Museums and Lakes

Well, there are some honest cab drivers in Hanoi. Certainly the one who drove us to the Museum of Ethnography, if not the one who drove us back and tried to charge us 4 times the price. This museum detailing the 54 minority ethnic groups of Vietnam is really fantastic, if a bit overwhelming at times with all of the costumes, artifacts, and dioramas. Since it is still Tet (the Lunar New Year), there are many special programs, including the 4 mythical creatures dance featuring a dragon, lion, tortoise, and phoenix. I felt bad for the actor playing the tortoise, who had to bend and scrunch himself inside this costume while walking only about 2 feet off the ground!! The best part of the museum was, of course, the gift shop. I bought several pieces from the Hmong and one from an another unknown minority group.

The rest of the day I spent wandering around Hoan Kiem lake in the center of the Old Quarter, which means "Lake of the Restored Sword" because of a mythical tortoise who supposedly restored a sword to his owners. Ngoc Son Temple resides in the center of the lake and is well worth a visit. Unfortunately, the weather remained overcast and spitting, so I took a break for some Vietnamese coffee at one point. Asking for only a small amount of sweetened condensed milk was a mistake, as the resulting liquid was strong enough to power rocket ships!!

I had intended to visit the famous water puppetry theater later that evening, but got sucked into the happy hour crowd at the hostel's rooftop bar. It was quite a nice group of people, even if Andreas, the Swedish guy, was born in 1987. we wound up playing pool (badly) at an Irish pub and I had quite a respectable plate of fish and chips for $4.50. Our quest to then find a local Bia Hoi (fresh beer, basically a bar where they brew their own beer) place was unsuccessful, but I think we know where to go this evening.

I am off to the temple of literature, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, and more shopping.