Frenchy Hanoi

 A short trip was what I needed to break the mundane routine and also of course to tell stories again.

Where can you go except a neighboring land which I have not seen but heard.

This time we picked Hanoi.

 The airport greeted us with this reminder.

A visitor will detect the tone of the language used commonly here; definitely not English. 

The French occupied this land for a good 90 years and French is taught and spoken in schools.

So it's French speaking Hanoi and if you know the language you can find your way around quite effortlessly.

Knowing English is not a guarantee of  you being understood.

It is good to see how people thrive under this communist party led land and their common practices.

 Meet Quan; our guide. He speaks American English quite flawlessly. 

Quan is friendly, young and a graduate of Arts and tourism.

He says he is from the often used term; skinny land. 

Vietnam covers a strip of coastal land and definitely 'skinny' in measurement.

 Look at the ladies, men as well. All so skinny and healthy. The buildings are skinny in image too. The width of most buildings are no more than 16 feet but it has at least 4-5 floors.Quan says Vietnamese still practise extensive family living and each family would occupy a floor. So your eyes have to get used to skinny looks.

The first day after a night's rest saw us visiting the highest Pagoda recorded in the city.

Before reaching the temple, we had to go through ponds of the lotus species.It was a sight to behold as we had never seen such a spread before. Beautiful blooms popping out naturally with little fuss.

 The temple is hidden among lush landscape amidst flora and fauna; truly a perfect place for meditation.

 Of Chinese architecture, one would assume that Buddhism has long parked itself deeply among the people and we were told that the religion is the main practice of the Vietnamese.

 Here we also witnessed a thousand year old tree; I hope I am not wrong. The jack fruits are the produce of the tree and it is a very tall tree indeed.

 To reach the place meant a lot of climbing too. Pa says no problem but the knees have tales to tell. Notice the young lass helping the mother? She is a good girl and looked after the interests of her mother well. 

We met them on the trip.

The steps reminded me again that trips to lands should be made as quickly as possible when my legs and heart are strong . I am afraid I cannot bring my mother along.

 The caves among the landscape are beautiful.

Every curve has a story to it.

 With such a ground for the lotus plant, the locals are directly involved with this activity; picking fruits of the flowers. The kids grow up with them and know what to do with them.

 These are the seeds; very versatile as they can be used as the paste for Chinese cakes .

When fried they can be eaten as nuts.

 When used as ingredients for drinks, they give that extra difference. 

Indeed the lotus is the symbol of life for the Vietnamese.

Vietnam Airlines has the Lotus as its national trademark.

So much for the short walk up the temple and the sight of lotus.