When all else fails, there's food and theatre

After the world reassembled itself, we trooped off to the charity restaurant, KOTO to have a wonderful banquet meal of spring rolls, prawn glass noodles, pork ribs, beef and tomatoes, bok choy and mushroom stir fry and a very welcome lemongrass, ginger and honey tea. Because we were cold. I may have mentioned that.

After lunch, we walked around Hanoi's beautiful Hoan Kiem lake (Lake of the Restored Sword) and took in a fantastic water puppet show (100,000 dong). Some people say that during a flood, Vietnamese puppeteers refused to stop performing and so water puppetry was born. It was a hugely enjoyable performance of local stories culminating in a flying illuminated dragon. The performance also had live music with traditional instruments.

In the afternoon, Hoan Kiem lake is alive with locals and tourists cycling, wooing, eating icecream, getting married, flirting and generally enjoying themselves despite the cold. Did I mention it was cold?

The lake itself has an interesting story behind the name. It refers to the legend of Le Thai; an emperor who allegedly drove the Chinese out of Vietnam (if I had a nickel...) using a sword given to him by the heavens. After the battle, a golden turtle took the sword back to the lake.

Photos: Hoan Kiem lake (above) and (below) a group around the lake give each other massages