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Published: December 7th 2006
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The sounds and smells of Hanoi swirl and spin, motorbikes lined up eight across the street, incessant honking, the flash of color and light and sparkle igniting all of the senses. Sensory overload comes to mind on more than one occasion. On our first day in Hanoi, Doug (with ENV and Cleveland Zoo) picked us up from the airport and helped us get oriented.
We started with a delicious lunch at a local restaurant, hunched around small knee-high tables on small plastic stools. We were treated to a lunch of eel soup! The eel is small and crispy, and blends in well with the noodles and broth. We added bits of fried dough (much like a doughnut), a squeeze of lime, and slurped it up with chopsticks.
After we settled in to our hotel on Shoe Street (every shop sells shoes - every color, including a kaleidescope of hot pink cowboy boots), Doug sent one of the ENV staff members over to show us around Old Town Hanoi on foot. Before leaving, Doug warned us that our most important thing to learn would be how to cross the streets. Lanes are mere suggestions. Stoplights? Crosswalks? (Sorry, Moms and Grammies
reading this - please don't have a heart attack. We are fine.) Let's just say they have a system that works, but it sure wouldn't fly at home. Most important, said Doug, was to avoid "squirrelling" as we crossed. Once you leave the sidewalk, there's no turning back unless you'd like a souvenir motorbike rash.
Thao, a young woman from his office, met us at the hotel and led us on a whirlwind walking tour. She is one of the cutest people any of us have ever met! She's tiny, but managed to gently grip our elbows and hold our hands to drag us through the busy streets of Hanoi. We went to Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake, a lovely greenish lake in the center of Hanoi. Although it's nearly implausible, in this lake lives perhaps the most endangered species of turtle. One animal is known to live in the lake, and there are only four confirmed animals alive. Doug is a turtle guy, though, and has told us the good news that there have been reports of new sightings in the last few weeks at another location, so perhaps there are more than 4 of these
huge turtles left.
After the temple, we walked through the markets and side streets. Streets are dedicated to the sale of a particular type of merchandise - sunglasses street, plastic toy street, garish Christmas decoration street. On the street, motorbikes pass with an amazing range of things attached - we've seen up to 8 or 9 live hogs crammed in large woven baskets, baskets of roosters, 8 cases of beer, 3 people, television sets, computers, toilets, pane glass windows, storefront signs, 15 foot long metal poles. You name it and it can somehow be moved by motorbike. We ducked into a food market and were amazed. Lining the streets outside the building, women wearing conical hats balanced baskets over their shoulders on long wooden poles with fruit and produce inside. A rainbow array of interesting and unknown fruits were displayed. Inside the market, the vendors sold packaged goods - noodles, bottles of wine containing seahorses and dried geckos, bags filled with dried seahorses and pipefish. Thao politely took business cards from the vendors with plans to turn them in to ENV's wildlife enforcement officer. Some of the items we saw are forbidden for sale by law.
Outside the
Pre-soup eels
We saw these eels in the market three days after our eel soup. Good thing we didn't see them beforehand,or we might not have tried it! market, we hit the meat aisle. On the sidewalk, women carved up chunks of meat on wooden trays while sitting on the curb. Chicken parts, goose heads and the head of a dog were all spotted. The sights and sounds were all new and overwhelming, but thanks to Thao's gentle guidance we made it back to the hotel.
Doug and his four-year-old Kylie met us for dinner and took us to a seafood restaurant. Since I'm a vegetarian (who eats seafood and now eels) and Karen doesn't usually eat seafood, we both found new things to eat during the day. Karen decided that she liked the shrimp, although none of us scarfed down the clams with the kind of gusto Kylie managed. One minute she was helping Doug with his Vietnamese while ordering, and the next she was drawing a family portrait. I have to admire the flexibility it must require to raise a child in a place like Hanoi.
After dinner, we had drinks at a place specializing in a special kind of rice wine (zee-oh) that is flavored with various fruits. An early bedtime was in order - the next day we were going to spend
the day with the ENV staff!
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Barbara Durey
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Amazing Blogs
Brynn - I am so happy Karen added me to your list of blog receivers! You describe all activites in such a picturesque way that I feel as if I am there. Thank you.