Travels in Vietnam

N   77   Around Hanoi

The 2^nd place we visited was the old citadel of Hanoi. It is also called the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. It was the former residence of Vietnamese monarchs dating back to the Ly Dynasty ( 1010 ) and remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1810 when the Nguyen Dynasty Chose to move the capital to Hue. The few remaining structures within the royal compound are the Doan Mon Gate, The Flag Tower, the steps of the Kin Thien Palace and the Princess Palace.

In 2010 the Citadel was registered with UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As I cannot climb the long rock stairs leading to the flag tower above I just waited at the bottom , while others went up , and took some photos but contented to have visited this over one millennium old UNESCO Heritage Site.

After this place it was time for lunch. So we asked the driver to take us to a restaurant that serve traditional Vietnam food. And he did so . This place is a popular place because we saw all the tables filled with people and have to go upstairs ( by climbing a steep staircase as usual, like in old Vietnam buildings ). It didn’t take long for the food to be served but  the price tag of one dish made us give some comments and laughter when it said 650000 dong (actually about 30 $ ) . Some of us said we were millionaires spending 100 lakhs a day. But everything we said  were just for fun. It should be like this when travelling with friends. Shouldn’t it be ?

We visited Hoan Kiem Lake next. It is one of Hanoi’s major scenic spot, in the middle of the city. There are some places on the bank which are made into park like places where people can visit and rest. We crossed a stretch of water to an island where there are some places of worship( a Chinese Temple ). We saw a figure of a tortoise in a glass case and learned the history of the lake which is concerned with the tortoise. Now they said that the lake is full of these  giant animals , but we were not lucky enough to catch sight of one. Hoan Kiem has become a holy place that nurture tortoises now.

The last place we visited for the day was the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. It is located on a 3.27 acres of property , about 8 kilometres from the city centre.. It is widely considered to be the finest modern museum in Vietnam , opened in 1997,  focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam.

 As we are Tais and have heard that there are Tai people who speak the same language as us in Vietnam and we were interested in meeting them. But to meet them we will have to go to the hilly north, which we didn’t  have time to do so and so decided it best to learn about them in the museum. By doing so we will also come to know about all Vietnam’s ethnic people.

The museum beautifully presented all  informations that should be known about each ethnic group from costumes, household utensils, things concerning rituals, traditional crafts, musical instruments, farming tools etc to the style of their houses, a real life size one or just models.

These are presented in photos, or in real pieces. There are also videos showing activities of the people.About our Tai ( they spell Thai ) we learned that they are the 2^nd biggest ethnic group with a population of 1.5 million. There are 2 kinds of Tai, the White Tai and the Black Tai. They live mainly in Son La, Mai Chau, Lao Cai and Lai Chau . They wear their clothes for cultural performances. Tais are well known for their beautifully woven garments,other accessories and typical houses built on stilts. They have a heritage of ancient legends and myths and they like folk dances.

In fact the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is beautifully presented. There are so much to see and to learn that at least 3 or 4 hours will be needed to take in all thoroughly.

But it was  nearing the end of the day and we were all tired, so could not  give more time , but had to retire to our hotel.

Before departing to Hue we visited 3 more places of which one was the Temple of Literature. It is not far from Hoan Kiem Lake. It was founded in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong and was dedicated to Confucious. A rare example of well preserved traditional Vietnamese culture,the complex honours Vietnam’s finest scholars and men of literacy accomplishments. It is the site of Vietnam’s first University established here in 1076 . We found stelaes recording the names, place of birth, and achievements of exceptional scholars; 82 of 116 stalaes remain standing.

We also visited Tran Quoc Pagoda which is a Buddhist pagoda, where we sit down on the marble floor and pay homage to the Buddha statues in the little nitches there. There also is a shrine hall with images of Buddha and also Arahats. Although Vietnam is said to be  85% Buddhists I didn’t see much Buddhist worshipping places, but maybe because we could not look for them thoroughly.

We had chosen to visit one pillar pagoda also,because it is one of Hanoi’s attraction.It is in the grounds of HCM Mausoleum and we had crossed it while visiting there without knowing this. So when our driver took us there we were amazed and laughter broke out among ourselves. It was nearly dark and there were no visitors by then. We walk speedily to the place, studied and took pictures of it .Built on one pillar….yes , it is . But not a wood pillar. It is a concrete pillar. The beams which support the platform of the building comes from this pillar and spread to different directions. There is an alter for some deity in the small hall above. We pay our homage standing and then departed for the train station.