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Today we decided to take it easy and rest a bit. We plan to visit a Vietnamese water puppet show late and hit up night market, which is only on Friday and Saturday nights.
The water puppet show was a very cool experience. There are not many words - most is based to music played by the band - but what is in words is clearly in Vietnamese. Each act consists of a small set of puppets and clear interactions between them such that knowing what the words are isn't really necessary. For example, two dragons playing with a ball or fisherman trying to catch fish, but a cat coming in and taking the fish. Comical interaction between the puppets. Wilder wanted to sing along which he did, loudly, and couldn't be convinced to stop. He was singing "DAA-aah, DAA-aah", basically, he sounded like he could have been singing in Vietnamese. Nonetheless, the row in front of me shot me enough dirty looks that I stepped out.
After the show, we take to the lake. I'll try to not gush about this too much. Hong Kiem Lake is slightly smaller than Greenlake. All around this lake, the roads are blocked off on Friday and Saturday. The streets are completely packed with people including a lot of kids. Games are spontaneous and you play them with whomever is around - a friendly game of tug-o-war, or jump rope, etc. People just jump in and play. There are entertainers all around the lake as well - music, magic, dance. As I'm watching the magician, a small girl comes up to me and asks me my name. She asks if she can stand with me and watch the show and then proceeds to chat with me about it. My urge is to ask where her mom is, but, that doesn't seem to be a concern here, so I don't. Her sister comes up a short while later and chats with me the same. The kids run around and play together happily and I see zero instances of shenanigans of any sort - it feels like an incredibly safe space to enjoy with your friends and family. There is no division, no negativity - it's as if all Vietnamese people at this space, on this day, are friends. Heartwarming.
Night Market itself is one street dedicated to rows of merchants as far as the eye can see. What makes Night Market magical, however, is not looking at the same merchandise stall after stall, it's that the whole city comes out to play. Every single store is open, the Hostels become nightclubs, bands line ever corner as you walk through the amazing smells of street food vendors that have packed the sidewalk.
After walking all over for a night, the shower that follows is the 2nd best experience of the evening.
- comments
Shannon Morrison What beautiful experiences! Hong Kiem Lake on the weekend and the Night Market sound absolutely amazing.