Old Quarter ReviewHoan Kiem Lake, framed by its own trees
The Turtle Tower seen the way Hanoians actually see it: through the branches of the great trees that ring the lake.
Every city has one image it cannot stop taking of itself. In Hanoi it is this: the Turtle Tower standing in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake, seen through the branches of the trees that ring the shore.
The tower is smaller than visitors expect, and older than it looks in postcards. It was raised in the 1880s on the little island in the lake, and it has watched the city change around it ever since: trams, wars, motorbikes, and now a walking street that closes to traffic every weekend.
The lake's name means the Lake of the Returned Sword. Legend says the emperor Le Loi, after driving out foreign invaders in the 15th century, gave his magic sword back to the Golden Turtle God on this water. Hanoians treat the story as true in the way that matters, which is why the tower is handled less like a monument and more like an elder of the city.
Stand anywhere on the shore at breakfast time and you will see this exact framing being composed on a dozen phones. The branches are not in the way. For the people who live here, the branches are the point: the lake is theirs, and they look at it from inside their own garden.
Source
HÀ NỘI CỦA CHÚNG TA, a community where Hanoians share the city's photographs, poems and memories. Entries shared from the community are published here with the group's name credited, and are never presented as this channel's own work.
Walk the lake area with our map
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