Hanoi : Part 1 - Hoan Kiem Lake and Water Puppet Theatre

10052015 : Work calls in Hanoi, Vietnam. As we flew in a day earlier on Sunday, my colleagues and I decided to explore Hanoi. We did research on must-see places of Hanoi. Lucky for us, we were staying close to one of the must-go places. We walked about 5 minutes to our first stop - Hoan Kiem Lake (means 'Lake of the Returned Sword' - there is a history behind the name where you can wikipedia it). It is a huge lake and beautiful landscape surrounding it. It is also a famous place for couples to date, for some dancing, a walk, a meet-up with friends. 

Near the northern shore of the lake lies Jade Island on which the Temple of the Jade Mountain (Ngoc Son Temple) stands. The temple was erected in the 18th century. It honors the 13th-century military leader Tran Hung Dao who distinguished himself in the fight against the Yuan Dynasty, Van Xuong, a scholar, and Nguyen Van Sieu, a Confucian master and famous writer in charge of repairs made to the temple in 1864. Jade Island is connected to the shore by the wooden red-painted The Huc Bridge (The Huc, meaning Morning Sunlight Bridge). (Source: Wikipedia)

Reason I took the paragraph from Wikipedia was because I snapped a photo of the Red Bridge. Also I did not go inside the temple because there is an entrance fee of VND50,000 (RM8).

 

 

After the walk by the lake, we went to see Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre which is located in Old Quarters, which is sort of the Old Street of Hanoi. We walked around and bumped into the place. We were lucky to purchase a ticket that is scheduled one hour later. We bought front seats for VND100,000 (RM18). This theatre is in Asia Book of Record for longest performance of 19 years since 1994 with 4 to 6 shows daily. I suppose it will be 21 years now. The show was accompanied by musical performance on the left and there was some narration and songs in Vietnamese. It was about an hour show. I was excited by the performance, but unfortunately, because I did not understand Vietnamese, I got bored about 10 minutes after the show. I think it would be great if they could give pamphlets in English to describe the performance.

 

Not bad for the first day in Hanoi!