Leaving our ‘legendary’ hotel we stepped out into a pleasant tree-lined street buzzing with activity – all life in Hanoi seems to take place on the streets – and picked our way past the tens of motorcycles parked along the wide pavements and looked after for the day for the equivalent of 40 US cents – the owners name casually chalked on the seat – to the large square opposite one of Hanoi’s architectural treasures, the Opera House.
To get to the Opera House, however, we first had to learn the technique for crossing the road against the tide of motorcycles and other vehicles racing around the central statue in this vast square. The rules of engagement were: step confidently out into the street, looking to your left or right to engage eye contact with the oncoming barrage of motorcycles whilst raising the left or right hand in the ‘please stop’ style. Oh and yes the group should proceed as “sticky rice”!
We were reliably informed that if these rules were followed the motorcycles would steer around us – they wouldn’t stop but they would avoid us. Well I’m here to tell the tale so I can confirm that this proved to be an effective, if a rather heart stopping way of crossing the streets in Vietnam.
Today, as a special privilege to APT, we were able to visit the interior of the Opera House that was erected by the French colonial administration between 1901 and 1911. It is modelled on the Palais Garnier, the older of Paris's two opera houses, and is considered to be one of the architectural landmarks of Hanoi. After the departure of the French, the opera house became the scene for several political events as well as the scene of street fighting during the fight for Hanoi.
Rather than use whitewash the buildings are painted in a typical pinkie/orange colour since this helps to keep the algae and mould that thrives in the humid conditions at bay.
Although many western style operas have been staged in the Opera House today it is only used once or twice a year because it has no air-conditioning. A pity since the main auditorium has excellent acoustics and is very grand but the lack of use, high humidity and lack of ventilation make for a musty atmosphere.
The ornate Mirror Room with a balcony over looking the square is used more frequently for entertaining and provides its own form of entertainment looking out over the motorcycle mania in the square below. For those of you who may have seen military or police motorcycle display teams with complex sequences of intricate manoeuvres including the ‘scissors’ – two streams of motorcycles crossing through each other with amazing speed and precision – well now imagine dozens of these moves all happening simultaneously and you will get an image of the entertainment offered to us by the traffic below.
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