Lost and Found in Hanoi - May 19, 2008

Lost and Found in Hanoi - May 19, 2008

I spent yesterday, Sunday, looking around parts of central Hanoi. It is a huge, jostling city but not as frantic as Ho Chi Minh. I started the day by following the Lonely Planet walking tour around the old quarter. This area is a maze of narrow streets and small lanes. The streets are named after nearly 60 traditional trades and retail types; Blacksmith St, Coffin St, Pickled Fish St, Mat St, Clam Worms St, Silversmiths St, Herbal Medicines St etc etc (but in Vietnamese of course). The original trades are still evident but, as the Lonely Planet says, this is somewhat outdated or many of them would be called Tourist Junk Street now!

As I followed (with quite a few missturns and backtracks) the directions, I passed through a street with shoes everywhere, makers of gravestones, jewelry and clothing streets, mat and rope streets, a working blacksmiths area, a very aromatic herb street, a tin box street, mirror shops, streets selling funeral items and silk shops. There are many other streets that I have not explored yet. I am not really shopping as, although the prices are cheap in NZ dollars, I am trying to manage on my volunteer’s allowance. I wish that I could get a big sticker to put on my forehead saying I am NOT a rich tourist. Like all poor areas where moneyed tourists visit, the locals are very skillful in separating us from our cash.

I spent a bit of time wandering around in some the markets. They are an incredible experience but are not for the weak-stomached or animal lovers. I did have a bit of a laugh as I watched a man trying to control a basket of big fish. They kept leaping out onto the wet tiles and as he chased after, and tried to grasp one slippery escapee, another would get away in a different direction.

Amongst the grime, rubbish and rubble the flower sellers are a real pleasure to look at. They have bicycles piled high with bunches of roses, chrysanthemums, lilies and many other flowers. The colors are vibrant and the perfume a pleasure. Initially I thought that it was interesting that so many people of limited financial resources put importance on adding the aesthetics of flowers to their homes but now I wonder if the main function is for adornment of the shrines that seem to be present in all homes and businesses.

In the afternoon I decided to get a motorbike taxi over to Ho Tay Lake. My pathetic bargaining skills meant that once again I agreed to pay well over the going rate. The LP says 10,000 VND but I ended up settling for 30,000. When we got there the guy refused to take a 50,000 note because it had a small mark on it. I gave him a 100,000 and in the change he gave me a 50,000 which has been torn and taped together. I have since found out that this is now completely worthless!

Anyway – the lake area was great. There are two lakes side by side. The flame trees were again stunning and some huge helium balloons and a temple were interesting to look at. I did not go for a ride in the swan boats but I could see they were popular. I walked around the smaller of the two lakes and stopped for awhile to watch some fishermen working. In this small, very polluted lake, (about a quarter of the size of Hamilton Lake) they were catching a multitude of fish. Standing chest deep in the grey water, and from small narrow boats, they bought together nets teaming with fish. As I watched for a considerable time these fish were being sorted. Hundreds and hundreds of fish were tossed through the air into a holding net. The fish were quite big (about 8 inches long) and very active. They threw themselves into the air is an effort to jump out of the net but few made an escape. It is amazing to me that they could thrive in these conditions. People from Asia must consider our resources such as Hamilton Lake to be totally under utilized. Considering the state of the water they came from I was not in the mood for fish for dinner last night! A Buddhist monk who was also watching came around looking for alms. He clearly considered my paltry offering of 500 dong beneath contempt and did not deign to even give me a ring on his bell.

I then made my way from this area down through parks to the Presidential Palace and the Ho Chi Minh museum. Hoards of tourist groups, (mostly Asian, predominantly Chinese, I think) were doing the same thing. I anticipated a long wait as people from dozens of buses made their way to the gate but this was not the case. Talk about tourism on the run. They had just enough time to trot past the main attractions, exclaim loudly, take a couple of photos with themselves in the foreground as the main feature, and then they were on their way. A huge number of people moved through the area in a very short space of time. It did give me the opportunity to think that while traveling on my own is not always great there are far worse ways to go.

I found the Ho Chi Minh Museum really interesting. It has traditional and contemporary exhibits in a modern building. Thankfully there were English explanations for a lot of the material. One aspect that I found particularly interesting was the linking of Ho Chi Minh’s ideas with the anti-fascist art of Picasso and Dali. Perhaps I have succumbed already to the propaganda but I was very impressed with a number of the quotes from Uncle Ho. Visiting here gave me some more insight into why he is still so revered by the Vietnamese people. I chose not to go to his mausoleum after this visit. I decided that, given the magnitude of the people’s feeling for Ho Chi Minh, that I would not venture there merely as a curious tourist.

I did stop to look at the One Pillar Pagoda which was a seriously underwhelming experience then caught another motorbike taxi back to the area of my hotel. This time, much savvier than the last, I was not going to be ripped off! I negotiated the price 25,000 (getting better) and ascertained that he had change he could give me. On arrival he took my 50,000 dong, waved happily, and disappeared into the distance with me calling out rude words after him. I am a slow learner but I have now figured out that unless I have the right money to give to a taxi driver I am not going to see my change. The problem is it is hard to keep hold of smaller notes as many people are reluctant to change the larger ones. Oh well – it is not much money really but it made me all sour faced and surly with all of the other touting taxi drivers as I walked the rest of the way home. Not a good look.

The day finished with a tremendous thunderstorm. Almost continuous mighty thunder claps and bright flashes of lightening were accompanied by torrents of rain. Fortunately I was safely tucked up in my grotty little hotel room and could enjoy the spectacle while staying dry. It was very reminiscent of a film set in Vietnam that I watched with Jenny and Michael before leaving.