Day 351 - These feet are made for walking

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Now that we are booked on a tour that will let us explore Halong Bay, this meant that we only had two days - Monday and Friday - to explore Hanoi. However as we found out of all the days of the week these are not the good ones: most if not all the museums close on a Monday and Friday!

We were staying in the ‘Old Quarter' which is an area of Hanoi that is bustling with street vendors selling everything to anyone whether you are tourist or not. It is also where most of the tourists hang out. So we did the same, sampling some of the fair trade and opportunity cafés that are springing up in the area. One worth noting was called ‘Baguette and Chocolate’ which had excellent pain au chocolate and coffee.

After filling our bellies we did a good job of working the food off, by wandering the area and exploring. We found ourselves near the big lake and outside a theatre that shows traditional puppet shows. So waiting till the clerk woke up from her sleep for a 1pm opening of the box office we bought some tickets for that evening's performance. Ed worked on his haggling skills with a boy selling books and we also fell into the trap of a fruit and veg seller who carries her wares in two baskets. She put the baskets on Ed’s shoulders and added the hat to finish off the costume and then said ‘photo, photo”. So Gemma did and then it was her turn and we then had to buy some fruit and add some extra money for the photos. We probably gave her what she makes in a month.

We explored the area where all the embassies and consulates are located, in a more French colonial area, and then managed to walk all around the Army citadel which covers about 4 blocks wide and long.

The water puppet show was very good, surprisingly so in fact, with some traditional music and singing to accompany the 1 hour show (there are usually 4 performances a day and usually each one is sold out). Water puppetry is a style that paddy farmers have adapted when out in the fields waiting for the rice to grow and is also a way how they celebrate their harvest etc.

We saw short performances of different creatures such as dragons, phoenix, ducks being hunted by a fox etc, as well as scenes from everyday life such as the process of paddy farming, the legend of the lake the theatre is near and so on. All very colouful and expressive.

After the show a stroll found us at the Metropole Hotel, a classic colonial place steeped in history which was founded in 1901. Here we had some delicious G&T’s and some food, all in the wonderful outside setting of the bar by the pool.

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