This one is going to be short, but it's going to be long. I'm actually not going to say that much, and just do the eighty or so pictures here do the talking. I'm not feeling like I have a whole lot to say yet, so I'm not going to spend much time babbling.
The basics though are that I'm now in Hanoi, and have been here since midday Saturday. During that time I've caught up on the Delhi blogs (as you might have noticed) discovered some of the joy that is the Old Quarter of Hanoi, wandered around a bit with Lauren, a Californian who I met on the plane, and am very grateful for hanging out with, dealt with my neck (it's getting better), and generally chilled out.
Tonight at 6pm I meet up with the other 14 travellers and our intrepid (literally) leader who I will be spending the next 20 or so days with exploring Vietnam, Cambodia, and a wee bit of Thailand. This will be the first time on this trip where most of my time is not really my own, and frankly, I'm looking forward to someone else making the decisions for awhile. They're welcome to do so. What it does mean though is that I don't expect to be blogging much, if at all, between now and early March.
Don't cry. It'll be okay. You'll get by without me somehow, I know you will.
But if you can't, I'll probably check in on FB from time to time, so hopefully that will suffice.
Anyway, here's a lot of pictures.
You may have some questions about some of the pictures you see along the way. I do too, and plan on asking my trip leader as many as I can.
One of them is about religion and temples. I've heard that much of Vietnam is Buddhist, but I've also heard that even more are returning to traditional folk deities. Guess we'll find out.
Pretty sure though that most of the temples you'll see pictures of along the way in this entry are Buddhist. I think. Don't quote me. I've lots to learn and I couldn't read most of the signage.
What I find fascinating though is all of the offerings being left. It's a wide range of items, from food items, to beverages. I've seen cigarettes. Money of course. Either as money, or as a burnt offering as well. Lots of burnt offerings, both in the temples but also in shrines set up outside of homes and businesses on the street. At least, I assume that's why they were burning money. Again, could be totally wrong.
I actually find Hanoi pretty calm. That may have something to do with where I've just come from though.
Lots and lots and lots of scooters, and while there are some spots with traffic lights you're pretty much on your own for getting across the street, which is pretty easy once you figure out the flow, especially as they actually slow and swerve.
That's Lenin. He's got his on park.
These are a couple of the many minature trees to be found on the grounds of the Imperial Citadel of Thanglong in Hanoi. The art form is called Hon Non Bo, and started up in Vietnam late in the 10th century.
Hon Non Bo is not only about the tree, but about the recreation of the landscape around it. I've plenty of pics but am only including a few. They're absolutely amazing. Most of them are banyans, or sure as well look like banyans. I know nothing about trees though, so perhaps they're something else. Let's call them banyans for now. Anyway, Banyans are super cool to begin with, so when you make 'em really wee they get even cooler.
Okay, I cheated. Yoda and R2 were not there, but man this looks like Dagobah.
Right? Right?
Here's some of the citadel.
Outside, and not far from the Citadel is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
HE'S SO FLUFFY!
This is the Tran Quoc Pagoda, which is found on West Lake, a little outside the Old Quarter. There are a number of little lakes dotting Hanoi. The most popular one, and right in the Old Quarter, is Hoan Kiem Lake. You'll see it shortly.
This pagoda is the oldest in the city and dates back to about the 7th century or so. It's history includes a move or two and some refurbishing, but yeah, it's old.
See, burnt offerings.
Now, I don't have a picture of it but I'm going to talk about it anyway, as I think it's very cool.
First off, up above, when I'm talking about the mini banyan trees. Nope. Bodhi tree. They've got a similar look from a trunk, roots, and branches way, but the leaves and fruit are quite different.
My apologies.
Why is this important? Well, Buddha achieved enlightenment under a bodhi tree. A specific bodhi tree. And a cutting from that tree, which incidently is in Bodh Gaya, India, was brought to Vietnam in 1959 as a present from the then Indian president Rajendra Prasad. That cutting has grown into a pretty decent tree over the past few decades. And what great symbolism. What a fantastic gift. It's like that tree in Richmond Park in London. Really, really old. Something to do with Henry VIII. Anyway, it falls down, so, I think it was Philip, plants a new one there that gets to grow and be nourished by this previous tree. See? Super cool. Right? You gotta love when people think gifts through like that.
Here's your Amazon gift card. It really captures how I feel about you and our special relationship.
I said I wasn't going to do this, didn't I?
Well, deal with it for just another moment.
So yes, I love the symbolism, and the gesture of this gift.
So just so I'm clear, both Hinduism and Buddhism originated in India. Hinduism is big on the banyan tree because this is said to be the resting place of Lord Krishna, while Buddhism goes for the Bodhi tree because this is where Buddha sat and attained enlightenment.
The trees have some simularities but are not the same.
And now we can move on to the swan boat on the West Lake.
