Extending our Uniworld cruise itinerary, we add extra days in Hanoi. Delving into history, our initial excursion investigates Vietnam’s 11th century Temple of Literature and first university.
Once heralding royalty, a bronze bell hangs atop the white, three-storey gateway. Two prominent courtyards enclose peaceful shady lawns ideal for scholarly studies. A third encloses a large rectangular pond lined with ornamental bonsai trees and large stone epitaphs. Names of esteemed writers, sages and doctors are etched on each stele.
In a fourth courtyard, a dragon-handled incense burner stands before artifact storage halls, the House of Ceremonies and red-columned temple. The temple’s two tall bronze cranes stand atop turtles. Told of the gift of long, happy lives, shipmates stretch out, simultaneously rubbing one crane’s chest and its turtle’s back.
Statuettes of Confucius and his four main disciples sit on tables behind worshippers’ offerings of cookies, oranges and beer. Glass cases beyond display students’ inkwells, books and robes. One encloses a gilded rendition of Vietnam’s beloved Hoan Kiem turtle.
Our next stop is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, where white uniformed guards direct us into a long line-up. Here, guide Tri recounts Ho’s endeavours to liberate Vietnam from French colonists, Japanese invaders and U.S. interventionists. Filing solemnly past his embalmed body, we exit past the French Indochina’s administrative headquarters that later became Ho’s presidential palace. Proving too grandiose, he moved into a humbler abode beside the garage. Loving such humility, the Vietnamese called him ‘Uncle Ho.’ His last house rises on stilts nearby and overlooks a large pond. He died in the bunker below.
Our day ends at Hoa Lo Prison, now a museum reflecting Vietnam’s struggle for independence. From 1896, France jailed and guillotined rebellious nationalists here. Dim communal cells exhibit gray sculpted prisoners shackled and cramped on long platforms.
Plaques describe their desperate conditions and failed escapes. During the 1965-1973 U.S. interventions, Hoa Lo incarcerated American bomber pilots, who dubbed it the ‘Hanoi Hilton.’ A long hallway displays photos of John McCain and his cohorts. McCain’s cot remains in an adjacent room.
Heading next day to Hanoi’s historic heart, an iconic mosaic wall borders the highway. Tri explains, “World businesses and nations presented this series of pictorial sections in celebration of Hanoi’s thousand years as capital.”
At Hoan Kiem Lake, we transfer onto open-air electric cars and fully experience Hanoi’s narrow 13th century lanes. Thanks to government and UNESCO support, heritage low-rise buildings sustain bustling shops, galleries, tiny cafés and boutiques.
Navigating amid motorcycles, scooters and bicycles, we pass shops selling gorgeous silks, mysterious vegetables, spices and quirky keepsakes. Being Tet holidays, red and yellow lanterns adorn numerous blocks. Individuals burn faux money to revere ancestral spirits. Returning on a wide boulevard, we see modern buildings, monuments to revolutionaries and a park encircling an island temple honouring Vietnam’s unique lake turtles.
Returning to the old quarter that evening, we attend a traditional water puppet show staged in a turquoise pool. Four splashy dragons soon enter through a green curtain and zip around, spitting sparks and spraying water. As other porcelain puppets appear, musicians sing, blow horns, bang gongs and thump bamboo xylophones to dramatize the action. A two-stringed violin, wooden flute, lute, oboe and drums present haunting melodies accentuating further vignettes: men fishing with nets and poles, boys swimming, boaters racing and a gala royal procession. One memorable scene presents water buffaloes plowing a rice paddy, women planting and harvesting flourishing fields. Our favourite portrays exotic birds chasing each other in a very splashy mating ritual. The resulting eggs hatch into playful chicks.
Our excursions reveal Vietnam’s determination, artistic culture and reverence for wisdom!
Check out The Wonders of Vietnam, Cambodia and the Mekong Cruise at www.uniworld.com
