The Nam Nessie
Okay so it’s not exactly the Loch Ness monster. But for a bloke out on a stroll with his newly bought digital camera it’s not a bad effort.
But what is it?
Well let me explain. Or rather here is what the Lonely Planet has to say.
The Tortoises of Hoan Kiem Lake: Fact or Fiction
Those ripples on the lake surface will never seem so innocent again.
Astonisngly there are tortoises in the somewhat less than clear waters of Hoan Kiem Lake. Surfacing on rare occasions and bringing luck to anyone fortunate to see one, the Sword Lake Tortoise (Rafetus Leoli) is not just your common garden variety tortoise – it is a huge animal.
A speciman that died in 1968 weighed in at 250kg and was 2.10m long! It’s preserved remains are on show in the Ngoc Son Temple Complex, together with a photo taken of a tortoise that appeared in the lake in 2000.
No one is sure how many there still are, or how they have survived in this urban setting.
Rumours abound. Are these really the lake-dwelling tortoise descendants of the golden tortoise of Le Loi? Or are they safegaurded in enclosed enclosures elsewhere and transported to the lake from time to time, where their occasional appearance is simply an orchestrated ploy to keep the legend of the lake alive?
So there you have it chapter and verse. To fill in a few gaps – Emperor Le Loi was given (by heaven apparently) a magical sword which he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. Later, after the war, when boating, a giant golden tortoise grabbed the sword and disappeared into the depths of the lake.
Anyway, today I viewed the tortoise. I was just wandering by the lake taking pictures with my new camera and all of a sudden I noticed a bit of a commotion. I went over and watched a few bubbles rise. I had heard the legend but as far as I was aware the tortoises in the lake are all but myth. But seconds later one popped its head up and there it was. Cheers abounded.
Soon I was being taken by the arm by an old gent and a younger kid who were determined I would get my tortoise picture. For the next half hour I took countless pictures of bubbles, but not much more.
Eventually, after much persistance I got the pic you see above. And yes I feel very lucky indeed.
9 Comments:
At 6:15 PM, Peter Gasston said…
I can’t actually work out what that is. It looks like a flying cow’s skull.
At 6:29 PM, OMIH said…
Sorry there was a gap in between me posting the pics and getting to add the words. Hope it now all makes sense.
At 7:52 PM, Peter Gasston said…
No, I wrote that AFTER you said what it was. I still can’t work it out.
At 3:37 AM, Michael M. said…
It looks like a sea lion to my confused eyes.
At 10:31 AM, MambaJumba said…
great picture! It’s clearly a drowning pig.
At 9:44 PM, Anonymous said…
Whatever, you were really lucky. I had lived in Hanoi for nearly 20 years, but I had never seen the tortoise surface
By the way, several months ago, I read an article about an old man earning money by selling photos of tortoise in Hoan Kiem Lake. He said that he has hardly missed any opportunity so far. Well, maybe it’s a good idea for your venture!
Trung.
At 10:12 PM, OMIH said…
Wow – I’m even more lucky than I thought – if it was a tortoise that is.
Other volunteers who have visited the museum devoted to the tortoises have confirmed that the heads do look like my picture – so I reckon it’s a tortoise anyway.
There’s no chance of a seal living in that murky water anyway. It’s amazing that a tortoise can manage to.
Just a thought – when that tortoise was born, it was probably in the days when the French were still in control.
At 4:23 PM, Preya said…
A little late…but I just had to say: I cannot believe you got that picture, that’s awesome! 8 years in Hanoi and I never saw one.
At 8:49 PM, Linda Farquhar said…
My daughter and I were having lunch at the cafe that sits right on Hoan Kiem Lake and we saw what looked like a tortoise head popping up out of the water to take a breath and then go back under for a few minutes at a time it came pretty close to the edge near the cafe and it did look like th picture you have taken. I was so excited but no one else was that interested at the cafe so perhaps it is not real. I like to think it is. Jan 06.