This red bridge leads to the small island that is home to the Ngoc Son Temple, on Hoan Kiem Lake, in the Old Quarter.
Oh, it's New Years here on the 19th. Lots of lights and floral decorations being set up all over the city as they get ready for the celebration. And I'm told it's quite a celebration.
I forget where I am on the 19th. Should be interesting.
Here's some more of the temple I just mentioned.
And these lovely people are the ones that invited me over to their bench to share their fruit as I sat by the lake near the Thang Long Puppet Theatre, waiting for the doors to open for the performance I was attending.
The nice young lady making the gangster symbol did the bulk of the heavy lifting on communications, accompanied by a few cries of frustration as she tried to translate a question one of her friends was asking, or because I was speaking too fast.
Yes, I still do that. It's gotten better though.
I took some pictures of the show, but they all suck. So here are some of the theatre puppets.
It's a form of puppetry that dates back to the 11th century, and the show consisted of the telling of several folk stories accompanied by music, and with some dialogue that I did not understand in the slightest.
Back in the market...
Yep. Weasel coffee. This is the stuff we know as that stuff that civet cats poop out that is apparently really, really good. Civet cats are a type of mongoose. Hense weasel coffee.
Hanoi by the way is pretty big into coffee. Street vendors everywhere. Cafe after cafe lining the streets. And me not being able to have caffeine without freaking out.
Who knows, maybe I'll risk it.
Yep, a ukulele shop. Well, music shop, but with lot's of ukes, and an owner happy to let me try a few out.
Oh, and the lobby of the hotel I moved into this afternoon has a piano in it that they were most happy to let me play.
I like Hanoi.
These next few are of the Temple of Literature. It was founded in 1070, as a temple of Confucius, and became Vietnam's first university six years later.
That's a phoenix.
It, along with the tortoise and dragon which you've already seen, and unicorn, which I cannot find one of yet, are all creatures with great significance in Vietnamese culture. Dragon is power, Unicorn is peace and good luck, Tortoise is strength and longevity, and the Phoenix is a "beautiful and noble bird".
And actually, I have seen a unicorn, I just didn't know that that is what it was as it looked nothing like a horse with a horn on it's head. I'll find the pic I got and share it later.
And here's Hello Kitty. Another popular animal.
Actually, I took this not only because of Hello Kitty, but because I really like the design of the scooter helmets many people wear. They're really cute.
This is the One Pillared Pagoda.
And these are from the temple near it.
And that's last night's dinner. Ever so good.
So ya. My roommate Patrick just showed up so I'm going to say bye to you all and go a wandering.
See you in a few weeks.
The basics though are that I'm now in Hanoi, and have been here since midday Saturday. During that time I've caught up on the Delhi blogs (as you might have noticed) discovered some of the joy that is the Old Quarter of Hanoi, wandered around a bit with Lauren, a Californian who I met on the plane, and am very grateful for hanging out with, dealt with my neck (it's getting better), and generally chilled out.
Tonight at 6pm I meet up with the other 14 travellers and our intrepid (literally) leader who I will be spending the next 20 or so days with exploring Vietnam, Cambodia, and a wee bit of Thailand. This will be the first time on this trip where most of my time is not really my own, and frankly, I'm looking forward to someone else making the decisions for awhile. They're welcome to do so. What it does mean though is that I don't expect to be blogging much, if at all, between now and early March.
Don't cry. It'll be okay. You'll get by without me somehow, I know you will.
But if you can't, I'll probably check in on FB from time to time, so hopefully that will suffice.
Anyway, here's a lot of pictures.
You may have some questions about some of the pictures you see along the way. I do too, and plan on asking my trip leader as many as I can.
One of them is about religion and temples. I've heard that much of Vietnam is Buddhist, but I've also heard that even more are returning to traditional folk deities. Guess we'll find out.
Pretty sure though that most of the temples you'll see pictures of along the way in this entry are Buddhist. I think. Don't quote me. I've lots to learn and I couldn't read most of the signage.
What I find fascinating though is all of the offerings being left. It's a wide range of items, from food items, to beverages. I've seen cigarettes. Money of course. Either as money, or as a burnt offering as well. Lots of burnt offerings, both in the temples but also in shrines set up outside of homes and businesses on the street. At least, I assume that's why they were burning money. Again, could be totally wrong.
I actually find Hanoi pretty calm. That may have something to do with where I've just come from though.
Lots and lots and lots of scooters, and while there are some spots with traffic lights you're pretty much on your own for getting across the street, which is pretty easy once you figure out the flow, especially as they actually slow and swerve.
That's Lenin. He's got his on park.
These are a couple of the many minature trees to be found on the grounds of the Imperial Citadel of Thanglong in Hanoi. The art form is called Hon Non Bo, and started up in Vietnam late in the 10th century.
