Hanoi Monday, Mar. 12

Still drizzly and cool, but quite pleasant for walking and exploring the tiny streets of the ancient quarter. Spent the morning exploring Hoan Kiem Lake with its Ngoc Son pagoda on a small island at the north end and the red Bridge of the Rising Sun connecting it to the shore. The city is crowded and noisy (remember the HORNS), but we finally encountered a smiling, friendly native, who walked with us across one of the wide boulevards. He explained that we should "walk slowly, don't stop, don't speed up," the cyclists will try to avoid us. So far, so good.

The Water Puppet Theater beckoned, so we reserved seats for the 4 pm performance. It was great fun, very different from the Traditional Thai Puppet Theater in Bangkok. These relatively small and brightly colored wooden puppets are operated on long rods on a water-covered stage. At the end, we learned that the puppeteers behind the screen are waist-deep in the water. The hour-long performance included 17 vignettes of traditional folk stories, our favorites being "catching frogs" and the festival welcoming home the newly degreed graduate. Just right. Again, the music was live with traditional drums, flutes, and stringed instruments.

Jim Deutsch met us for a drink at our hotel, then dinner in a classy restaurant in a restored old, French colonial mansion one block behind the hotel. The dining room had pleasantly distributed tables, but the cushy club chairs were too low for the table height, making it a bit hard to eat. Nevertheless, we had a fine time catching up with Jim and enjoying good Vietnamese food.

Run into Jim Deutsch at the Ethnology Museum of Vietnam, Hanoi, Mar. 11, 2007

We took a taxi from the Fine Arts Museum to this museum about 4 miles outside the ancient quarter of Hanoi. It explains and illustrates the many ethnic groups who populate Vietnam, including their traditional houses, skills, and crafts. A SE Asia Bamboo Festival was in progress, to our delight. Little did we know how delighted we'd end up being!

The MOST amazing coincidence was that the Smithsonian Folklife Festival staff were in residence (this day only) to arrange the July festival in DC. My dear, old friend, Jim Deutsch has long worked for the Smithsonian. I casually asked if the guide knew Jim Deutsch. "Yes, he's here." I said "Here in Vietnam, or here at the museum?" "He's right across that field in the next exhibit."

We could NOT believe it.

Jim and I have been friends since 1980, when he and I were both young librarians. Jim was then in Billings, MT at the Parmley Billings Public Library, and I was in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University's Cabell Library. Jim and I served together on an American Library Association committee, and we've kept our friendship over 27 years. He now works for George Washington U. and the Smithsonian in DC, while I'm in Ohio at Denison, but we've kept in touch through it all.

To unexpectedly run into him in Hanoi at a museum was almost unbelieveable. Louis and I were thrilled. Tomorrow night we'll have dinner together. What amazing luck!

Museum of Fine Arts, Hanoi, Mar. 11

Our first stop, after fine French pastries, coffee and juice, was this touted museum about 4 miles from the hotel. Housed in a large, yellow stucco building forming a courtyard, we started at the top (4th level) and worked our way down. The art is not particularly memorable, as most paintings and sculpture are quite politically-correct with prominent soldiers and red flags with a gold star, but the atmostphere is engaging, and there are a few unusual kinds of art we liked, such as lacquer paintings. For lunch we ate in the cafe at one end of the quad, a stunning set menu with spring rolls, soup, rice, spicy vegetable salad, sauteed green vegetable with garlic, chicken with mushrooms, sweet and sour fish, and bottled water - all for less than $15.00 for both of us.

BTW, the Vietnamese Dong is more than 15,000/US dollar. We routinely pay for things with 50,000 dong bills (just over $3).

Hanoi arrival Mar. 10

The contrast with Bangkok after the 90 minute flight is striking. The weather is much cooler, in the high 60s, overcast, and everything is GREEN. The ride in from the relatively small airport was lush with rice fields being maintained in a traditional manner, cows everywhere (including a near-crash between our taxi and two cows in the road!), the women hefting water from the canals into the fields while the men watched!!!

Each house is narrow and tall, usually bright colors, looking a bit French, not surprising given that country's colonialism here for 80 years ending in the mid-1950s with their defeat by Vietnamese freedom fighters at Dien Ben Phu.

Our classic, charming old hotel, the 1901 Metropole (now part of the Sofitel chain), is in the old city near the beautiful Hoan Kiem Lake. Graham Greene, who wrote _The Quiet American_, and other famous writers have stayed here. It's atmospheric and warm. Our high-ceilinged room on the 3rd level (floor 2 here) overlooks the wide boulevard in front with a ceiling fan, French doors, and a balcony, but also a marble bath and Internet access. Just the ticket.

Though drivers are just as wild as in Bangkok, one big difference is that the primary driving implement is the HORN. Where commuters 20 years ago were all on bicycles, now they're all on motorbikes. They whiz in and out of traffic in an even more aggressive manner than Vespas in Italy. It's amazing, and occasionally freightening, to watch. Crossing the street is even more life-threatening than in Bangkok (I wouldn't have believed it).

After a short walk about, we had dinner in the Spice Market restaurant in our hotel. It was a fine example of Vietnamese food in an elegant setting overlooking the hotel courtyard. The dishes were varied, inventive, fun to see and eat. We were especially taken by a beautiful Vietnamese woman in a green, silk ao dai playing a traditional, single-stringed instrument with a ball and spike at one end. She plucked it with slim fingers to produce the most soothing music. The ao dai is a two piece costume with long, full pants covered by a long tunic slit to just above the waist and a mandarin collar. Quite beautiful, flowing and looks comfortable.

Perfect.