Photo Gallery
About the author
Kai Speth has been general manager of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi since 2008. Originally from Bad Kreuznach, Germany, he has worked around the world in his 30 years as a hotelier, with long-term stints in the United States and Korea. He favors Apple computers, and if you asked him to choose between The Who and Led Zeppelin, he couldn’t.
Monthly Archives: April 2011
The Fight to Save Hanoi’s Legendary Turtle
Tortoise Hill Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake
In Ha Noi these days, the big news is about a turtle. While we’ve tried to capture him, he’s captivated us, and the rest of the world. The BBC has turned its attention to the plight of this extremely rare turtle. So has MSNBC and CBS. On this recent post at Vietnam Net, there are some particularly good pictures of the work that’s being done to save this ailing turtle.
Why? Well, for starters, there are only four specimens of this turtle left in the world, and ours – who makes Hoan Kiem Lake his home – is in bad health. He’s afflicted with some sort of skin disease. He’s having trouble capturing his own food. And he’s old. Many here refer to him as “ancient,’ but scientists reckon he’s more like 100 years old.
That means he was born at just about the same time my hotel, the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, opened its doors in 1901, not more than a block away from the storied lake.
We’re rooting for the turtle for many reasons. When he goes, the beautiful little gem of the Red River, that is Hoan Kiem Lake, loses a dash of its rather alluring potency. In one of Vietnam’s most renowned legends, it was a giant turtle, like this turtle, that delivered a sacred sword to Emperor Le Loi in the 15th Century. With this sword, Le Loi routed the Chinese invaders. In turn, Le Loi returned this sword to the lake. Read more
