March 12

After breakfast we went to buy tickets for the water puppet show. There was only one time left so we took it. We walked to the Women's Museum. It was really fascinating !!! An entire building, four floors with exhibits and information about the roles of women in the different tribes. There was an amazing photographic display of women taken by Rehannan..a renowned photographer.  We knew about betel from visiting the tribes in Sapa ... But we were unfamiliar with the concept of laquering teeth  Then we walked to the Hoa Lo prison.....also referred to as the Hanoi Hilton. It was first used by the French to confine dissidents. And later for the POW from the Vietnam War. John McCain was there for 5 years.  A guillotine  On our way back with stopped for some Pho...still not my favourite but better with the limes and chili peppers. On to the water puppet theater. Water puppetry is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of Vietnam.  The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large bamboo rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play. For dinner we tried Bun Cha.  It consists of cold rice noodles to which you add a hot pork mixture and top with lettuce, mint and herbs.  We decided to do one last walk of the night market to stave off the restlessness. It poured rain....torrential !!!  This lady was cooking chicken skewers on an open fire...fanning it to keep the flames going.  The last treat....a famous Vietnamese dessert. Starts with a huge cup of cut up fresh fruit,  A tequila nightcap then to bed for our last night in Hanoi.