2011, DEC 9: VIETNAM, HANOI-C

Next we went to the Hoan Kiem Lake area. Located in heart of the city, the Hoan Kiem Lake is an attractive area,...

...where families come for an outing.

Near the lake is a memorial to the Vietnamese resistance against the French. It consists of three human figures. The central figure is of a man with a bomb in his hand, representing those who
volunteered for suicide missions against French tanks. He is flanked by a woman with a sword, and a man with a gun.

Then we visited the Ngoc Son (Jade) Temple, which has been built on a small island, in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake.

It is accessed by the Bridge of the Rising Sun. It is also one of the popular spots for wedding pictures.

At the temple people worship General Tran Hung Dao, and his weapons. The General had defeated forces sent by the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan in the 13th century.

There is also an altar for the worship of a scholar, a master of martial arts, and the patron saints of physicians.

As a mark of their devotion and to have their wishes fulfilled, people burn fake money, and...

...make offerings of incense and flowers.

At the temple, we met a young couple from the Fiji Islands, and a Vietnamese child.

After lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, we went on a cyclo tour of the Old Quarter. Being pulled by a man pedaling a bicycle-driven one-person carriage for one hour during almost deserted areas in the middle of a hot afternoon was not much fun.

However, on the way we could take pictures of a few attractions such as the Opera House, and a statue of the Emperor Ly Thai To, who had moved the royal capital from Ninh Binh to Hanoi, about 1000 years ago.

Next we visited St. Joseph’s Cathedral with nice stained-glass windows. Built in 1886, several masses are held here throughout the day.