Heading Back to Hanoi

On the drive back to Hanoi after a relaxing cruise, we made a pit stop and had a quick lunch of pho and vietnamese sandwiches.

When we arrived in Hanoi, we were scheduled for a short tour around the city center.  We all got to ride these little electric buses.

There are no lights or traffic controls and we all inched our way through the intersections.  Here are a few of the scenes.

We stopped at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre for a water puppet show.

We sat pretty high up and the lighting was dim.

They had live music and singing with the opening a folk music composition with traditional musical instruments.

The water performance included 14 pieces with 400 items of ancient Vietnamese puppetry.

1. Prelude by clown Teu
2. Thang Long festival drumming
3. Dragon's dance
4. Buffalo-boy playing the flute
5. Agricultural work (rice-planting, soil-ploughing, water-scooping)
6. Catching frogs
7. Chasing the fox that tries to catch ducks
8. Fishing
9. Xa thuong: a melody in the collection of hymns dedicated to the cult of Holy Mothers, a folk belief of the Vietnamese people.  It is very familiar and appealing to the masses.
10. Phoenix's dance
11. Le Loi returning the sword: Le Loi was a national hero, leader of the resistance against foreign invasion in the 15th century.  Legend has it that he was granted a sword by deities.  After his victory over the invaders, one day he was boating on a lake in Hanoi, Kim Quy (Golden) Tortoise God appeared to claim back the sword.  Hence the name of the lake: "Returned Sword."  Now, it is a famous sight in the center of Hanoi.
12. Unicorn's dance
13. Eight fairies' dance
14. Four sacred animals' dance (dragon, unicorn, tortoise, phoenix).