I flew to Hanoi (the capital of Vietnam) today. I hadn’t decided on a guesthouse yet. I took a minivan bus from the Hanoi airport to the “Old Quarter” where all the tourist stuff was.
On the way, I saw a majority of the vehicles were motorbikes. Everyone honks their horn here. It’s Hanoi’s soundtrack. No one uses their turn signals. And there are often no stop lights at intersections. It’s chaos.
The minivan dropped us off in the middle of the Old Quarter. The doors opened. Many motorbike taxi drivers offered me a ride and accomodation. I didn’t feel like doing my own thing today, so I accepted one of their offers. He said he would charge me $1.
I rode with the guy to three hotels before finally accepting one. It was a great hotel for $15. I was pleased with the driver. However, when I gave him my Vietnamese currency (dong) totaling $2.50, he just kept it. I expected change back. He turned on his bike, and I said wait! I need change. He played dumb. I gave him a stern look. Then he pulled out some money and I grabbed my change. Strike one, Vietnam.
I wandered over to the Puppet Theatre after a fresh fish dinner. Every intersection was filled with speeding, honking motorbikes. I had to time my crossing well because usually there were no stoplights. Also, every 100 feet someone would ask me “Where you go?” or “You need motorbike?” It was annoying. They were more aggressive than Thai or Lao taxi drivers. Strike two, Vietnam.
The Water Puppet Theatre is a series of 17 vignettes that tell the ancient history of Vietnam. However, one vignette is a modern addition to motivate Vietnamese children. Can you guess which one?
Vignettes:
- Raising the Festival Flag
- Chu Teu or the narrator
- Dragon Dance: Four Dragons Dancing on the surface of water
- On a buffalo with a flute
- Agriculture
- Catching frogs
- Rearing ducks and catching foxes
- Fishing
- Harvest festival: Returning to the native land after college graduation. Triumphant return of a new graduate to his native village to express his gratitude to his ancestors.
- Lion Dance
- Phoenix Dance
- Legend of the Restored Sword: King Le Loi, after triumphing over Ming invaders, gave the magic sword back to a giant golden turtle
- Children playing in water
- Boat racing
- Unicorns play with ball
- Fairy dance
- Dance of four Holy Animals
The water puppet show was entertaining. I’m glad I went, and I would recommended it to anyone. However, once is enough. It’s the same show every time.
After the show, I walked back to my room, heckled by many motorbike drivers.
“Hello! Motorbike?”
