[Note: The Idiots are home in Arizona after almost 5 weeks of travel. They will continue to share episodes as they work through their photos. This episode describes events on Feb. 19, 2017.]
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There is an urban park in St. Paul, Minnesota that has been a favorite destination for families for over a century. There’s a small zoo, a few kiddie rides, a conservatory (great place for a tropical fix during long winters on the tundra) and lovely grounds around a pretty lake. On a pleasant Sunday afternoon, people of all ages wander around Como Park. It’s really not so much about “doing” things – it’s about enjoying the atmosphere of lots of people relaxing together.
Hanoi is the capitol of Vietnam… a big city, rich in culture and history. There are many museums and historical sites to explore. As they left their room on Sunday, Idiot He had maps and a series of potential tourist sights they could explore on foot and by taxi. Ho Chi Minh was in town – apparently his mummified remains are sent to Russia once a year for a few weeks for cleaning and refurbishment, but he was back and on display. The notorious Hoa Lo prison – aka “the Hanoi Hilton” – where American prisoners, including Pete Peterson and John McCain, were held - was in walking distance. So much to do!
But the Idiots’ hotel was in “The Old Quarter” – an amazing tangle of streets and alleys – near Hoan Kiem Lake. There were hundreds of little shops to explore before escaping to the lakeshore. Emerging from the crowded shopping streets they found the lakeside boulevards closed to vehicles, turning a normally busy part of the city into “Sunday at Como Park.” Families strolled… cotton candy and balloons side by side with pho and bun cha stands… hawkers, street musicians… a rich tapestry of life.
And that’s the reason the Idiots didn’t see any of the museums or historic sites that day - with the exception of the lovely temple on an island in the lake. They were too busy strolling and eating and joining into Hanoi’s “Sunday in the Park” culture.
Cau Go – a typical Old Quarter street – and the Idiots’ temporary home address in Hanoi.
Along the banks of Hoan Kiem…
Ngoc Son Temple is picture-perfect. Surrounded by ancient landscaping, it sits on an island connected to the mainland by a long, red bridge. The Idiots almost didn’t go to the temple in the lake. They saw that tickets cost $15 – kind of steep for a temple..
By this time in the trip, the Idiots had used an array of currencies – US dollars, Hong Kong dollars, Indonesian rupiah, Vietnamese dong, and Cambodian riel. The numbers can be bewildering. $10 US equals 78 HK dollars, 228,100 dong, 400,000 riel and a whopping 1,338,000 rupiah. Kind of cool – half a sawbuck makes you a millionaire in Bali!
Lots of people were crossing the causeway, so the Idiots checked the numbers a second time. That 15 was not dollars – it was really 15,000 dong… about $.68… and that was for students. The fee for adults is about $1.25. They decided they could afford the splurge…
All over Vietnam the Idiots saw Mandarine trees growing in fairly shallow pots. The fruits of these trees are small and very attractive – they aren’t sure if the fruits are actually used.
Ngoc Son Temple is an attractive tourist site – but it is first of all a working temple. In spite of their Communist history, the Vietnamese are very religious people, the huge majority being Buddhist. Active temples are places awash in offerings and burning incense.
The worship area has an outer room with a view through to the sanctuary within.
Within, the offerings are stunning in their variety. Flower and fruit displays are common, but others are less comprehensible. What is the deal with Vietnamese people and those Danish butter cookies that come in cans? They are everywhere! People bring things they think will appeal to their ancestors. Apparently the great-grandparents liked two different kinds of beer… but a wrapped tower of bottled water?
A large family assembled a meal on the altar, complete with some kind of bread, fruit, dessert… even a head-on rooster! And a bottle of vodka! The family gathered around the patriarch and in the midst of all the secular Sunday hubbub, there was a very spiritual air. As they prayed, the crowds just flowed around them.
There is a lot of ancient mythology around Hoan Kiem Lake including one tale about a king, an enchanted sword and giant turtle. Much like King Arthur’s sword being returned to The Lady in the Lake, a giant turtle asked the king to return the sword he had received from the spirits of the lake and used to defeat his enemies. He immediately tossed it in and the name became the Lake of the Restored Sword.
In modern times, the lake was one of the few places the near-extinct Yangtze giant softshell turtle survived. Some say there are still one or two alive in the lake, but scientists say the last died in early 2016. One of these creatures was killed by a fisherman in 1967 and his mummified remains greet visitors to Ngoc Son. This specimen weighed about 550 pounds.
