Vietnam North to South – Day 2: Hanoi Take Two

February 11, 2024

Our tour group began the first full day of our Vietnam trip by walking around the old city of Hanoi, taking pictures of fruits vendors, fishmongers, birdmen, butchers, and many more. Our first proper historical stop was Hanoi’s oldest temple, Bach Ma, which is called the White Horse Temple in English. The shrine was founded in 1010 by emperor Lý Thái Tổ, founder of the Ly dynasty. Legend has it that the emperor struggled to construct a citadel in Hanoi, his buildings sinking into the marshy ground as soon as they were finished. Finally, a white horse led him to a suitable site, tapping its hoof on a piece of solid ground that would become the foundation for modern Hanoi.

After some more wandering, we took our tour bus to the Temple of Literature. Honouring Confucius and his prominent followers, the complex also contains what is popularly referred to as Vietnam’s first university. This was the place where, following the Chinese model, the imperial examinations were held, and where the names of the most successful scholars were recorded on huge stone steles. Our timing was perfect, as we walked into one of the courtyard just as some kind of ceremony was going on. Attended by women in ornate yellow and red dresses, it involved the recitation of names and a lot of bowing, both of which were accompanied by drums and music. When I asked the local guide what was happening, he responded that it was an “incense ceremony” but appeared to know very little besides that.

On another courtyard, we found a group of men playing a giant version of Chinese chess, with the players directing their helpers using megaphones. There was also a pop performance, which seemed rather at odds with other goings-on at the temple, a place frequented by students and their families praying for academic success. Nevertheless, the temple’s purview seemed expanded on this New Year’s weekend, when people came in holding calligraphic signs for health, luck, love, and prosperity.

On our subsequent tour, we saw some of the sights I already toured yesterday, like Train Street and Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. The bizarre highlight of the day, however, was a performance at the Water Puppet Theatre, which featured various stories and scenes from daily life in rural Vietnam. Operated with the help of strings and long bamboo poles, they included men riding buffaloes, children swimming in the water, and dragons chasing each other with lit sparklers in their mouths. The show was truly impressive, and after the curtain lifted, we saw eight people had been involved in bringing all the machinery to life (making the total number of performers, including the six musicians, a whopping fourteen).