Traveling in Southeast Asia

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Sunday, 5 February 2023 - Visited a bustling local market in Hanoi suburb experiencing Tet celebrations, observed vendors selling fresh fish, poultry, eggs, fruits, and vegetables, then traveled to Dao Thuc village for a traditional Water Puppet demonstration, watched artisans manipulate puppets with pyrotechnics and levers, photographed dragon and tiger scenes, and ended the day with a formal performance at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre near the hotel.

We left the hotel after breakfast for a short drive to a suburb of Hanoi to visit a local market.

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It was crowded!!!! This was the scene when we got off the van. People everywhere.
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Woman selling fresh fish.
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Woman selling poultry.
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As in Hanoi people road their mopeds into the market would review and purchase items without ever getting off the moped.
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A butcher with Virginia Ann in the background.
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An egg seller - all kinds of eggs from small quail eggs up to duck eggs.
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Kumquats or small oranges, but being Tet guessing kumquats.
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A noodle vendor selling noodles by weight.
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One of the several "streets" we wandered through - very crowded.
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More fresh seafood.
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Fruits and vegetables.
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Woman selling greens.
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From the village market we drove to the village of Dao Thuc for a Water Puppet demonstration.

Having preserved and developed the traditional art form - water puppetry for a hundred years, artisans in Dao Phuc village have been eager to hand down water puppetry to young people.

The creator of the art form was Nguyen Dang Vinh, under the reign of Le Y Tong (1735-1740). He was an artist performing art puppetry to serve the King. He came to the village and taught the Dao Thuc villagers how to perform water puppetry.
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The puppeteers are in the water and work puppets from behind the bamboo screen using sticks. The puppets stick up out of the water. Some have levers to make hand/arm motion.

Some pyrotechnics on display as well.
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A favorite with the children, the dragon, spitting fireworks.
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A tiger and a villager fight back and forth.
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A group of dancing girls.
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The puppeteers after the show taking a bow - well not too low.
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Backstage we are able to see the puppets and a demonstration of how the puppets are animated during the show.
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We noticed these puppets - would have loved to see the show using these puppets. The area was bombed by the Americans during the Vietnam War due to the number of Air Force bases in the area.
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The Long Bien Bridge was constructed by the French from 1899 to 1902. It was a military target in both the French and American Vietnamese wars as it was the only bridge crossing the Red River allowing access to the main port of Haiphong.
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Virginia Ann headed out on a cyclo. Cyclos are Hanoi's bicycle rickshaws. Passengers ride in the front cab, while the driver sits behind the passenger.
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A souvenir shop of local items.
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Virginia Ann and Cal in their cyclos. It was a pleasant ride - watching the traffic at a very slow speed was a little unnerving.
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We went to a formal Water Puppet show at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre near our hotel in Hanoi.

This show was a bit more sophisticated than the one in the village. The dragons were the same. Many of the stories were the same.
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It was interesting to see how the puppets leverage the water - here digging in a field.
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This was a story of two Phoenix Birds meeting, falling in love, and having a little Phoenix Bird. The Phoenix Bird is a favorite mythical creature in Vietnam representing grace, nobility, virtue, and pride.
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The group of dancing girls. This time with fog.
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As at the village the puppeteers came out from behind the screen for bows.
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