The 19th of May was Ho Chi Minh's birthday, a national holiday in Vietnam. In the evening, we went for a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake. It was a muggy night with a bit of a cool breeze. Lightening flashed regularly, threatening storms to come later in the night. We set out to explore the lake by dark.
It had been too hot to do much during the day, but from the short time that we had been outside, it seemed that the Hanoians were all staying indoors too. In the evening, however, the area around the lake was full of families walking and playing in the cooler night air.
The Ngoc Son Temple was lit up in gold, with its Morning Sunlight Bridge lit in red.
The temple was closed for the night, but we could walk up to the gates on the outside of the bridge and look across to the Jade Islet.
I'm not sure what sort of festivities there are commemorating Ho Chi Minh Day. I'm sure that the government and military must mark the occasion, possibly at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, which we visited the day before (I'll write about that soon). In the Old Quarter, though, it seemed to be a day for families to enjoy their time together.
Walking around the lake, we passed a man giving a traditional Vietnamese singing performance at a shrine to one of the historical emperors.
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