We arrived in Vietnam
in the middle of a five-day holiday stretch of time off given for April 30th’s
Reunification Day celebration and the May 1st International Workers
Day. In 1976, North and South Vietnam were reunited after 30 years of conflict
with the fall of Saigon.
For travelers this is
considered a fortunate time to visit as the streets are less crowded and
crossing the street is plausible. This is normally a dangerous profession with
scooters weaving in and around cars and pedestrians and traffic lights are
merely suggestions. We were told when attempting to cross a street to just
slowly keep moving and allow the engines of destruction to weave around you. On
a slower day like this first Sunday in the holiday stretch we crossed several
streets unscathed.
We finally checked into
our hotel, the May De Ville Trendy Hotel, around midnight Saturday. We had
first left Philadelphia on a 6 am flight to Minneapolis. After a 4-hour layover
it was a 14-hour flight to Inchon, South Korea and after another 4-hour layover
another 4-hour flight to Hanoi. Do the math, it was long.
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| Hoan Kiem Lake w/Thap Rua |
We slept in, got a late
breakfast at the hotel, and then headed out to walk along Hoan Kiem Lake, usually considered by many guides lists as the number one activity while visiting Hanoi.
Because of the long holiday many streets around the lake were closed to traffic and pedestrians milled about. Many local families and their children, some riding little electric vehicles fashioned to look like cars or tanks and controlled by their parents, ambled along.
We watched a wedding being set up lakeside using the Thap Rua or Turtle Tower, a pagoda on a small island in the middle
of the lake, for a backdrop. Here and there elderly men did calisthenics. Because
of the holiday historical displays and wreathes were displayed near the lake.
The kiosks selling ice creams and drinks were busy with customers and
aggressive vendors tried to sell us things like fans and conical hats. Locals
and tourists posed for pictures with the lake as their background. We dodged walking
tour groups pointing out the sights in a multitude of languages. We made our
way around to the The Huc Bridge or the Welcoming the Morning Sun bridge and
after buying admission entered the Ngoc Son Temple.
We would learn later that food placed at the
altar with incense is to honor the departed. When the incense is burned the
food is blessed and okay to eat. In Njoc Son we watched a younger couple pray
and take some of the food to a side room to eat.
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| Welcoming the Morning Sun Bridge |
MOT HAI BA!
Sweating profusely from the humidity and temperatures soaring near to 100°F we somehow managed to find our way back to the hotel, but we had little to relax as we were going to a cooking class with the chef at Rose Kitchen. The cost was $90 for the two of us.
They picked us up in a mini-van and we drove around Hanoi for about an hour picking up other participants until we had twelve. We were the first pick up and it was a great quick way to see the city.
The beauty of traveling is immersing yourself in the culture of your destination and this cooking class did just that. Our first stop was a market to buy our ingredients. Gracie was our guide and chef, and she tasked each group with not only buying a specific ingredient, but to communicate with the owner of the stand.
We were just hours into our visit to Vietnam and we were mingling with the locals! She gave us a couple of phrases to utter like: Xin chào (Hello) and Bao nhiêu (How much?) and Cảm ơn (Thank you). At the time they were tongue twisters, but the appreciation from the stand owners was very apparent, not only for the business, but for being honored by a visit from foreigners. Janet had to buy coconut rice crackers.
Our menu at Rose Kitchen included Banana Flower Salad, which is made from the purple-colored tip of a banana tree, Spring Rolls, which we rolled ourselves in rice paper after chopping up and mixing the ingredients, and the ubiquitous Vietnamese dish, Pho, which is a noodle soup. The Spring rolls where deep-fired before serving. For dessert we Mangosteen, a surprisingly sweet fruit we had never seen before and Egg Coffee, which was technically an egg-cream infused with very strong coffee.
Throughout the meal we were served copious amounts of rice wine infused with mulberry moonshine. Of course we had to give the toast in Vietnamese: MOT HA BA! YO! (one, two, three... followed by a vociferous YO!)
It was a long first day.
Thanks for reading and your patience with entries as every day here in Vietnam brims with adventures and brand-new experiences. It is very difficult to find time to write.
Yêu tât cả cac bạn, Janet and greg
© 2024 Gregory Dunaj
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