Up at 6:30 AM for breakfast then a group organizational meeting before heading out through the French quarter to view the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, former president and honored leader of Vietnam from December, 1954 to September, 1969.
Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh
The mausoleum at night.
Presidential Palace
Onto the One-Pillar Pagoda, a wooden structure built in 1049 that sits on stilts over a lake, was built by Ly Thai Thong King of the Ly Dynasty after he dreamt that the goddess of mercy presented him with a lotus flower. The existing pagoda, which is a miniature reproduction of the original, is said to represent a lotus emerging from the water. People pray for fertility and good health at nearby makeshift shrines laden with fruit, flowers and candles.
One-Pillar pagoda.
Shrine at One-Pillar Pagoda.
Entrance to the Temple of Literature
Inside one of the 4 courtyards.
Stone stelae (stone diplomas)
erected between 1484 and 1780
Time out for a coffee break after rigorous sightseeing. Coffee, along with rice and cinnamon, is one of the chief exports of Vietnam. The black coffee was excellent, but it will take me a while to try Vietnamese coffee – can’t get past the condensed milk – visions of my teeth rotting out from the sugar overload.
Lunch was a multi-course, delicious meal at the Banana Flower. Iris tried the Saigon beer and Gloria & Barbara tried the Thang Long beer. I had another Hanoi beer – so far the majority of the group prefers the Hanoi beer to the others available in Hanoi. The lunch menu started off with a banana flower salad (fresh mixed vegetables in a banana leaf "plate"), fried spring rolls, grilled skewers of pork, sautéed fish with 5 spices sauce, fried battered chicken with sweet & sour sauce; stir-fried vegetables, steamed rice and flambéed bananas.
After lunch we toured the Ethnographic Museum, which contained many artifacts and items from the various Vietnamese hill tribes. Each tribe’s exhibit featured clothing, products produced by the people, customs and farming implements. The outside area of the museum was by far the most interesting part. Many of the communal living structures were re-created to scale, their shape and size reflecting their function. There were tombs with the most interesting carved statues (see below).
Tomb house for the dead of the Mrong Ngo village,
decorated with chiseled male & female characters
carved from tree trunks - showing off secret parts
& pregnant women symbolizing life & fertility.
Definitely our most popular couple!
Nha Rong communal house where new mothers
brought their children to live with their own mothers.
Close-up of one of the ladders
leading to the entrance of Nha Rong
communal house with breasts indicating
the matriarchal purpose of the structure.
Nha Ede communal house.
We had a short break before we just had to eat again – dinner this time at 69 Bar-Restaurant, where the highlight of our meal was instruction in spring roll assembly. Our phenomenal teacher was Nguyen ran Chuong, a 26-yr. old young man who I really thought could easily pass for 16.
Nguyen demonstrates how to assemble the spring roll on rice paper,
starting with the pork, fish & chicken.
When all ingredients are assembled,
very carefully roll the rice paper toward you.
Gloria enjoys her final product.
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