In the Trenches

Fair warning, I'm totally going to geek out in this post.  There will be numerous exclamation points and many declarations that may appear hyperbolic.  The amount of enthusiasm expressed will be so large, it will give the impression of sarcasm.  My zeal, however, will be genuinely sincere.  Ames and Cas, this one's for you, who like to do it in the dirt. :D


If you've been reading this blog faithfully, you'll remember from I'm Alive!!! that I mentioned the execution of an excavation at the citadel near our apartment.  Sunday morning, I was fortunate enough to be led on a tour of said citadel and the excavation site by none other than the leading archaeologist of the dig, historian and professor Le Van Lan, a Vietnamese celebrity who is a veritable compendium of history in addition to hosting a quiz show.  I met a legitimate celebrity!  Granted, none of you have heard of him, but it was still cool to be walking around with someone who kept getting stopped by people saying "I've seen you on TV!"

The citadel circa 1490. I haven't been able to find a decent map of the current citadel and surrounding area to post, but they exist out there in the internet, if you care or are bored enough to go looking.

Entrance to the citadel.

The citadel, or Thang Long (Rising Dragon), saw its heyday from 1010-1397, after Ly Thai To established Hanoi as the capital of Vietnam, and it's this period that the archaeological dig dates to.  It was built on the remains of a seventh century Chinese fortress.  You can go HERE for more accurate and detailed info.  The first part of this tour, however, focused on the American War period, with war rooms and nuclear-safe tunnels. Other tunnels branch off to West Lake, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and other buildings within the citadel, making it possible to move stealthily underground...had these off-shoots not been recently blocked off, of course.

House 67, built in...1967, where many war decisions were made and generals even slept.

 

Strategic planning room.

Professor Lan being awesome. The map behind him shows the tactical movements of the Tet Offensive.

Professor Lan being even more awesome, trying out the bed in the office of the Vietnamese general in charge of the Tet Offensive.

Down to the tunnels.

 

Inside the bunker.

This submarine door keeps the tunnels safe from any nuclear attack the Vietnamese thought the US would throw at them.

We then headed over to the dig, where I managed to refrain from jumping up and down and squealing, though I couldn't conceal the Cheshire cat grin plastered on my face.  The central part of the excavation is in the now dry silt of the Red River, which has since meandered outside of the citadel.  On either side, remnants of the city have been unearthed, including wells, drainage pipes, and pillar bases with lotus blossom designs.  It was amazing!!!  There were actually some people excavating there, and I got to reminisce about Greece while watching them clean dirt off the dirt and move it to huge piles of more dirt.  They at least had face masks to keep from inhaling the dust they were stirring up.  There was even distinguished stratigraphy!!!  Man, I miss playing around in the dirt, looking for historically significant finds.  It kind of sucked at the time, but seeing all these archaeological endeavors and what they've uncovered makes me long for archaeologist's tans and dirt inhalation all over again.

Made from excavated stones. I'm not sure how I feel about archaeological finds being used like this, but I figure if they weren't here, they'd be stuck in crates in a warehouse somewhere.

The brick wall is also made from excavated material. The large lotus-decorated stone once held a wooden pillar that has since decayed. Prof. Lan is demonstrating.

Not quite as Raiders of the Lost Ark as you might expect.

Trenches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm totally wigging out on the inside!!!!!!

So, since this is an on-going excavation, pictures under the big blue tents are prohibited.  I'm not sure how it happened, but my camera apparently snuck out of my pocket on a few occasions and took some photos of its own volition.  I'm going to call the results miracles rather than contraband.

I'd write an ode to stratigraphy if I thought more than two people would appreciate it.

Unearthed structural foundations!!!!

Drainage pipes!!!!

 

Look how cool the brick layout of this well is!

It was absolutely amazing to get to see such a well-preserved site, especially with it being closed to the general public.  An official, public thank you to Roman for hooking me up with Professor Le Van Lan and for generally being so well connected.


I then met up with the guys for Sunday brunch at Puku, a 24/7 cafe with pretty great Western food and a fabulous London Fog Latte.  Yums!!  That evening was a going-away party for a colleague of Kyle's, so I got to stretch my mingling muscles again.  The day was a good balance between ecstatic and chill.

PUKU!

Highlight: we also saw the CUTEST pair of pure white Persian kittens that had just arrived from London and were on the market for a mere five million dong ($250) a head.  Alas, my puppy dog eyes didn't work, and Kyle wouldn't let me bring one home, but their cotton-ballness should help cushion my dreams for a while.

