I saw the Hoan Kiem Turtle ... I been either blessed or cursed

Easter is not a widely celebrated holiday in Hanoi and I actually almost forgot about it. Not a chocolate bunny in sight! I been waiting for some emails from Canada and was wondering what was taking so long and finally realized that everything is closed for the long weekend. Happy Easter to everyone.

Yesterday one of our Canadian delegates arrived and it's Felix's first time in Vietnam. I like seeing people's initial reactions to the city and it reminds me of when I first came. Except Felix just came from Delhi so he actually found Hanoi quite tame after his full on cultural immersion in India. We walked around Hoan Kiem Lake and it is a famous Vietnamese landmark, for lodging a very old turtle according to legend (read below, I am too lazy to paraphrase).

In 1418, a farmer whose name was Le Loi (future Le Thai To) grouped an insurrection army in Lam Son District in Thanh Hoa Province. He proclaimed himself as Binh Dinh Vuong (King of Pacification) and led the resistance against the aggressors for 10 years and regained national independence. The name of this lake is derived from a legend that a fisherman named Le Than caught a sword blade when drawing in his fishnet. Than decided to offer it to his commanding general Le Loi. Afterwards, King Le Loi found a hilt that fit the blade very well. This sword was kept at his side during the 10 years of resistance against Ming aggressors. After winning over the foreign aggression, King Le Thai To returned to Thang Long Citadel. One day, aboard a royal boat, he took a cruise on Luc Thuy Lake when a giant turtle emerged and came towards him. The king withdrew his sword, and pointed the sword in the direction of the coming turtle for his soldiers' attention. Suddenly, the turtle caught the sword in its teeth and submerged. The king thought that during the resistance against Ming aggressors, the genius had offered him this sword to help him defeat the enemy. At that time, peace was returning, and the genius appeared to take back the sword. Consequently, King Le Thai To decided to name the lake ‘Hoan Kiem’ (Lake of Restored Sword). In the middle of the lake is Thap Rua (Turtle Tower).

I hosted an ultimate vietnamese dinner and here some of the willing helpers rolling springrolls. I wanted to learn how to make a vietnamese meal from scratch and we even went to the market and bought all the ingredients. But, I mostly ended up being an observer and taste-tester.

I have never really tried to look for the turtle and was skeptical when Melissa said she saw the turtle one morning. We noticed a gathering around the lake and I knew it could only mean one thing, the turtle had surfaced! I will have proof once I get the photos from Felix, but the excitment in the air was almost more interesting for me to watch. Vietnamese people tend to be a bit superstitous and when there is a turtle sighting it means something big is going to happen either good fortune or bad luck. I been going about my day to see if anything will happen. So far I can blame the turtle for getting caught in the rain on my way to work and sitting in wet clothes in the office.

Tu and Son in the front yard doing the veggies. Note our fish pond! Lora says there is a little turtle in there somewhere but it has never surfaced for me.

I went to Cuc Phuong last week which is the first national park in Vietnam. I been meaning to go for a while, but just didn't really have any time. Mai and I went to an industry night for Buffalo Tours and Mai ended up winning the grand prize which was an overnight trip for two in the surrounding area. Mai works for a tour agency and had done all the tours many times that she graciously gave the trip to me! So I decided to go to Cuc Phuong and just needed someone to come with me. Dan, fellow Canadian whose (embarrassingly) vietnamese is way better than mine, came with. We had a private car, our own guide, and beautiful weather. It was nice to get out of the city and do some trekking.

Foreigners tend to get asked to have their picture taken, and fair-skinned Dan was asked to pose several times ... I think I was only asked because I was Dan's friend. This is taken in the Cave of Prehistoric Man, bones from 12,000 years ago were found here.

My favorite was visiting the primate rescue centre and seeing all the different type of monkeys swinging around, where some have been rescued from poachers. We even got to see a 3-day old monkey. Many are endangered species and continually sold on the black market. Why would someone want to eat monkey brain? Why does ancient medicine believe that eating parts of monkey will make men more viril? The biggest problem, our guide told us, is that monkeys and other endangered animals are usually taken to China and sold to make Chinese medicines.

The 1000-year old tree, we were skeptical of its true age ...

Auditions for Vietnam Idol have just began and coming to Hanoi on the 15th. I will unfortunately be in Saigon and won't be able to put my karaoke experience into use. I am visiting my relatives one more time before I head back. I think I am going to fast for a few days before I go because I know they are going to spoil me with so much homemade cooking! I am making a list of things I need to do before I go. I actually haven't done a lot of the touristy stuff because I just thought I have my whole internship to do it and oh course, I never did. Next week I am going to go to Ho Chi Minh's mausaleum. I have seen Chairman Mao's and then I will have to go visit Lenin's and Castro's, when the time comes, to complete my communist leaders tour.

Not my house, but the houses across the alley from me. I really enjoy our neighbourhood except for all the reconstruction they do at 6 in the morning. Houses tend to be built narrow and tall because houses are taxed based on ground floor area and not by land property size.