For people in my generation any aspect of Vietnam seems synonymous with the Vietnam War; not because we lived through it but because we are the first generation to hear stories and witness the raw emotions from those who did. Therefore we have to fill in the gaps between interpretations of the past, current remnants, and Vietnam as a travel destination. Visiting with a cavalier attitude seems disrespectful (to all sides) but I couldn’t mask my curiosity and eagerness to see this place.
It is no surprise that Vietnam is full of surprises. Yet I was shocked about the first kind I encountered. Surprise Number 1: I left my phone (or the very cool iphone I was borrowing) in the taxi from Hanoi Aiport to our hotel. Surprise Number 2: After a quick conversation with the front desk staff that relayed our message to the taxi company, the phone was returned in less than a half hour …. That doesn’t happen most places on the planet. The hotel attendant who helped us thought it was great fun to teasingly ask if I had my phone or show me how his was around his neck every time I saw him.
After the miraculous (and amply tipped) phone retrieval we went to the Temple of Literature and National University. The Temple of Literature was built in 1070 in honour of Confucius, his followers, and Chu Van An, a moral figure in Vietnamese education. Quoc Tu Giam, or Vietnam's first university, was built in 1076. Throughout its 900 years of activity, thousands of Vietnamese scholars graduated from this university.
This site preserves historical vestiges of a 1,000-year-old civilization such as statues of Confucius and his disciples (Yan Hui, Zengshen, Zisi, Mencius), and ancient constructions such as Khue Van Pavilion and the Worshipping Hall. The artifacts collected during the recent excavation drives around Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) in Hanoi proved the architecture of this site belongs to the Ly (1010-1225) and Tran (1225-1400) Dynasties. Life of the students in olden times is reflected through these artifacts and seemed to be simple and pure compared to that of the city dwellers.
My favorite parts were the stone turtles. In 1484 emperor Lê Thánh Tông started the tradition of carving the names of the laureates of the university on stone steles, which were placed on top of stone turtles. Of the 116 steles corresponding to the examinations held between 1142 and 1778, only 82 remain.
Next stop was anywhere that served a decent or even passable looking meal and cold water. It was bloody hot that day so we stopped at the first place that fit the bill. Fortunately we unknowingly stumbled onto to one of Vietnam’s most frequently visited restaurants. Koto, a working hospitality school who motto is Know One Teach One is staffed by students of the school. One can vaguely see the progression from hostess to waiter to manager or chef.
I decided to order what sounded good but what ended up as DIY rice wraps.
Our waiter, bless his type A heart, tried to instruct me on the nuances of creating my wraps. I stressed him out. Majorly. At first I tried to use my dip as a sauce and pour it on my wraps – big no-no in his eyes. Then I decided to put a different combination of items in each wrap – my second offense. The poor waiter/student stood behind me practically restraining himself from doing it for me or reprimanding my casual approach. I could sense his unease as he hoped my crazy rice wraps wouldn’t drop his grade from an A+ to an A-. I know that look because I am sure I gave it to people in college who I did group projects with ;). Takes one to know one.
Moving on. We decided a nap was in order after our 6 am flight. Once refreshed we picked a bar that overlooked the streets in the Old Quarter. People watching can be amusing anywhere but this was a great perch and an even better show. The streets in the Old Quarter are narrow and crammed with little shops and zillions of motor bikes. Old Quarter is organized almost like a department store. We saw streets dedicated to lamps, pharmacies, crafts, shoes, mops, fans, paint, and on and on.
The particular spot we over looked was a section of musical instrument shops. While motorbikes whizzed by we saw shop owners going through their end of the day paces and presumably a mom, grandmother, and aunt pass around a little baby who refused to eat. The grandmother finally had some success but I think she was going for cooperation rather than compassion.
We mozied around until we found a restaurant that appealed to us. We selected a restaurant where a Vietnamese family dinner was taking place. If the locals like it must be good! And it was.
I can’t really attempt to describe what we had for dinner but it was phenomenal. Great dishes that had yummy coconut milk mixed with local spices and unidentifiable vegetables. The most memorable part of the evening was watching the family dinner in the next room. A fellow who we decided to call ‘Uncle Sal’ was handing out shots of what seemed to be some sort of potent alcohol. The mother-in-law was none too happy about Sal’s first trip around the table and down right disgusted about his fifth and sixth. We’re thinking Uncle Sal forgot about the first four.
We did get a tiny visitor to our table from the family dinner. She was probably about four and had lots to say to us. We asked her questions in English and she promptly answered all of them in Vietnamese. She could have been calling us fat cows but we didn’t know or care. We just carried on our Q & A not knowing if she was a language savant or a chatty, darling girl in a sundress who wanted to get away from Uncle Sal.
No comments:
Post a Comment