our family. But that may be coincidence, and besides the C, those other letters are among the most commonly used. Still, if I have to type the word "case" (and being a mathematician who does proofs by cases, this is not an infrequent occurrence) I better remember where those letters are.

We were at the store the other idea and Alrica spotted the perfect solution. It was a pack of colorful glittery stickers of the letters of the alphabet. Problem solved! This is what my keyboard looks like now.

I don't know why I doubled the B

Let's just hope the numbers don't go next.

You're Doing it Wrong

There are certain skills in life that you would like to think people just know how to do. But that's not always the case. (Look, I just used the word "case"!)

Here, let me address the women who are reading this. I do this as a service, because the women probably have less firsthand knowledge of one of the many unpleasant features of a public men's restroom. The men who read this will nod their heads, affirming its truth.

The floor just under a urinal is frequently, how can I sugarcoat this, uninviting. But here's the good news. I was recently in a restroom here in Vietnam that attempts to address the issue.

I think this one transcends language. We can all understand it.

So men, please, if you aren't already familiar with the proper technique, please, take a long look at the image above. Internalize it. This is sure to serve you well in the future.

Ha Long Bay

In any list of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth, I would have to imagine that the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay must be included. This past weekend, Alrica and I took a trip to Ha Long Bay which is in north Vietnam, east of Hanoi. We took an overnight cruise and we got to see the spectacle of hundreds of these little karst landscape islands jutting up out of the water.

Islands and Islands and Islands

Not only is each island beautiful and generally covered in thick greenery but with steep sloping rocky sides, but some are closer and some are further, with distance making each hazier and almost ethereal. I talked about karst islands recently when I posted about El Nido. But the waters of El Nido had nowhere near the number and variety of such islands as Ha Long Bay.

Alrica on the Sundeck

The cruise was very fun. The only thing I would do differently, were I to do this again, would be to bring along some bottles of water. Our food was included in the price of the cruise, but not drinks with our meals. And since you are trapped on a boat, it's way overpriced. More on that in a bit.

In addition to lots of islands, there are lots of cruise ships

First, we were taken by van from Hanoi to Ha Long. There we had an hour wait until it was time to go to the boat. But the cruise ship itself doesn't come all the way to the shore. Instead, we were taken by a smaller boat called a tender from the dock to the cruise ship. Upon arrival, every passenger was given a welcome drink. It was watermelon juice, bleah! So Alrica got a bonus second welcome drink. We were told the itinerary for the cruise and then given keys for our rooms. We headed to the room and after putting down our things, we headed to the dining room for lunch.

If you don't want to look out the window, you have pictures of Ha Long Bay to look at instead

The room was very nice. We had a king size bed, a chair, and bookshelf built into the corner. There was an attached bath which included both a shower and a bathtub. And each room had a balcony with two chairs where you could sit and watch the bay and the islands go by. Or really watch them sit still while we went by.

You're thinking, "Erich, it's just a bathtub." Hey, bathtubs are not common in these parts.

Lunch was a buffet and it had a lot of options. I tried to try almost everything, and that was a lot of trying. But it was excellent food. This was when we discovered that we were buying anything we wanted to drink. But a solution later presented itself. There isn't a store on the ship, but a store came to us. There were people on wide bamboo boats full of snacks and drinks that would come up to the side of the ship. They would hand up whatever you wanted and you would hand down money. I bought a couple of cans of Coke and discovered that the outside of the can was coated in saltwater. Not a good first sip. I rinsed the second can in fresh water before I drank it.

That small boat you see is full of cakes, cookies, beer, water, and soda for sale

In the early afternoon, we stepped from the cruise ship to the tender. The tender took us to a floating dock. There we boarded bamboo boats which rowed us out to the light and dark caves.

Bamboo boats arriving at the dock

Basically, it was a karst formation where we went under a low arch with dangling stone. Seated in the base of the boat, we didn't have to duck. But our oarsman, sitting on a higher platform, often did. The dangling stone is somewhat like stalactites. But they aren't really stalactites. Stalactites are more conical in shape and they grow as time goes by. They are formed by dripping water which leaves minerals behind as it evaporates or falls. These stones get smaller as time goes by as they are what is left after the rock around them erodes away.

Inside the light and dark caves

When we returned to the cruise ship from the dark and light caves, it was time for relaxation and swimming in the bay. Alrica chose the relaxation aspect, and I chose the swimming. The water of Ha Long Bay was cold! For the first few minutes, I was cold, but after a bit of swimming, that just became refreshing. This is the tropics after all. After swimming in the bay, I visited the hot tub (which was only mildly hot, and I prefer that. Alrica likes it "turn you into stew" hot.) And then I relaxed on a lounge chair on the Sundeck.

