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In is interesting being near the equator. Sunset and sunrise are the same time each day, all year round. As folks back home are enjoying summer solstice and the longest days of the year, it is dark here at 7 p.m. and light at 7 a.m. After long hot days, the kids (and us) are tired and retreat early but wake up at 6:00 a.m. We must get used to the asian way by sleeping in and enjoying the cooler nights.
We are staying in old quarter Hanoi in the traditional shopping district not too far from Hoan Kiem Lake which stands for Lake of the Restored Sword where the magical golden tortoise grabbed the sword from the Chinese in the mid 15th century to drive them out of Vietnam. It is supposed to be good luck to see the giant tortoise in the lake (yes, I know these are land animals!) but we did not see it. One tortoise is found dead every 5 to 10 years. Some believe they are planted to keep the mystery alive.
We overdid it a bit on our first day. It took us some time to get oriented and we spent the better part (and hottest part) of the day in the markets. The shops are very interesting and are in a style they call tube houses. Some are very narrow (perhaps 10 feet wide) and 100 feet deep. Historically property taxes were assessed based on lineal feet of street frontage. The long shops do have a natural draft which is somewhat cooling. Most shop keepers take a long siesta in the afternoon, sleeping on the hard floors and barely acknowledge you when you walk in. Not as persistent and demanding as they are in the cooler part of the day.
We decided that while Hanoi is charming, that 4 days in the city were a bit much for the kids so we booked our upcoming trip to Halong Bay for 3 days in lieu of 2. We thought the boat, swimming, caves, islands and monkeys would suit Sonja and Daniel better.
Evening was followed by a show at the water puppet theater. The water puppets were amusing and worked from long horizontal poles in the water from puppeteers behind a stage. The show was accompanied with traditional Vietnamese music and we could only follow the story line by watching the puppets.
The kids were too tired at the end of the evening to eat ice cream which we coerced them to order. They simply wanted to escape back to the rooms which I really could understand. New strategy tomorrow. Less walking, afternoon siesta...
previous travel blog entry
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