Tuesday 18 December 2012

Hoan Kiem Lake - Spiritual place of Hanoi

Hoan Kiem Lake or Ho Guom (Sword Lake) is considered as "a flower basket" in the center of Hanoi and a beauty-spot attracts many tourists. It's history relates to many legends, of which one is about how King Le Thai To returned the magic sword to the Tortoise Genie.

The legend of Hoan Kiem Lake

legend of Hoan Kiem LakeHoan Kiem lake means “lake of the returned sword”. This name is related to the famous historical legend of King Le Thai To. And before this legend, Hoan Kiem Lake used to be called Luc Thuy Lake (or Green Water Lake) since the water was green all the year round. In 15th century, it was named Hoan Kiem Lake after the legend of Emperor Le Thai To, which is somehow similar to the story of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake's.

This legend is really interesting. Close your eyes and turn back time to the Le Dynasty 6 centuries ago to witness the legendary story. During the war against the Minh aggressors, King Le Thai To was given a precious fairy Sword by the Golden Turtle God. After 10 years of continuous struggling, the King finally defeated the Chinese and reclaimed the nation’s independence. After that, on a nice day, while boating on lake Luc Thuy, a large turtle came towards him.

It immediately grabbed the sword with its mouth and submerged. The king mourned the lost of such a valuable sword, yet could not find either the turtle or the sword. He realized that the God must have lent him the sword to drive back the enemy, but then that his nation was free, the sword must be returned. Hence, King Le Thai To named the lake Ho Hoan Kiem or Lake of the Restore Sword after this episode.

Since the reign of King Le Trung Hung (XVI century), every King in the Le dynasty, and Lord Trinh have all contributed to the beauty of the lake. Lord Trinh Giang built Khanh Thuy shrine on Ngoc island on the north end of the lake. He also had the two man made hills built across from Ngoc son Shrine. 

At the end of the Le Dynasty, Khanh Thuy was toppled by Chieu Thong. A philanthropist named Tin Trai built Ngoc Son pagoda, which was renamed into Ngoc Son shrine during the reign of Thieu Tri III (1843) as it was no longer a Buddhist shrine. 

Instead, it became  a shrine of Van Xuong, a deity, in charge of literature and the various tests required to become a Mandarin. It has also been a shrine of General Tran Hung Dao, a national Hero who secured numerous victories against the Mongols.

Beautiful sights of Hoan Kiem Lake

Hoan Kiem Lake - Hanoi - Vietnam Tourism

Ngoc Son Temple and The Huc Bridge

Hoan Kiem Lake is now situated inside a complex of Ngoc Son Temple, The Huc Bridge, Pen Tower in the surroundings, making a sparkling colorful natural picture! 

Ngoc Son has undergone a lot of renovations, one among which was the addition of Thap But (translated as Pen Tower) on its hill, which was once called Dao Tai. Three words were inscribed on the tower: "Ta Thien Thanh" or "write on blue sky". 

Inside the gate a pool resembling the shape of an ink well was added. Beyond the ink well is The Huc bridge, which means "where the sun light is absorbed". The bridge leads to Dac Nguyet Lau (or "Moon Light tower") - Ngoc Son shrine. 

Beyond the gates to the shrine, there are two walls called bang Rong and bang Ho (dragon and tiger slate), where the names of those who passed the national test were inscribed.

Turtle Tower - Thap Rua - Hanoi

Turtle Tower - Thap Rua - Hanoi

What could not be missed in this beautiful complex is the Turtle Tower, which lies in the middle of the Lake, so as to remind Vietnamese people of the Turtle God of his great assistance. 

It was told that King Le Thanh Tong used to fish here. Lord Trinh also built the structure to house his entourage while visiting the lake.

Hoan Kiem Lake - The heart of Hanoi
Hoan Kiem Lake  - The heart of Hanoi
Nowadays, Hoan Kiem Lake has become the heart of Hanoi. People not only come here to travel but they also come here to socialize, to talk, to do business, and to relax.. As early as pre dawn on any given day hundreds of people are exercising and have already started they’re days here, you will see locals of all ages jogging and practicing tai chi. 

Later in the day, you will find grandparents wheeling kiddies in strollers, and young couples strolling around holding hands.

Monday 17 December 2012

Cat Ba Tourism – Drinking Beer with Monkeys

Not many people have known the existent monkey islet in Cat Ba with more than 30 monkeys who regularly frolic on the beach, even tease and steal food from visitors.

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Tourists have fun with the monkeys

It takes about 45 minutes to travel on boat from Hai Phong city to Cat Ba island (Cat Hai district, Hai Phong city), and 10 minutes more by canoe to the Monkey Islet.

The island features a long sandy blond beach with blue water waves, which is an ideal place for swimming in the hot summer. However, the alluring factor that makes the tourists desire to once come here is not only the natural wild sight but also the attraction of the more than 30 monkeys living here half naturally.

Primarily, this island used to be called Pandanus beach because the pandanus grew luxuriantly, but it is rather more common to be known as Monkey islet since the Cat Ba Tourism Joint Stock Company brought these monkeys here to bring up. Surprisingly, the monkeys really adjust well to the weather and living conditions to develop quickly.

With an initial intent to raise the monkeys for fun, if the tourists visit the island and see the monkeys, they feel warmer and not desolate. Unexpectedly, it is the monkeys who become the “tour guide” for the visitors traveling to this spot.

“More than 30 monkeys live scattering around the island. In the summer, the number of tourists visiting this place are crowded (about 3000 people per day), we do not have to feed them at all as bananas, cakes and candies of the tourists bringing along can make them full. In the winter, we cook porridge or rice for them”, said Mr Nguyen Van Chung, an employee in the Cat Bat Tourism Joint Stock Company. 

The monkeys are quite bold because they live close to the human and get quite familiar to them. Sometimes, they encroach upon the tourists and make the coward tourists startled. However, almost all of the tourists have fun with these mischievous kings.

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The tourists will desire in their lifelong once to visit this islet to experience some pert baby monkeys approach and one of them tease his leg to gain attention of the tourists, another glances their eyes while his right hand is taking a coca on the table to drink.

Especially, after “Sniffing” the roasted groundnuts served to the tourists to drink beer, several monkeys rush to them to beg. If not being given, they will think of stealing.

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A monkey with his desire for robbing beer from human

The monkeys on the islet have been living quite well, some of whom are pregnant and the numbers of monkeys increase significantly over the years. The visitors are quite surprised by the funny names of the monkeys called by the employees from Cat Ba Resort and Spa. An example name for the handsome, clever and loving football monkey is Beckham.

The old looking and the biggest will be called an Old Man. The female big monkey is called an Old Woman because she is the wife of the Old Man. Unfortunately, the Old Man has recently coupled with some younger female monkeys including a Lips Splitting (the monkey who has her lips splitting in the middle and looks very sexy).

After more than one hour discovering the Monkey Islet, the tourists will feel love for the nature and half wild monkeys. Enjoy the tour to the Monkey Islet to relax for this summer occasion.