KVT – Day 5

KVT’s Diary as he enjoys exploring Hanoi in the final days counting down to Hanoi’s birthday.

KVT says: There is so much great stuff on and so much to see in the lead up to the great day that this opinionated blogger can’t get to the lot…so if you catch an event or a memorable sight send it to [email protected] and we’ll post our favorites so that no one’s left in the dark.

I can’t get enough of the preparations at Ba Dinh Square. This morning there were drums and fans rehearsing and this afternoon scores of young men in white were learning to manually manipulate the segments of paintings that will make up historical and cultural murals that will be an ever changing, dramatic background to the ceremonies on Sunday.

The Temple of Literature is great to visit at any time but for a week or two there is a fascinating calligraphy exhibition in the last courtyard of the complex. Caligraphy experts in scholar costumes are giving demonstrations and lectures. The calligraphy samples and installations are awe inspiring. A DEFINITE HIGHLIGHT.

In the large enclosure adjacent to the temple is a huge, outdoor, photographic exhibition of works by the Hanoi Photographers’ Association. All of the reproductions are the same size and displayed on easels. As you promenade the images, clicked by established, Vietnamese photographers, you see all of those photographs, urban and rural, that you wish you’d been able to take yourself. Some shots are posed, many are candid, lots opportunistic and a couple manipulated. They range from very old to very recent; black and white and colored; landscape, portrait and every genre in between. There’s a catalogue that’s being reprinted and will be available on Friday. FAR TOO GOOD TO MISS and admission is free.

To make my day even more unforgettable I visited the old Royal Citadel, a world heritage site. With hundreds of rural visitors (the area is so large and beautifully laid out that you never feel hemmed in) I climbed the ramparts, inspected the archeological dig and spent an hour or two in the gardens and courtyards that have thousands of special bonsai trees on show. It’s worth a visit just on opening time when you can revel in this green oasis of calm almost alone- but it’s even more special sharing it with the Vietnamese who arrive by the coach load from the outer suburbs and country. For war history buffs there’s a war cabinet room with large maps and a bomb shelter. UTTERLY TOP OF THE POPS.

Related posts:

KVT day 1
KVT day 2
KVT day 3
KVT day 4
KVT day 6
KVT day 7
KVT day 8
KVT day 9
KVT day 10
KVT day 11
KVT day 12