Having read today that there’s a lot of cloning of reputable travel agencies in Hanoi, we’ve decided to visit a few agencies recommended by Lonely Planet (that book’s already earning the £4 we paid for it) at the addresses they give. We’d noticed yesterday that there are a lot of same-name travel cafes and thought they were just branches of the same companies. But apparently not, they are just copycats of the best known and more established ones. Some of the more reputable agencies have even had to change their names as the problem has become so severe. Fakes of all kinds abound here, and there doesn’t appear to be any copyright/trademark laws enforced. After visiting three genuine agencies and deciding on one we now just need to wait for the return of our passports in order to place our bookings. We lunch at Nha Hang Lan Chin on Pho Trang Tien which turns out to be an authentic Vietnamese restaurant (we are the only Europeans) that serves great food and the delicious locally-brewed ‘bia hoi’. I had an enormous whole fish steamed in beer which could easily have fed the two of us, if only we’d known. We have tickets for the afternoon performance at the Water Puppet Theatre, so we head off to catch the show. This delightful show is well worth the £2.50 ticket!
Water puppetry (roi nuoc) is an ancient art which originated with the rice farmers in Northern Vietnam. Originally the performances took place in ponds, lakes or flooded paddy fields. Nowadays square tanks of waist deep water are used for the stage. The water is murky to conceal the working mechanisms which are operated by 11 puppeteers from behind a bamboo screen. Music and singing are provided by a live ensemble using traditional instruments. The performance consisted of seventeen individual stories depicting countryside scenes and myths and the numerous characters include fire-breathing dragons complete with fireworks, a flute-playing boy riding a buffalo, a fisherman catching fish, little boys swimming and boat racing. The whole show lasts about 45 minutes and was great fun and very skillful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or5vyTm4jpE&feature=related
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/roi+nuoc