Hoan Kiem Lake Turtle

Anyone who has traveled to Hanoi knows of Hoan Kiem Lake.  When someone refers to the center of Hanoi, they are most assuredly referring to the area of Hoan Kiem Lake. It is translated as Restored Sword Lake and has a legend attached to it.

In the 1400s, Le Loi (posthumously known as Le Thai To) rose against the Ming to claim independence from the Chinese.  He was initially unsuccessful until he was given a sword by the Dragaon god, after which he led a 10 year campaign ending in victory.  One year after his victory, a giant golden-shelled turtle rose from the lake as Le Loi was riding in his dragon boat.  In a human voice, the turtle asked for the sword back.  Le Loi threw the sword into the lake and the turtle grabbed it with his mouth and descended into the water.

In the Ngoc Son Temple, built on an island in the lake in honor of one of Le Loi's generals, Nguyen Trai, there is a stuffed giant turtle.  This turtle, too, has a history.  It was found with a hole in its shell, dying on the edge of the lake in 1967.  Initially, the people who witnessed the turtle thought it had been struck by shrapnel from American bombs, but later it was determined a fisherman from Thai Binh named Thu had struck the turtle with his shovel after it got snagged in a net and threatened to capsize his boat.  In the autopsy, "experts" determined the turtle to be 900 years old.  This is surely an exaggeration but there is no doubt the 250kg turtle was no youngster when it died.

Now, there is at least one giant, soft-shelled turtle still alive in the lake.  He has surfaced recently and appears to be very sick.  Experts in Hanoi are working to determine whether they should recover the turtle for treatment or let him remain in the lake in the hopes he will recover on his own.  The lake is extremely polluted, and the fact that the turtle has survived this long is a testament to its heartiness.  It is possible this is the last of its species.  Though it is sad, it is unlikely the people of Hanoi could make the lake clean enough to sustain the existence of this majestic creature.  With him will go the legend.