Hon Non Bo is not only about the tree, but about the recreation of the landscape around it. I've plenty of pics but am only including a few. They're absolutely amazing. Most of them are banyans, or sure as well look like banyans. I know nothing about trees though, so perhaps they're something else. Let's call them banyans for now. Anyway, Banyans are super cool to begin with, so when you make 'em really wee they get even cooler.
Okay, I cheated. Yoda and R2 were not there, but man this looks like Dagobah.
Right? Right?
Here's some of the citadel.
Outside, and not far from the Citadel is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
HE'S SO FLUFFY!
This is the Tran Quoc Pagoda, which is found on West Lake, a little outside the Old Quarter. There are a number of little lakes dotting Hanoi. The most popular one, and right in the Old Quarter, is Hoan Kiem Lake. You'll see it shortly.
This pagoda is the oldest in the city and dates back to about the 7th century or so. It's history includes a move or two and some refurbishing, but yeah, it's old.
See, burnt offerings.
Now, I don't have a picture of it but I'm going to talk about it anyway, as I think it's very cool.
First off, up above, when I'm talking about the mini banyan trees. Nope. Bodhi tree. They've got a similar look from a trunk, roots, and branches way, but the leaves and fruit are quite different.
My apologies.
Why is this important? Well, Buddha achieved enlightenment under a bodhi tree. A specific bodhi tree. And a cutting from that tree, which incidently is in Bodh Gaya, India, was brought to Vietnam in 1959 as a present from the then Indian president Rajendra Prasad. That cutting has grown into a pretty decent tree over the past few decades. And what great symbolism. What a fantastic gift. It's like that tree in Richmond Park in London. Really, really old. Something to do with Henry VIII. Anyway, it falls down, so, I think it was Philip, plants a new one there that gets to grow and be nourished by this previous tree. See? Super cool. Right? You gotta love when people think gifts through like that.
Here's your Amazon gift card. It really captures how I feel about you and our special relationship.
I said I wasn't going to do this, didn't I?
Well, deal with it for just another moment.
So yes, I love the symbolism, and the gesture of this gift.
So just so I'm clear, both Hinduism and Buddhism originated in India. Hinduism is big on the banyan tree because this is said to be the resting place of Lord Krishna, while Buddhism goes for the Bodhi tree because this is where Buddha sat and attained enlightenment.
The trees have some simularities but are not the same.
And now we can move on to the swan boat on the West Lake.
This red bridge leads to the small island that is home to the Ngoc Son Temple, on Hoan Kiem Lake, in the Old Quarter.
Oh, it's New Years here on the 19th. Lots of lights and floral decorations being set up all over the city as they get ready for the celebration. And I'm told it's quite a celebration.
I forget where I am on the 19th. Should be interesting.
Here's some more of the temple I just mentioned.
And these lovely people are the ones that invited me over to their bench to share their fruit as I sat by the lake near the Thang Long Puppet Theatre, waiting for the doors to open for the performance I was attending.
The nice young lady making the gangster symbol did the bulk of the heavy lifting on communications, accompanied by a few cries of frustration as she tried to translate a question one of her friends was asking, or because I was speaking too fast.
Yes, I still do that. It's gotten better though.
I took some pictures of the show, but they all suck. So here are some of the theatre puppets.
It's a form of puppetry that dates back to the 11th century, and the show consisted of the telling of several folk stories accompanied by music, and with some dialogue that I did not understand in the slightest.
Back in the market...
Yep. Weasel coffee. This is the stuff we know as that stuff that civet cats poop out that is apparently really, really good. Civet cats are a type of mongoose. Hense weasel coffee.
Hanoi by the way is pretty big into coffee. Street vendors everywhere. Cafe after cafe lining the streets. And me not being able to have caffeine without freaking out.
Who knows, maybe I'll risk it.
Yep, a ukulele shop. Well, music shop, but with lot's of ukes, and an owner happy to let me try a few out.
Oh, and the lobby of the hotel I moved into this afternoon has a piano in it that they were most happy to let me play.
I like Hanoi.
These next few are of the Temple of Literature. It was founded in 1070, as a temple of Confucius, and became Vietnam's first university six years later.
That's a phoenix.
It, along with the tortoise and dragon which you've already seen, and unicorn, which I cannot find one of yet, are all creatures with great significance in Vietnamese culture. Dragon is power, Unicorn is peace and good luck, Tortoise is strength and longevity, and the Phoenix is a "beautiful and noble bird".
And actually, I have seen a unicorn, I just didn't know that that is what it was as it looked nothing like a horse with a horn on it's head. I'll find the pic I got and share it later.
And here's Hello Kitty. Another popular animal.
Actually, I took this not only because of Hello Kitty, but because I really like the design of the scooter helmets many people wear. They're really cute.
This is the One Pillared Pagoda.
And these are from the temple near it.
And that's last night's dinner. Ever so good.
So ya. My roommate Patrick just showed up so I'm going to say bye to you all and go a wandering.
See you in a few weeks.
