October 10, Ha Long Bay to Hanoi, Vietnam
After our night on Halong Bay, we went back to Hanoi with a couple of stops to explore a farm and embroidery. We then went to a water puppet show, followed by dinner before everyone said goodbye to each other.
Everyone lazily woke up and we all individually ended up on the top deck to take in the morning. Eventually, breakfast was ready and we made our way down to the dining room.
As we were eating, the boat pulled up its anchor and we started heading back to the port at Ha Long. We seemed to be one of the earlier boats to head out, so we didn’t have a lot of company as we worked our way through the islets.
On the bus ride back, we continued to see typhoon damage. A street light was folded down to the ground a few feet above the ground and a billboard was all mangled. Before too long, we took a break to take a look at a farm.
The farm had lots of neat rows of plants, including various herbs, sweet potatoes, and morning glory, which is different than the bindweed that we have at home.
At the next rest stop, we stepped out of the bus and were greeted by a woman who said she wanted to tell us about what we were going to see. Just like Vun Art at the Silk Village which we visited on the way to Da Bac, people with disabilities work there. They do work on commission, and while the prices are pretty high (thus a high commission) it seems that they have a lot of inventory that’s probably not selling quickly.
After looking at the embroidery, we wandered through and saw statues, clothing, and the products of other crafts. Several employees were wandering around to answer questions and to encourage sales. When we were done looking, we went back to the café and ordered lunch, after which we got back onto the bus.
The last leg to Hanoi was longer than usual, but people were happy to get back to the hotel for the last time.
Water Puppet show and dinner
Everyone freshened up, then we walked towards Hoam Kiem Lake where the theater was. There were a lot of people milling around the lake. Workers were setting up booths and decorations for the 10/10 celebration (for 70 years since the French left Vietnam) and the marathon that was going to happen on the weekend. We got to the theater a bit early, so Bao encouraged us to wander around for about 40 minutes.
Having keen eyes for gelato shops, Melody and I saw that we had passed one along the lake, so we hoofed it back, weaving through the people. We figured we needed to head back in about 10 minutes, so we ordered our gelato to go. However, we realized we hadn’t seen any trash cans, so we sat at a table to quickly eat, then hurried back. As it ended up, we were the first people back to the theater.
When everyone had assembled, we went into the theater and took our seats. As it ended up, our seats were pretty good, a little past halfway up the main floor and pretty much in the middle.
Looking at the stage, there was a pool of water in the middle. Water puppet shows originate from rice farms as entertainment for others when the fields are flooded. The puppeteers are behind a curtain at the back of the pool and control the puppets with rods that are below the water's surface, so it looks like the puppets are coming out of the water.
The show started with an overture, with musicians playing on either side of a pool of water in the middle of the stage. After that, we saw a singular puppet come out. We noticed that there were screens on either side of the stage to describe what that particular act was about. Melody mentioned that the screen in French seemed to give more detail than the one in English, so later on I began getting photos of each to figure out which description was more complete.
As the skits progressed, they became more complex. One had a turtle that stole a sword from a king in a boat, and the turtle went up to the boat and left with a sword in its mouth. There were other skits with multiple puppets playing musical instruments (one was playing the one-stringed instrument we saw in the Mekong Delta); the puppeteers must be well-practiced to not cross rods when the puppets are going all around the pool like marionette puppeteers need to not cross strings.
For another skit, live actors came out and interacted with the puppets. At the end of the show, the puppeteers came out from behind the curtain to take a well-deserved bow.
After the show, we all went to a restaurant for a farewell dinner, after which we all walked back to the hotel. People were going to do different things, with some going to a bar and others running errands. We were going to go to our room since we were going to have an early day the next morning and Bao was going to go home to his family. We got to that point where no one wanted to say goodbye, but at last one other person started telling Bao how much we appreciated him and how much we all enjoyed our trip together. After Bao left, the rest of us who wouldn’t see each other again said our goodbyes, and like that, the tour was over.
