Streets of Hanoi

Today we’re planning a walking tour of Hanoi. It’s interesting to see all their shops are generally arranged like-by-like by street. The streets all have names that translate to things you can buy (Silk Street, Coffee Street, Shoe Street, Tin Street and so on) and sure enough, if you go down Silk Street that’s pretty much all you can buy. But you can buy it in many colours, sizes and places. I suppose it is a leftover from the real communist days of Hanoi (although it still is ostensibly communist in ideal) and probably was designed to promote more open competition.
At lunchtime we find a wonderful street full of women serving all sorts of foods – barbecued pork, spring rolls, dumplings, salad and noodles – all behind tiny tables and using virtually no equipment. We pull up some stools and partake in a delicious feast with beer to wash it all down for £1. Chances of any of the food being vaguely hygienic are slim but at least it’s likely to be fresh.
In the afternoon we take a cyclo to the “History Museum” which has a series of exhibits ranging from artefacts found in cave dwellings to relatively recent china and art. It’s all good cultural stuff. Later on we’re in for some more culture when we dress up in our posh new clothes and take an evening of sophistication at the Hanoi Municipal Water Puppet Theatre which is an experience not to be missed.
Based around puppet shows enacted in Vietnamese villages on rice paddies for the last thousand years, this is a celebration of all things Vietnamese. It is indoors, which surprised me initially, and is laid out just like an ordinary theatre except the stage is a pool of water. The scenes enacted are from rural Vietnam and sometimes amusing. They are played out quite expertly by puppeteers who stand in the water behind a bamboo screen. The puppets pop in and out of the water and are moved intricately using various poles and wires. The whole thing is played out to a background of the voices of the puppeteers and music played by a band off to the left of the stage. All in all an interesting experience although it might have been better if we could understand the commentary.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 31st, 2004 at 10:40 am and is filed under Vietnam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.