The Idiots were feeling the need for a pick-me-up so they visited a dessert shop with the unlikely name Wannawaffle. They make constructions of waffles, ice cream, sauces and toppings. This is a chocolate waffle with raspberry ice cream, Nutella, and chocolate sauce. Vietnamese coffee is very good – kind of a shame to serve such fine coffee in paper cups…
The Idiots were really going to “do” something with the rest of their afternoon. Seriously – they only had a couple of days in Hanoi. Onward and Upward!
But wait – what is that? Could it be the infectiously catchy Mexican Cumbia tune “SWAY” that became an international hit when Dean Martin covered it in English in 1954… and that found revived popularity when Michael Buble covered it in 2004?
Yes… definitely SWAY… but not your grandmothers SWAY. This was a sound at once totally familiar and totally exotic. The Idiots headed around the corner to find the source.
It was being played by a strolling musician on an amplified Dan Nhi – the Vietnamese two-stringed fiddle. There were maybe a dozen people watching. They joined the group and were fascinated by the versatility and virtuosity of the musician. How much sound can you get from two strings? You’ll have to check the videos to get a sense of what this guy can do. With his three piece backup band, he played some traditional music, but also modern standards,current hits and even some children’s songs.
The attention is always on the front man – but for drummers out there, this drummer was really good. There are no foot pedals, so the base drum is played with a stick, making the rhythms he produced pretty impressive.
As the crowd swelled, the Idiots kept saying “well… just one more song…” Eventually they found a short wall to sit on and stayed for over an hour and a half. This guy was so good! They couldn’t have been more surprised to find Yo Yo Ma and three of his buddies playing a free street concert – and Ma can’t work the crowd like this guy! Later they learned that the musician, Tran Van Xam is a recognized master of the Dan Nhi with an international reputation and they were just lucky to catch this performance.
The people-watching was equally entertaining. There were some tourists, but the majority were Vietamese of all ages. There were groups of teenage girls singing along with current hit songs. One song must have been culturally important because many of crowd, of very different ages, sang along.
Most fun was watching the little children dancing and bringing tips to donation buckets. Most of the kids would shyly go forward to toss bills into the bucket and then run back to their family. Since it was a windy day, if their toss was bad, this might require two or three trips as the bill missed the rim. One little girl clearly didn’t grasp the concept and helped herself to some of the money and was very reluctant to return it.
This little boy seemed quite nice, but whatever he was selling, this little girl was clearly not buying!
In other words, it was a lot like what the Idiots experienced in their small home town watching a polka band in the park. Except they were in… Hanoi! How odd that a Sunday afternoon in Vietnam could make the Idiots so nostalgic. They couldn’t help but wonder what the looks would have been on their parents faces as they described this moment. As so often in these circumstances, they turned to each other and whispered “Lucky Fish!”
Readers who would like to get a sense of what Tran Van Xan can do with two strings…
Four minutes of haunting melody…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqpUNBW7yt4&t=12s
The end of a set of children’s songs… including bird sounds that made the kids look into the trees… (1:24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtEY2OpCyJE
How about a “Gypsy music” on the Dan Nhi? (2:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK2IWpaSrZw&t=2s
And even a little Rockabilly! With kids… and a closeup on the drummer… and an incredibly sweet man who sat with the Idiots for most of the time. (2:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFbvkWItviE&t=10s
The Idiots found a good dinner and then made their way back to their hotel. Some businesses close at night, but many more “pop up” on the sidewalks and streets. The Vietnamese are fond of very elaborate floral displays. These will be strapped on motorbikes, often two like saddlebags and one on the handlebars, and hauled around the city to homes, temples, and businesses during the morning rush hour. In SE Asia one can see virtually anything hauled on a motorbike – the loads are sometimes almost impossible to believe! – but none are quite so colorful as these flower delivery bikes.
When the Vietnamese say street food, they mean STREET food. The sidewalks outside the Idiots’ hotel filled with short plastic tables and chairs and food carts preparing seafood and noodles and pork buns and… well, pretty much everything – even some fine looking sushi!
The carts and parked motorbikes and people push out, narrowing the street. The road rule of thumb in Hanoi is that NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY. There are various techniques recommended for pedestrians, most of them agreeing on walking confidently and making eye contact with the oncoming phalanx of bicycles, motorbikes, cars, and vans.
Idiot She was fearless – making Idiot He extremely fearful. Her technique was to plunge boldly across traffic with eyes forward. As they crossed to their hotel, Idiot He photographed her passage. He should have had his video going because a silent photo can’t convey the screeching, honking, and dodging that is street life in Hanoi.
