Time Travel in Vietnam; Day 6

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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”
(Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Para.1, Line, 1)
These contradictions, dichotomies, iniquitousness, unfairness and the travesty of it all…and no, I don’t want to live anywhere but here where I am, in the age where I am. I am under no illusion that the grass is greener anywhere else. There are lot of things I would like to change and experience. However, I am not wistfully dreaming away.  A great loss, a lot of time wasted mulling over things that could be, and finally Vietnam has definitely taught me one thing …LIVE EACH DAY…one day at a time! We all have our dreams, calling, roles and responsibilities and even within our limitations we can do a lot, if only we wanted to…Nothing is less, nothing is more…it is what you want to do with/in your life that matters…
Day 6 in Vietnam. A beautiful blessed day, the entire city washed clean with rain, a light drizzle casting slight doubts on our walkabout; we decided to leap and skip the puddles and carry on. Our first stop was St Joseph's Cathedral right besides us. A catholic church built by the French modelled on Notre Dame De Paris.
After ‘confessing’ our plans to have unlimited fun, we made our way to the quirky old Hanoi Train Street. Albeit being Indians, we have seen all kinds of trains in all possible degrees of rubbernecking; nothing prepares us for the wild and whacky ways of the residents near this rail road. Straight out of science fiction, the train demands a momentary displacement of objects in the way and everything goes back to as it was seconds later. However, we could only imagine the scenario as the track seems to have been closed because of dangerous tourist and commercial activities on and near the railroad! But it is still worth a visit!
Moving ahead with our time travel, we forayed into 11th century Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first national university and now more of a temple/shrine dedicated to Confucius. It is green, peaceful, and impressive and one can only visualize how young scholars at the Imperial Academy must have conducted their lives inside this boarding school of yore. Thanks to the Chinese and Korean historical dramas (Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Hwarang, etc), I could bring alive the scenes and breathe in the same aura. There is also a traditional handicraft expo (Ho Van Cultural Village) and a quaint café around a small lake opposite the Temple of literature.

After some hydration and refill there, we marched on to another Unesco Heritage site, the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. A grand enclosure of historical sites panned across three main structures. This place takes the longest to explore! My favourite was D67 Tunnel and House with its bomb shelters and sound proof bunkers where from 1954 to 1975, the People's Army of Vietnam, had its headquarters under General Giáp. There are also lot of exhibitions inside the Citadel and we got lucky to catch one displaying Vietnamese Folk Paintings. There is also a Vietnamese Military History Museum adjacent to the Citadel which we missed, but you can check it out, as I have heard it is quite insightful and features a collection of artefacts and aircrafts from various military campaigns.
The Princess Tower

Inside the Bunker

North Gate, Imperial Citadel
Thereafter, we took a Grab to a picture-perfect miracle garden[i] of sort, Thung lũng hoa Hồ Tây, a vast blooming landscaped flower garden on the banks of West Lake (Tay Ho District), Hanoi. Not much is written about it online. I just came across it while mapping my walkabout around the West Lake area in Hanoi. It is a must visit, but please be mindful of the flowering season. We went in Jan so could enjoy its splendour in full bloom. However, make sure you go there when it is nice and sunny, preferably before four in the evening to get perfect Instagram worthy clicks.

To be Continued…

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_Miracle_Garden
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

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