Hey there followers, if you were hoping for another easygoing entry, this isn’t it. Unlike Day 5 of my December trip to Hanoi, Day 6 was jam packed. Still, I also had plenty of time to appreciate random bit of life along the way.
I left the room at 11:20 AM with no immediate goal in mind, but I realized that at some time soon I would need to get some food.
After a short time of absorbing the local sites, at 12:25 PM I got some noodles at a simple place near my hotel. I finished rather quickly at 12:37 PM, paid my 80,000 VND ($3.00 USD) and went back to my hotel to work a bit on my blog.
Keeping in mind my scheduled pick up later on in the day, at 2:21 PM I finished up with my writing and started walking in the general direction of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. At around 2:35 PM I passed what I think must be “train street,” and I can confirm that claims of it having been shut down were grossly overstated.
Continuing on my way, at 2:47 PM I saw this park which seemed interesting to check out later on.
At 2:50 PM I had arrived at the citadel. It was only 100,000 VND ($3.80) to enter, so I figured that I may as well. I do think that a guided night tour would have been nice, but I hadn’t thought of it earlier, and they apparently only do it on Friday and Saturday nights. Like a lot of historical sites, this was in many ways like a massive book hung on the walls, but given what it is, they had done a rather good job, and I did learn quite a bit as I worked my way through.
Here are some of the fun facts I added to my store of generally useless knowledge. The French first attacked Hanoi in 1875, and that area became a protectorate under the Harmand treaty in 1883. In 1897, for reasons which appear to make no sense, the French destroyed most of the citadel, apparently in an act of simple, wanton destruction. In order to “mass print” document or books, they used to carve the pages on wood, then using the resulting tablet as a stamp to do many pages quickly. And then upon exiting this area of the citadel at 3:35 PM, I saw what appeared to be a very oddly placed tiny tennis court? Next, I started to check out the rest of the grounds.
At 3:40 PM I realized that this must be considered a bit of a local photography site, as there was a graduating class of some sort getting pictures done.
It was interesting for me at 3:35 PM to learn that they have done some additional archeological excavations here which show much older constructions which are more than 1000 years old. However, there isn’t money to properly excavate. So, similar to what happens in many parts of the Americas with massive temples etc… known to be underground in the forest, they just leave them there, thus continuing to preserve them better than if they were improperly uncovered.
Going further in from there, I found that the limited additional archeological exhibitions were done quite well.
There was more to see, but the scheduled pickup for my Quintessence of Tonkin show was supposed be just outside from 4:00 to 4:30 PM. Unfortunately, the instructions were very poor, as was the communication from the provider I had booked through Klook. In summary, I felt that the transport was a bit of a scam, even though they did eventually contact me.
Quite frustrated at 4:30 PM, having walked up and down the supposed pickup area, I decided that I needed to just take thing into my own hands or risk missing the show. Thus, I checked with Google maps and decided I could manage it on my own by public bus. They did finally contact me at 4:36 PM (even though the information on the website had been adamant that departure would be at 4:30 PM sharp). Perhaps I would have turned around and tried to find them, but I found it to be very unprofessional that they did not even apologize, even when I directly pointed out the error to them. In case you are curious, the incompetent transport service connected to the Klook booking was called Huong Tran.
Feeling vindicated and confident of my ability to manage things on my own, I was on the public bus at 4:45 PM. The bus service was good, and it was not crowded at all. At 5:25 PM I then got off the E07 to wait for the 157 bus transfer. When I boarded at 5:28 PM, I again noted that it was not really crowded, but here there was only standing room. Around 5:35 PM I noted that the road quality was definitely worse the further one went outside of the main area of Hanoi, but it wasn’t terrible. I also realized at 5:45 PM, that unlike the buses within the city, this one definitely doesn’t stop at all of the official stops? I guess you have to press the button?
Following the instructions from my map app, I tried the button, and at 5:50 PM I was off the bus and walking. The total cost for both buses had been 30,000 VND. I have to be honest, it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. Or to be more precise, it certainly didn’t feel like I was headed towards an extremely well-known show. At 6:00 PM I passed what I thought were people playing pickle ball, so there was at least some sort of action happening, and then happily at 6:05 PM I saw a sign with an entrance gate, but it was closed, so I was at least not completely lost. However, I was definitely the only one who was trying to arrive by public transport.
I was starting to feel increasingly doubtful about this whole affair, but woohoo! At 6:13 PM I found what was clearly a functioning entrance. I had no idea how I was going to get back (public transport would not be an option later at night), but at least I had arrived for the main event.
So, in I went with my ticket information where I was admitted with no problem. I was gratified to see that there were quite a few other people there, and quite a few food options. To buy food, you had to first buy “food tickets”, so I got four for 20,000 VND each. To their credit, they don’t seem to do “tourist trap” food prices here. There were unfortunately no longer any noodles left, but at 6:35 PM I finally chose corn on the cob, chicken and a sweet potato.
I thought it was nice that they had live music and children’s games before the actual show started.
At 7:15 PM it became clear that we were supposed to move towards the stage area, and at 7:20 PM, I was fairly confident that I was in the correct area.
Right on time, at 7:28 PM they announced that they would begin in two minutes, and they also stated that neither photos nor videos were permitted. I of course still snuck in a few photos and videos, but I was impressed at how vigilant they were about shutting down people who were obviously using recording devices. Also, while it was not for the entire show, I appreciated that they at times had English subtitles showing off to the side.
As a spectator, one of the most impressive things was seeing how they always knew where to walk, even when the whole stage was water, with various massive props submerged under the same. Furthermore, there must have been at least 75 performers. Finally, while I did cheat, getting some photos and videos, I actually was happy that they were vigilant about shutting down any obvious recording of the show; I certainly did not want another situation similar to what had happened with the annoying woman at the water puppet show a few days previous. In summary, yes, it is a truly special performance, and if you have the time and money, you should go.
With the end of the show at 8:34 PM, I was once more faced with my previous problem of trying to figure out how to get back to my hotel in the Old Quarter. Fortunately, at 8:43 I saw that the transport back to central Hanoi was managed much better (the buses were clearly marked at the exit) than the transfer to the site of the show, and at 8:55 PM we were on our way back.
The ride back to the citadel area was uneventful, and I was out of the bus at 9:41 PM. I decided to check out the nearby park which I had seen earlier, and I saw that the plaza like area of the park appeared to be a gathering place for teenagers and young adults in their early twenties. Off to the side, there was also a dance group.
The walk back to the general area of my hotel was pleasant.
At 10:23 PM I decided to get some food at a spot near my hotel, and I ordered way too much. I had a custard apple smoothie, various braised mushrooms and some steamed wantons.
I ate rather quickly, paying the 210,000 VND ($8.00 USD) bill at 10:30 PM. Nearby at 10:36 PM I bought this weird, freeze-dried dessert from a street vendor. It was only 40,000 VND. Tasting somewhat like Captain Crunch cereal, it was fun to eat, as vapor came out of my mouth while I was chewing.
Wandering around the nearby park, at 11:53 PM I had the special treat of hearing and seeing a large group of young people who were clearly enamored of some street musicians who were quite popular. I thought it was great that they were out in the street just enjoying each other’s company, while expressing appreciation for some small-time, talented local musicians. Here you can watch a short video.
No doubt I am overly romanticizing, but these are the slice of life, innocent, yet precious moments which make me love my travels so much. Still, all such moments come to an end, and at 12:05 AM, the artists packed up their things, and I finished my short walk back to the room where I arrived at 12:20 AM.
Travels with Jay 