Approach to the light and dark caves

A bit later, there was a cooking class in which we learned how to make Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls. Mostly what we learned was how to roll the delicious mix inside of rice paper. But it starts by massaging the rice paper on a wet washcloth. This changes the brittle rice paper into flexible rice paper. Then there is a method of folding and rolling the rice paper to enclose the meat and vegetable mixture. We got to pose with our head chef Mister Tam and we got to taste our creations. Pretty good! And I think it was all due to my amazing rolling and folding skills.

Look at that thumbs up. These rolls are Chef Tam approved!

Dinner was exceptional. It was a four course meal. First we had pumpkin soup. Then there was a sea grape salad with duck meat. Sea grapes are interesting, they burst in your mouth like they are caviar, and they have a very umami flavor. I was thinking, "Is this meat?" But no, it's algae. Our main course was grilled salmon served with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. And we had panna cotta (served inside a pineapple) for dessert.

That green thing on top of the cabbage, that's the sea grape.

After dinner was squid fishing. It was much like regular fishing, you used a pole. It used a lure, not live bait. A couple passengers did catch some squid. We did not, but once we saw a squid approaching my lure. But I couldn't catch it.

There's Alrica with her panna cotta in a pineapple

I was exhausted and slept well that night. The next day we got both breakfast and brunch, only about two hours apart from each other. We had to check out of our cabins in between. Still, that's a lot of morning food for me.

We said goodbye to our crew, took a tender back to the main dock, and rode a van back to Hanoi. It wasn't a super long trip, but we did plenty. And it was tiring. I needed a nap! I know, even after the good sleep the night before. Absorbing so much beauty takes a lot out of a person.

Puddles with Piercers, Puppets, or Planes

Water, water everywhere. Fear not, there's plenty to drink. Tourists are told not to drink the tap water in Hanoi, but there is plenty of filtered water and bottled water available. Regardless, I wasn't really thinking of drinking water when I wrote "Water, water everywhere."

Dragon Boat on West Lake

Hanoi is on the Red River. Ironically, I had a tough time even getting to the Red River to see it. But I did find a way, and, hey, it's a river. But it isn't one of those rivers that is the central feature of the city. There's no riverwalk district. The walking districts aren't too far from the river, but not on the river. But those walking paths and districts are on remnants of the Red River.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the Red River isn't red

Over the course of history, the course of the Red River has moved. And when it changed, it left lakes behind. Today, these lakes are all within solid manmade walls so that homes and businesses can be built along them without fear of flooding. The largest of these is Hồ Tây which translates to West Lake. Its surface is about 500 hectares (roughly 1235 acres.) We live just a block or two from this lake. I've walked some of its perimeter, but it is 17 km (over 10.5 miles) around. I haven't yet set aside enough time in a single day to walk the entire perimeter.

One of the dragons guarding West Lake

It has dragon guardians, Buddhist temples on its shore, and a stretch of road in which there are four coffee shops, one beside the other. I think my favorite part of that is that the two on the ends are both Highlands Coffee. (Starbucks is a relatively minor coffee company in Vietnam. Highlands is the equivalent. We see Highlands Coffee shops everywhere!) Highlands has a cooler history than you might think. It was incorporated in 1999 by a Vietnamese American named David Thai. David grew up in Seattle, home of Starbucks, and he saw its meteoric rise. Inspired, David started Highlands Coffee in Vietnam. This was the first time in the country's history that an overseas Vietnamese person was allowed to register a private company.

The Ho Tay Temple (on the shores of Ho Tay or West Lake)

While West Lake might be the biggest lake left behind by the river, it isn't the heart of the city. That would be a much smaller lake called Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, or the Lake of the Returned Sword. Sounds like a wild name, right? Well, it comes along with a legend.

Alrica at the Lake of the Returned Sword but lacking a sword to return. Or did she already return it?

In the 15th Century, Vietnam was ruled by the Ming Dynasty of China. The Vietnamese didn't like that. And there were rebellions. But the Chinese were tough. However, that's when a rebel leader named Lê Lợi emerged. He was a great warrior, a great strategist, but most importantly, he had a magic sword.

