Sai Gon, October 6, 2001.
In the meantime, I return to Hanoi, which I can only describe to you with a tiny bit of melancholy as Jeff was not there as had been planned. I went out early Monday morning of last week, and in the afternoon met with Khai, a friend of Linh’s. Khai drove me around town on motorbike, and all around Hanoi’s many lakes (Ha Noi means “River Exterior” as the Song Hong (Red River) runs through it. We drove through the charming Old Quarters (made up of 36 crooked streets), and then visited the newly renovated library for a drink called nuoc mo, which is kind of like xi muoi, which is a salted & sour sort of dried prune. Yeah, sounds weird, but it’s good.

I then visited Hoan Kiem lake, notable for the pagoda that sits on an islet in the lake. Hoan Kiem means “Restored Sword” and the story goes that Emperor Ly Thai To returned his battle sword to a gigantic turtle in the lake upon his return from the Chinese Ming invasion. It is believed that the sword is still in the lake, and that perhaps the giant turtle found in 1968 – at over 2 meters in length – is perhaps the legendary figure. There is a pretty little red bridge that brings you to the Den Ngoc Son (Jade Mountain Temple) on an island in the Hoan Kiem lake where small groups of old men play co tuong, Chinese checkers. The temple was built some time during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) and lent a good view of the Hoan Kiem pagoda. Along the lake are weeping willows, stone benches, beautiful landscaping. Couples sit by the lake, vendors vend, promenaders promenade. (see photo when Souris gets a chance to post it)

After spending our afternoon there, Khai took me to have luong for dinner with his friend Trieu. Luong is a kind of scaleless eel / snake – I don’t really know what it is, but it’s a specialty of Hanoi. It was worth a taste. We drove around Hanoi some more and Trieu let me take the driver’s seat. I handled the Honda from there to Truc Bach lake (in my last blog I thought it was another one) where we sat for hours and hours having tea and drinks. Around 9:30 the streets were packed, as were all the tables and chairs around the lake as it was Tet Trung Thu – the mid Autumn moon festival. There was a full moon out, a few paraders and music-makers, and thousands of motorbikes. From our view across the lake, I could see streams of motorbike lights driving endlessly, like a chain of white Christmas lights. Chuong and a friend of his met up with us at the lake, and when we all parted, Khai and I cruised the streets a bit more before I finally headed back to the hotel.

Next day I slept in (Khai was in school – he’s studying to be a cosmetic surgeon in Vietnam) and I got up to walk the 3 km to Van Mieu (c.1070), where Confucious once studied. When I got there, Khai called so he drove over to join me. When I got to the ticket counter, I asked for 2 tickets. “Foreigner or Viet?” she asked me. “Viet,” I said, and handed her a 50,000 dong bill. The sign in the window said 12,000 dong per person. She asked me if I had a 2000 dong bill and I wondered why, but figured it was for even change. I handed her a 5000 dong bill instead. She then gave me my 3000 dong in change and my 50000 bill back. It turns out that it only costs Viets 1000 dong (about six and a half cents) for admission and foreigners nearly a dollar. In the end, it’s nothing either way, but the discrimination drives me crazy.

Van Mieu is set up in five courtyards, landscaped differently, and was once a University in Hanoi. Eighty-two turtle stellae (c.1484-1780) line one of the courtyards where 1,037 names of former graduates are engraved in the stones. Art students lingered about in the courtyard drawing and painting its structures and gardens, while Vietnamese and Western travelers alike wandered within it. There were some beautiful water puppets there (we didn’t manage to see a show) and you can see a photo of them if you go to Souris’ site (after she has time to post them).

October 12, 2001
Khai took me around the old quarters for some souvenir shopping, and when I was in one of the shops, I asked the shop girl how much for one of the bags they had, and she said “oh, I thought you were a foreigner.” And then she gave me the “Vietnamese” price for the bag. Good to know that my Vietnamese has improved enough that I can actually pass as a Vietnamese.

Later that night, Khai and Trieu drove me out of town a bit to the Cau Thang Long (Dragon Bridge) as the sun was setting. We drove through an entire strip of dog-barbecue restaurants (unimaginable) before we could get there. Driving along the river, we passed a soccer game with grazing cattle on one side, and oxen on the other. When we reached the bridge, we stood in the middle and I turned around and saw a huge red circle in the sky over the Hong River. At first I thought it was the sun still setting – it was so red and round. Then I realized as the minutes passed that the ball of light was rising, not setting, and that it began to glow an even red-orange as it rose and eventually the lunar spectacular lightened in the sky over the course of an hour. It was amazingly beautiful.

Finally on my third day in Ha Noi, Chuong and I spent some time together eating, drinking, visiting the History Museum, eating some more, and drinking some more. Cafés in Ha Noi are cute and charming, and it’s easy to find a nice place to hang out.

The following day, Chuong and I went to a family wedding (the daughter of one of my first cousins on my dad’s side) where I met about a dozen or so relatives (mostly first cousins and their grown children). It was a well produced Vietnamese wedding where the food was actually pretty good (and not Chinese) and the décor not tacky. Of course, there was the typical show of singers karaoke-style.

Eventually, life returned to normal upon my re-entry in Saigon, and I am now busy at work again, having just finished a deadline.