The cooler air of the morning is the perfect time to sit by Hà Nội's Hoàn Kiếm Lake and read, the slight mist adding a magical touch to the familiar view of the Tháp Rùa Monument
This is the last of eight pages on Hoàn Kiếm Lake - a great deal of attention deserved by a rather special place. Here the focus is on
Tháp Rùa itself,
it gets this name 'Turtle Tower' from the turtles which live in the Lake, small ones are often seen, the last of the large ones may now be dead -
but who knows...
The tower was built in the 1880s, ostensibly as a memorial to the restoration of the Lê dynasty 200 years previously, but the project was inspired by a musician bureaucrat (probably called Nguyễn Ngọc Kim although this is unclear) who was collaborating with the French occupation, and, to add further insult, was later found to be using the whole scheme to create a tomb for his father. A background most find it easier to forget.
Here the pictures consist mostly of green frames around, or a willow or jacaranda drooping over, the monument to give it oriental balance; and that is its importance - as a 'charming' image - not as a historical site
The other pages about Hoàn Kiếm Lake from the last year are:
Hoàn Kiếm Lake - Hoàn Kiếm as photographers' backdrop - Hoàn Kiếm as exercise centre - Hoàn Kiếm and Ngọc Sơn - Hoàn Kiếm by Night - Contemplation by Hoàn Kiếm Lake - Hoàn Kiếm as social centre
It seems every person in Hà Nội, and every visitor to Hà Nội (like a pilgrimage) must take this walk around the Lake; past the immaculate rows of bedding plants, ignoring the day-time roar of the adjacent traffic, and savouring, like the woman sitting here,
the piquant view of the Tháp Rùa monument
Tháp Rùa from the south-west
This picture, of twelve years ago, shows restrained lighting of Tháp Rùa. The page on
'Hoàn Kiếm at Night'
shows two dates of photo together
By the Lake the green of the water is striking, although less clear in photographs, here it is more due to the reflection of the trees than to the algae in the water.
Sitting to watch the world go by is probably the principle activity around Hoàn Kiếm. These concrete seats are remarkably good for this purpose
The advancing army of tower blocks that threaten, to Hanoians' disgust, the charm of the Lake, is avoided in most shots of the Lake
In the shadow of the tree, on one of Vietnam's most romantic spots with Tháp Rùa as background, she is texting while holding a bunch of roses. The man on the seat dozes (probably texting as well) in the afternoon warmth
A slight mist and the first touch of the sun certainly allow Hà Nội to offer one of the world's most beautiful city-scapes
The monument form the south-west before the recent cleaning
The sun dipping down right behind the Tháp Rùa
A picture full of symbols for modern Vietnam. Half the population is under 25 years old, the Lake still stands at the heart of the country, Tháp Rùa acts as a reminder of past glories, but also of past ignominy, beyond to the left is the old meeting place of the Hà Nội Party Committee, and to the right the high-rise tower block of one of the 'rising' banks that have thrived in the country's recent decades of prosperity
The next page stays with water in Vietnam and shows some images of boats which operate away from the sea.
The last page showed Hoàn Kiếm as a place to exercise
An introduction to Hoàn Kiếm Lake
To a loch in southern Scotland