The Turtle Tower in the Lake of the Returned Sword

According to legend, a fisherman found a long piece of metal in his fishing net. He pulled it out of his net and threw it back into the water, then cast his net somewhere else in the water. Lo and behold, he drew out his net and once again, he had caught that same long piece of metal. Once again, he threw it back. A third time he cast his net, and a third time he caught that same long piece of metal. Deciding this had to mean something, he took a look at it and discovered it was the blade of a sword. It wasn't the whole sword, just the blade. So he kept it. I mean, if it was so determined to be in his net, why not?

Years later, the fisherman joined the rebels. One night he was visited by the general: Lê Lợi. When Lê Lợi entered the fisherman's hut, the sword blade began to glow brightly. Lê Lợi picked it up and beheld the words Thuận Thiên which means The Will of Heaven. Even though a sword blade without a hilt wasn't much use to him, it was glowing and it had a name: the Will of Heaven. You don't ignore that. The fisherman said the general could keep the blade, so Lê Lợi took it.

Good thing, too! The blade itself didn't turn the tide of the battles. Lê Lợi still lost a lot. But one day, while he was running away from the Chinese, he saw a weird light in the branches of a banyan tree. Had this been me, I would have just ignored it, because I am allergic to banyan trees. But not Lê Lợi. He climbed right into the tree and you know what he found? A hilt for a sword, a hilt encrusted in gems. Naturally he thought, "I wonder if this hilt will fit that blade I got from the fisherman." In case you are dying of suspense, let me tell you: It did!

It is said that when he fought with this reunited sword, The Will of Heaven, that Lê Lợi was the size of a giant and had the strength of many men. He rallied the Vietnamese people and they drove the Chinese out of their land. The Ming gave up their imperial hopes in Vietnam and Lê Lợi declared himself Emperor of the newly-independent land.

The Turtle Tower lit up at night

One day after this, Lê Lợi was out boating on a lake. (This is Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, the Lake of the Returned Sword, but it couldn't have been called that yet. It's about to get that name.) A golden turtle surface and swam toward the boat. It spoke to Lê Lợi, telling the emperor to return the sword to the turtle's master, the Dragon King (a demigod.) With no hesitation, Lê Lợi drew the sword and threw it out of the boat. The turtle caught it in his mouth and swam under the surface of the water with it. That's when Lê Lợi named the lake Hồ Hoàn Kiếm. Today, there is a tower in the lake called Turtle Tower to further commemorate the occasion when Lê Lợi returned the sword.

Thang Long Water Puppet Theater

On the north side of the Lake of the Returned Sword is the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. We went to a show, and it is pretty amazing engineering. The audience faces a shallow pool and you can't see the whole pool. Part of it is behind bamboo screens. On either side of the pool are raised platform with musicians. The puppeteers are behind the screens. But they aren't holding the puppets on their hands. Instead the puppets are at the ends of long wooden rods that stay in the water and the puppets can move along the surface of the water, or dive beneath it, or even jump above it.

The empty "stage"

The show is a series of short vignettes. Some involve intricate dancing. In one of them, boys were swimming. In another, a man on a boat was fishing. And somehow they are able to have him catch a fish (meaning somehow the fishing line part of the man on boat puppet connected to and stayed connected to the fish puppet.) What's more, the man and the fish fight, and eventually, the fish pulls the man off the boat and drags him around in the water. So they are also able to detach the man puppet from the boat puppet. And one of the scenes was Lê Lợi on his boat, meeting the golden turtle, and tossing the sword to him. The Lê Lợi puppet was able to draw a sword, toss the sword, and the turtle puppet was able to catch the sword. I don't know how it is done, but it's impressive.

Our narrator

One more lake that we visited is often called the B52 Lake. Not because it is fifteen miles to the love shack. Not because it if filled with rock lobster. (By the way, if you don't get those jokes, well, you might have grown up in a different era than I did.) It is called the B52 Lake because there is a piece of an American B52 in it. Today, there are residential buildings all around this small lake. But during the Vietnam war it was agricultural land there. The Vietnamese shot down an American B52 and a big chunk of it landed in this lake. And its been left there to this day.

The B52 piece in the B52 Lake

The lake itself isn't that impressive to see. It is a tiny lake with a piece of a plane in it. But the panel that told the story, that was great. The victor gets to write the history, right? The tale of the scrappy but noble Vietnamese who took down the aerial instrument of death sent by the American imperialists was fantastic. I'm sure it is exactly analogous to the way the United States would have written up the story if they had won, except it would be the Americans who were glorious and the Vietnamese who had impure motives.

Bonus picture: I love the Avongars to inftitiy and back

So instead of ending, "Water, water everywhere," with "and not a drop to drink," let's change it to "Water, water everywhere, and a lot of fabulous stories." Slaking my thirst for knowledge.