Unlike many of our journeys, Monday’s flight from Hong Kong didn’t require us to get up in the middle of the night. The bus left from just outside our hotel, and our flight was at lunchtime. After only two hours on the plane, we arrived in Hanoi, and were met at the airport by our pre-booked taxi. The taxi ride gave us a glimpse of what to expect in Hanoi, as hundreds of mopeds and motorbikes weaved across lanes, sounding their horns while making their way through the traffic.
After checking in at our old quarter hotel, we ate at a restaurant just a few minutes away. We knew that Vietnam is cheap for Western tourists, but the meal we ate for such a small price was beyond our expectations. Having consumed more vegetables than we had in the previous two months, we walked to Hoan Kiem Lake and admired the Thap Rua or turtle tower in its centre. Because we were passing, we took the opportunity to attend the Lotus Water Puppet Show at the Viet Culture Space. The puppets were excellent, but the live Vietnamese folk music was my favourite part of the performance. We drank coffee at a cafe overlooking the lake before wandering back into the old quarter’s maze of streets. Having avoided collision with thousands of mopeds, which seem to become crazier at night, we discovered a street where every shop was selling Christmas decorations. If ever you need several thousand Santa costumes, this is the place to come!
After breakfast at the hotel on Tuesday morning, we walked to the Vietnamese National History Museum, which includes exhibits describing Vietnam’s history from prehistoric times up to the revolution of August 1945. As the museum closes for lunch between 12 and 2pm, we ate at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed a glass of bia hoi – a Vietnamese beer, brewed daily and served at roadside bars and restaurants. Once the museum had reopened, we visited its second building, which focuses on the Vietnamese revolution and history up to the present day. The museum didn’t provide much explanation about its exhibits, but has prompted us to learn more about Vietnamese history. We stopped at a cafe on our way back to the hostel and sampled some Vietnamese coffee; the combination of strong coffee and the sweetness of the condensed milk was most welcome after several hours of museum browsing.
On Tuesday evening, we wanted to photograph Long Bien Bridge, which connects the districts of Hoan Kiem and Long Bien. The bridge is famous due to being heavily bombed during the American War, and is a symbol of Hanoi. Sadly, we couldn’t get a great view of the bridge from where we walked, but we could see the lights of the trains and many mopeds crossing it. After the bridge, we walked to Bookworm, a book shop selling new and used English language books. We ate dinner on a busy street, where pedestrians and mopeds shuffle slowly between menu-waving waiters and restaurant tables. Once back at the hotel, we watched Last Days in Vietnam, a film providing a very American view of the final days of the American War.
Our final day in Hanoi was dedicated to visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex. Unfortunately, the mausoleum itself is currently closed for maintenance. I’ve read previously that this means Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body has been sent to Russia to undergo annual preservation treatment. From the outside, the mausoleum has a very Soviet look about it. Having looked through the gates of the bright yellow Presidential Palace, we walked through the nearby botanical gardens on our way to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The exhibition on the first floor provided great insight into the life of ‘Uncle Ho’, but the second floor was more like a bizarre art gallery.
After dinner, we visited ‘Christmas Street’ once again, before returning to the hotel to pack for Thursday’s trip to Halong Bay. The next morning, on the bus out of a Hanoi, we had a great view of Long Bien Bridge as we travelled across the parallel Chuong Duong Bridge.
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