Hanoi
Thăng Long Theatre
Water Puppetry

06 November evening

Puppet drummers

2016.11.07.1615 Aboard the Bhaya Classic IV on Halong Bay, Vietnam

After a brief respite back at the hotel where both Jonathan and I took naps, we headed back out into the evening for a water puppet show. The theatre has a pool at the front with the seats rising in amphitheater style. The original puppeteers — so I heard — performed while submerged under water while breathing through straws. For this performance, the puppeteers were behind bamboo screens. In both cases, the rods and strings used to manipulate the figures remain under water for the most part. I took so much video I just about exhausted the Stylus 1 camera battery. Hopefully some came out well enough to share.

From the theatre, we threaded our way through the crowded streets to the rendezvous with our bus which took us to dinner at Wild Rice Restaurant. Hung offered an early morning tour of the flower market at 0500 of which there were a few takers, including me.

Water Puppetry at Thăng Long Theatre
And dinner!
Click on the images for a larger view

The view out of our hotel room in Hanoi at night.

The pool and backdrop of the water puppetry theatre.

The musicians in the gallery.

The puppeteers emerge to take their applause from the audience.

The busy nightlife in Hanoi as seen from our bus on the way home from the restaurant.

Dinner menu at Wild Rice:
•Mushroom soup
•Rice Pancake folded in half (filled with shrimp and soya bean sprouts)
•Wild Rice Chicken Salad
Grilled Chicken with Chili & •Lemongrass
•Fried Battered Fish in Pickled Apricot Sauce
•Stewed Beef with Paté & Green Pepper
•Stir-fried Morning Glory with Garlic
•Steamed Rice
•Fresh Fruit

Rice pancake folded in half: filled with shrimp and soya bean sprouts. Looks like a quesadilla to me!

Stewed beef with paté and green pepper (I'm guessing - it doesn't look like mushroom soup.).

Grilled chicken with chili and lemongrass.

Fried battered fish in pickled apricot sauce.

Stir-fried morning glory with garlic.

Fresh fruit - watermelon, pineapple and dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus).

Vietnamese Folk Music (21 MB video, 1:04)

From the program:
Xa thuong: a melody in the collection of hymns dedicated to the cult of the Holy Mothers a folk belief of the Vietnamese people. It is very familiar and appealing to the masses.

Hymns to the Mother Goddesses (26 MB video, 1:20)

Dance of the Fairies (6.3 MB video, 0:18)

From the program:
Lê Lợi returning the sword: Lê Lợi (Lê Thái Tổ) was a national hero leader of the resistance against foreign invasion in the 15th century. Legend has it that he was granted a sword by dieties. After his victory over the invaders, one day he was boating in a lake in Hanoi, Kim Quy (Golden) Tortoise God appeared to claim back the sword. Hence the name of the lake: “Returned Sword”. Now, it is a famous sight in the center of Hanoi.

Return of the Sword (20 MB video, 1:02)