Thaler Travels

A Night at the Hanoi Opera House   This past week we played tour guides and had great fun.  We toured all around Hanoi and ventured out to the Bai Dinh Pagoda, sailed down the Tam Coc River, braved the rain at Ha Long Bay, watched the traditional water puppet performance, sighed at the agony of prisoners held in the Hoa Lo Prison ( called the Hanoi Hilton by American prisoners), and spent an absolutely incredible evening at the Hanoi Opera House amazed at the acrobatics and traditional music performed by the Cirque du Soleil troupe.   Rather than try to describe the performance, please click on the link and enjoy it for yourself!!! " My Village   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsnjbfrn_zk Busy Monday at the Bai Dinh Pagoda- still celebrating the lunar new year Bai Dinh Pagoda and Buddha      Ready to sail down the Tam Coc River.  Notice the captain rowing with his feet!

Happy TET!      Good morning and Happy New Year!  The long anticipated TET has arrived. TET, the lunar New Year, is a combination of Christmas, New Year, and Memorial Day, from my perspective, limited as it is. Folks here in Vietnam have been getting ready for this- the most important, sacred holiday of the year, for weeks now.  Our first sign that something was up was the transporting of kumquat trees- dangerously strapped on the backs of motorcycles.  I was amazed to see these trees, one after another, transported in this manner.  I was told that these were definitely NOT mandarin oranges; we don't eat these; they are for decoration only.  (Bob will tell you that I stole a kumquat from a tree outside a store and brought it home to try it.  It was tart- think lemon or lime- but I actually liked it- nothing a little sugar wouldn't fix!)  The kumquat tree   The other early indication was the purchasing of branches...

The tombs of Two Vietnamese Emperors (just south of Hue)      While in Hue I didn't want to miss the chance to see some of the most impressive tombs of the emperors, so Bob and I went to visit the Tomb of Tu Duc. Tu Duc was chosen over his older brother to ascend to the throne and reigned as emperor from 1848-1883, the longest reigning emperor.  It was not, however, a happy reign.   Although he had 104 wives and hundreds of concubines, he was unable to produce an heir.  This was probably due to a childhood case of the smallpox.  He continued his father's habit of persecuting Christians, a practice which came to a climax with the decapitation of the Spanish Bishop Jose Maria Diaz in 1857.  This led to an attack in Danang (a city farther south) by the French, and the loss of three southern provinces to the French.        Tu Duc designed his tomb himself and the construction on it began with forced labor begin...

From Citadel to Citadel       One of the very first things on my check list when I arrived in Hanoi was a visit to the citadel.  The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long was, in fact, very close to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, and I walked by its gates and walls several times before it dawned on me that this was the citadel.  This citadel was built in the 11th century in the same spot as a Chinese fortress that had been built in the 7th century.  And no, Mr. Schneider, I was NOT alive then! It remained the center of political power for almost 13 centuries and was added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 2010.  In 1810 the Nguyen Dynasty moved the center of power to Hue and built a citadel there.      Much of this citadel was in disrepair already by the 19th century, and what wasn't was further damaged and torn down when the French occupied Vietnam in the 19th century.  Still standing, however, are the North Gate, the Doan Mon Gat...

Our Trip to the DMZ of the Vietnam War       This past weekend Bob and I set off to learn a bit about the Vietnam War.  I must admit that although I was alive during the Vietnam War, I actually know very little about it.  We headed off on a guided tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).  The DMZ separated North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel and followed the Ben Hai River from the Laotian border to the South China Sea. We traveled along Highway 9 from which we first saw the Rockpile, a Marine outpost high on the mountain top. This mountain top was accessible only by helicopter.  It was chosen as a look out post since it was located at the junction of five valleys, just south of the 17th parallel.  You can imagine how Lonely a post it may have been for those Marines, always looking for the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong.              From the Rockpile we continued a few miles west and s...

The Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university                 So this week Bob and I ventured out to the Temple of Literature in Hanoi- within easy walking distance to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and the Citadel.  (We’ve walked by it before and never realized what it was!  Here’s to knowing how to run Google maps! This is a learning curve for me- use my phone? New technology?  I’m a work in SLOW progress.) So I wondered why the first university was called a temple- now I think I know- here at the university where sons of the elite took their exams- Confucius,  along with other scholars, is worshiped. The university/temple was built in 1070 under the Emperor Ly Thanh Tong.  The first royal academy was established in 1076 and remained the academy for royalty until 1779 when the Nguyen dynasty moved the capital to Hue. (Hue is down the coast in about the middle of ...