Hanoi


First stop in Vietnam. The place has the same frenetic feel as New York, with similar characters, except that everything (I repeat, everything) takes place on the street.

* = Duyen's photo
 
Click for a larger version A day in the life... which all takes place on the street. We didn't have to hire any extras for the photo shoot. Many people live in store fronts, and you can see them cooking, eating and watching television as you walk by in the evenings.
Click for a larger version Was that a traffic light?

If you can find one at all, a traffic light is merely a suggestion. To cross, you inch out slowly into the middle of the street, trying not to surprise anyone. In return for your consideration, they'll try to drive around you.

Click for a larger version *The night Vietnam won the football game

Vietnam is the most football-crazy country in the world. The night Vietnam won against Singapore, what else to do but race motorcycles around the lake? This went on well past midnight.

Click for a larger version A market, with outdoor cafe. Diners sit on plastic children's chairs. The lower the chair, usually, the better the food.
Click for a larger version Food market

This is how you buy your food in Vietnam. There's amazing variety of food – cooked, uncooked, or still clucking.

Click for a larger version A jeweler's shop in Hanoi

By strange coincidence, the name means "to be prosperous".

Click for a larger version A side street near the Cathedral.
Click for a larger version A friend's former house across from Hoan Kiem lake.

We promised to photograph it during our visit. The lake is in the center of the city, and quite nice.

Click for a larger version Temple in the middle of the Hoan Kiem lake

There's a legend about a turtle and a sword.

Click for a larger version Bridge on Hoan Kiem lake

There's Ngoc Son, a Buddhist temple, and a small museum here, which includes an ancient, mummified turtle dredged out of the lake. There's also an exhibit on Tran Hung Dao, the general who prevented the Mongols from overrunning Vietnam in the 13th century.

Click for a larger version Statue

Right near the lake, some might call the style hyper-realism.

Click for a larger version The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. First stop on a Hanoi tour, and where all Vietnamese tourists get their picture taken. They told me Ho Chi Minh was away for his annual retouching, but I'm starting to take this personally. The same thing happened to me on visits to Lenin, Mao, and even Sukhbataar. It's not a simple coincidence.
Click for a larger version The Ho Chi Minh Museum. Dedicated to the writings and philosophy of Ho Chi Minh, it's surprising how modest and common-sensical he was, speaking a lot about learning from mistakes. After 1969, his writings became a bit more strident.
Click for a larger version The Temple of Literature

The oldest university in Vietnam, dating from 1070. Yes, the water is green.

Click for a larger version Stone stellae

with the names of successful doctoral candidates. The turtle is an animal which symbolizes the scholar.

In those days, these were  diplomas - a bit big to hang on the wall.

 

Click for a larger version Doctoral hopefuls.

Actually, a bunch of schoolgirls, who we overheard rehearsing a song. Like little girls everywhere, they have a scary command of detail. They asked if we would take their picture.

Click for a larger version The inner sanctum

How far you go into the temple has to do with your achievement as a scholar. They made an exception in my case.

Click for a larger version Museum of ethnography.

Built by the French, this is a wonderful museum, devoted to Vietnam's 53 ethnic minorities. Our tour guide touched every single exhibit that wasn't behind glass. In the courtyard, there are reconstructions of traditional house. This one is from the Yao, who also live in southern China.

Click for a larger version Tai house.

See no evil, hear no evil, but gossip all you want.

Many tribes are related to the Thai and Lao, again, with similar groups in southern China where the Thai originally came from.

 

Click for a larger version Tay longhouse

Many families share the same house, which has no windows. Notice the modern buildings around it, also multi-family, though at a 90-degree angle.

Click for a larger version Tay longhouse

The front door and stairs. I believe the left stairway is the male one.