West Lake & its environs

I am in a 'retro' mood and plan to post a few from my previous trips. In a way, I'll also be closing my series on Vietnam and my North East India travels. Here, I'm continuing with my travel through Hanoi. 

Hồ Tây as the West Lake is known in Vietnamese is semi-circular and has a long, long... shoreline (Wikipedia reports it as 17 Km). It's the largest among the many lakes that dot the city. It has neat promenades and recreational centres along its banks, making it a popular place for the residents to unwind and relax. 

The West Lake's boundaries
(credit: Google Maps)

Further shores of the lake

People relaxing along the promenade

'Swans' resting at the recreational centre

The West Lake's banks are also home to two very significant places of worship. 

The Quán Thánh temple is one of the four sacred temples built at the four corners of the old city to protect it from malevolent spirits. Quán Thánh protects the northern borders. Today, Hanoi has outgrown those borders and the temples have been absorbed by this ever expanding city. 

The picturesque entrance to the temple

Beautiful idols of holy animal symbols

Incense offerings to the deity

Antique wall murals on the sides of the main building

The main deity (top) & other altars within

Quán Thánh was built in the 11th century and is dedicated to the Taoist deity of the North. 

Artefacts & ancient bonsai

A smaller shrine within the premises

The entrance from the inside

Trấn Quốc Pagoda is dedicated to Buddhism and is said to have been built in the 6th century. It was originally built on the banks of the Red river but when the river changed course and threatened to flood it, the pagoda was shifted to the banks of the lake. It lies on off a small strip of land that separates the larger lake body from the smaller one. 

The pagoda as seen from the causeway

The Trấn Quốc Pagoda is defined by the tall red tower which is built in tiers. Each tier has tiny alcoves with white statues of the Buddha in them. All around it are smaller shrines. This is a living pagoda where monks continue to reside and pray. 

The beautiful gateway to the pagoda complex

The red tower seen amongst the
smaller shrines

Courtyard in front of the main building

One of the shrines inside

Other ornate altars inside the main building

One of the altars had lots of photos pasted on a wooden board with offerings placed in front. I am not entirely sure, but it seemed to be an altar for ancestor worship which the Vietnamese believe in. Earlier, tablets represented each ancestor but now it seems technology has replaced them with photographs. 

Altar for ancestor worship (I think)

Interestingly, there are two familiar sights from back home in this complex - magnificient peepal trees! One inside and one just in front of the entrance. The one inside has grown from a branch taken from the original Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, Bihar. It was gifted in 1959 by the then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The one outside the entrance is an offshoot of the gift. A gift that keeps on growing. ;) Pun intended. 

The Bodhi (peepal) tree in the courtyard

Interesting features in the pagoda

The West Lake too has many small parks in its vicinity. I've mentioned two notable ones here, in my opinion, mainly because of the imagery they contained. One park is the memorial to soldiers of the Vietnamese army that fought in the 1940's. The other is a memorial to the anti-French revolutionary, Lý Tự Trọng, executed when he was 17 years old for assaulting French officials. The images are larger than life and strangely awe-inspiring in their proportions. 

Maybe, that was the intent of the creators. 

Memorial to Vietnamese revolutionaries

Memorial to the teenage martyr

Hồ Tây, one of the pleasanter areas of the bustling capital city and where I enjoyed spending some quiet moments. 

Fishermen at work

It has been over a year since I was in Tharangambadi (read my earlier posts here) but I still have some great memories of the trip. 

Dansborg Fort with the fishing boats on the beach

One of my most persistent memories was of the fisher-folk who lived along the beach. In the early hours of the morning they would shove off their boats and return sometime mid-morning with whatever they had caught. The fish was then taken to the larger market towns like Karaikal where it would fetch a better price. 

I wonder what their lives must be like. Dependent on the benevolence of the sea, each day is uncertain. One day the sea can offer up a fabulous catch while another day a not so good one or maybe the weather will play spoil sport. Incidentally, this stretch of the coast was the main affected area in the 2004 tsunami. 

Old brick walls eroded by the sea or damaged
in the tsunami or maybe both

As I stood watching, these hardworking fisherfolk went about their work with single-minded focus. They had to make sure the fish reached the markets as soon as possible, especially on a warm, sunny day. They cheerfully answered my questions but conversing wasn't easy because of the language. In a couple of hours all the fish had been unloaded, sorted and carted away. Just a few men remained behind, tidying the nets for the next day's trip out. 

A closer view of the boats near the fort

Unloading the catch (of fish) from the boat

Fish all tangled up, waiting to be sorted

Bringing the boat in

Fishermen resting and mending the nets
in readiness for the next trip

My sojourn in Tranquebar was short but sweet. The tranquil sea and the soporific effect of waves washing against the shore might have enticed me to stay on longer. 

Besides the usual sight seeing, it's the little things like watching life go by, listening to the sounds of nature, the physical journey by road or train (by air, not so much!) which makes travelling so much more interesting and enriching. Don't you think?

Nature taking back its lost ground

Old friends

When I was younger, my mother often complained to me "Your life revolves around your friends, nothing else seems to matter." By 'nothing else', she meant my studies, spending time with family etc. She conveniently ignored all the books I read... in copious amounts. But I digress.

In school, my friends were split into one 'best friend' and other 'good friends'. On hindsight, it was such a strange way of seeing things. Had it been today's times, my parents would have certainly bundled me off to a shrink. 

I don't know how the notion got into my head but I truly believed that I could not have more than one best friend. Maybe, it came from reading too many Enid Blyton's where the child protagonist always had one best friend amongst many friends. In any case at any given point in my life, I didn't have too many friends, just 2-3 who were my closest and only friends. 

As I grew older I remember realising with some degree of surprise and shock that there were best friends who had moved on from being my best friend to a friend with whom I had fleeting conversations - on birthdays or special occasions only. This was maybe sometime after college when my friends and I got jobs, moved cities, got married... generally life happened. I was making a new set of friends just as they were too. The whole concept of best friends had undergone a change in my head. It became redundant. There were now only good friends. No less valued but not singled out specially, either. 

Looking back, there also are those who were good friends, even best friends and one day were no longer in touch.  Some I did anticipate going out of my life while some were rather sudden and without warning.

Pic courtesy: Google Search

I believe, consciously or subconsciously, as we grow older, most of us take stock of our lives - we choose the people we want to spend time with and distance ourselves from those we don't. Not because we've become mean and nasty but because we've moved on from that phase of our life. 

To those friends who were with me in certain phases of my life and are no longer around, I am thankful to have met them. They were there for me when I needed a shoulder to lean on and in return I hope I was a good friend to them too. Even if we no longer keep in touch, I know I will always appreciate what they did for me.

I continue to have good friends - a few, not many - therefore all the more precious. They've heard me rave, rant and b***h - on the phone and in person, been with me when I was unwell and in hospital, when I shifted homes and needed an extra pair of hands, when I was alone in a new city and needed to learn my way around... it's a long list.  

I am truly fortunate and very grateful.  

Old friends,

Sat on their park bench

Like bookends.

...

Can you imagine us

Years from today,

Sharing a park bench quietly?

~ Simon & Garfunkel