Ahhhhhhh!!!!! It was like petting a cloud!!!!!!

An unrelated cat, but I thought my sis would find it and its Vespa cute.

I'm Alive!!!

So I was totally going to post last night about my first day in Hanoi, but the internet was giving me serious trouble...which provided a great excuse for me to pass out at 10 pm. :)  Therefore, I'm going to make two posts tonight, one for each of the days I have spent here so far.


I got in around lunchtime yesterday with Roman (my uncle's partner) waiting for me outside baggage claim.  It was so wonderful to hold a conversation with someone I actually knew and who wasn't asking to see my passport or whether I wanted chicken or beef.  I was wide-eyed and open-mouthed for most of our drive from the airport into the city.  It was terribly foggy, which I immediately found out is just how it is this season and I should expect it most days, and the architecture, a combination of French art deco and modern Asian design, was absolutely captivating.  You'll see a lot of examples of that in my next post.


We stopped by the Canadian Embassy on the way to the apartment.  It's near Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and many government buildings, the latter of which I'm not really supposed to photograph, but I'll probably try to surreptitiously sneak a pic or two if there aren't any military men about.

Across the street from the Canadian Embassy of which I couldn't get a pic while being observed by a g-man.

I'm alive!!!

There's also an excavation going on in this area of the Chinese part of the old citadel of Hanoi.  It's not open to the public, but Roman and my uncle Kyle are going to try to get me in to at least do some observation and check out what they've found so far.  Cross your fingers for me!


We then finally made it back to the apartment where I was promptly put to work cooking Roman and me a lunch of rice noodles in broth and stir-fry squid and veggies...it ended up not too terribly considering I was jet-lagged and had neeeever cooked Vietnamese food before.  The apartment is lovely with lots of light provided by windows and sliding doors out to balconies that overlook West and Truc Bach Lakes.  Our building is filled with ex-pats and those who work for foreign governments.

Skyline! My home for the next six weeks.

View from my bedroom window

My temporary bedroom! It's lighter than it appears here.

My closet for the next six weeks...

The living room balcony and view of West Lake beyond

Living room

Roman in the kitchen

Expanded view from the living room balcony

Roman then walked me the five or so blocks to 54 Traditions, the antiquities shop where I'll be having my internship for the next six weeks.  Dr. Mark Rapoport, MD, is an ex-pat and former New Yorker who developed an interest in Vietnamese cultural objects back in the 1970's.  He moved here in the 1990's with his wife and began accumulating the gargantuan collection he now stores, restores and presents to tourists for purchase.  He's incredibly enthusiastic about all these finds, which range from ritual, shamanistic objects to common, everyday ones.  My favorite of the pieces so far are an elephant molar that was grated in order to use the resulting powder in shamanic prescriptions and a mammoth tooth that naturally resembles a dragon and was therefore placed on an altar in religious reverence.  I'm not entirely sure that Dr. Rapoport likes me yet, but I'm fairly certain he doesn't dislike me--and I can definitely work with that.


Afterward, Roman and I dropped in on a show opening at the nearby Art Vietnam Gallery.  I wasn't particularly impressed with the new show, but some of the older work was amazing.  There was a large black lacquer panel, a good six feet by three feet, that was incredibly reflective in the middle while the outer edge was filled with sporadic mother-of-pearl inlay in the shapes of dainty, delicate flowers.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of it...I think I'll try to stop back by there after work one day.  I did manage to snag a photo of my favorite piece, another lacquer work.  Of course, the picture doesn't do it justice. 

Rain, by Truong Tan

Finally, we met up with Kyle to head off to dinner.  Earlier, Roman and I had passed a little shop that had tiny fried rice crabs which you eat whole and cooked larvae of some kind.  I will definitely try the crab, and I'm really hoping to work my way up to the bugs... apparently there will be a ton of variety of edible insects in Cambodia, so maybe that will be my crash course.  Dinner was slightly less taboo, consisting of fried noodles with egg and beef and Bia Hanoi, the local beer with a very light taste.  The beer wasn't the only thing light that night, and by the time we came back to the apartment I was dead on my feet between the alcohol and the jet lag.  This resulted in the highlight of my day, however prosaic it might seem: sleeping in a legitimate bed with pillows and, most importantly, mattress.  It was like sinking into a cloud bath.