Apocalypse Puppets

After the trip to Ha Long bay we returned to Hanoi and had a day to wander around before catching an overnight train South. In the centre of the city is a large lake and in the middle of the lake is a small temple called the "Turtle Tower" (apparently because it looks a bit like a turtle?) anyway, as you can see clearly in the picture there's a distinct "haze" about the place, this isn't mist or low cloud, it's pollution! With such a large population and not too many controls on vehicles the air pollution is quite noticeable and when you walk any distance (as we did!) it does take some getting used to!

Also, while in the city centre, we attended a "water puppet" show, I'd never heard of this before but it's a local speciality. Essentially there's a large tank of water in a theatre and puppeteers control puppets from behind a curtain using long bamboo poles submerged below the water (they are actually standing waist deep in the water). The show is accompanied by traditional music and singing and tells some story of unrequited love etc. The overall effect is pretty good, I snapped a brief video to show the kind of thing going on..

Before leaving Hanoi we visited another craft beer bar called "The Standing Bar", mainly because it's so small you usually have to stand! The beers on offer were from around the country, some from Pasteur Street Brewery (a couple of which I already sampled) and others from other independent firms. I noticed that one brewery (Heart of Darkness, based in Da Nang) had a little Apocalypse Now theme going on, I guess the film has an obvious connection with the country but it's nice that people have gotten over the war sufficiently to have a laugh about it! Beer culture is big in Vietnam, there are many local brews and people seem to enjoy chatting and playing various games (i.e. Mahjong, Chess, Cards etc.) over a few pints, beer is incredibly cheap compared to the UK and although refrigeration outside the major towns and cities is pretty scarce at least the beer is safer to drink than other alternatives.

See if you can get the connection below..

We learned later that "Heart of Darkness" is a book by Joseph Conrad (1899) set in Africa, upon which the famous Francis Ford Coppola film about the Vietnam war is based, things were staring to make more sense.