Vietnam - Second Day Running Around Hanoi

Tuesday 28 June 2022

We continued our exploration of Hanoi on foot today and ended up walking for miles and miles (sadly "kilometres and kilometres" doesn't quite have the same ring).  We started off by crossing Train Street.  This is where the national trains trundle down a suburban street.  The locals know exactly when they are coming, which fortunately for them is only 2 or 3 times a day, and there is a yellow line painted on the pavement indicating the extent of the train width.  You can just see it to the left of JC.  There really is not much room to manoeuvre when a train comes past!

After this we visited the Temple of Literature. It was the ancient school of learning for children (males only) to study their language and Confucianism and, if good enough, become Mandarins and advisors to the Emperor.   

The gardens, ponds and gates lead you through to the inner temple.

I love the dragons on the ridge.  And the big drum.

In the courtyard, stone turtles (signifying longevity) support stelae, inscribed with the names of all the successful candidates between 1442 and 1779 (although the school began in 1070).   I was amused to read that not only were criminals excluded from sitting the exams, but other so-called unworthies such as singers and musicians.   

It was our hottest day today with temperatures up around 38 degrees Celsius so every pore that could sweat did!  Undeterred, and supping water as we went, we moved onto the Imperial Citadel.

This was Hanoi’s forbidden city, however Emperors from the 18th century started modifying it when the capital moved from Hanoi.  And then the French arrived in the mid 19th century and pretty much demolished it.  Only the main gateway exists alongside numerous archaeological remains.  

There was an informative exhibition celebrating the life of Hon Chi Ming.  He ran the Vietnam War from offices and a bunker here.

We left and swung around to the north gate and stopped for a drink.  I loved the Ruth sized chairs which meant that JC was finding them a tad on the small side.  He’s obviously not Mr average size-wise in Vietnam.

I then wanted to see the botanical gardens so we popped into them, to the tune of 2000d each (10p).  The grounds are nice enough but it’s basically a couple of lakes and a park which was full of locals exercising.  Outdoor exercise is very common here and all ages are out doing thai-chi, badminton and using the outdoor gym equipment. 

We were near Hanoi’s largest lake, West Lake, which I wanted to see, so we eventually found our way to it detouring around private developments which had blocked off public access to it.  There is a road annexing a small lake, Ho Truc Bach Lake, with one of Hanoi’s oldest pagodas and Buddhist temple so we had a quick visit of that just as it was closing.  Lots of Buddhas!

Still very hot and wilting more we sat by the road and drank more coke.  On our way back to the hotel I fancied a pop to a coffee shop I’d seen mentioned in the guide.  You enter through a fabric shop, walk to the back of the building to find the cafe and order.  You then climb up 3 flights of stairs, including one spiral staircase, to an awesome view!

The coffee wasn’t that great (it’s very bitter in Vietnam) but the view and the sheer quirkiness of the place more than made up for it!

Vietnam - Hanoi Environs, Two Pagodas and an Historic Village

Monday 27 June 2022

Today we hired a driver and visited three sites between 60 and 25 km west of Hanoi today.  First off was Duong Lam Historic Village.  This UNESCO recognised site has refurbished some of its buildings to reflect their traditional design.  

It is very much a working village full of passageways which we’d hopefully follow to find a temple or traditional building only to find a dead end (but I liked the wiring up the pole).

We got our bearings after a while and found a few traditional communal houses.  It was so very hot!  Wherever we could we’d walk in the shade but, despite hat, umbrella to keep the sun off and lots of water I just felt like a melting sweaty blob.

Anyway back into the car (and aircon!) to cool down and off to Tay Phuong Pagoda.  This pagoda is reached by climbing a steep set of stone steps - 237 of them.  I seem to have a thing about counting steps.

It was pretty sweltering but well worth the effort as we had this marvel to ourselves.  It’s one of the more out-of-the way sites but also, as we were realising, travelling in the hot season has some advantages as few others are out and about like us.  We loved the ancient statues made of jackfruit tree wood.  Very quiet and calm in here.

A jackfruit tree in all its glory.

We tried to find the two minor pagogas down the hillside to no avail and were soon heading towards our last pagoda.  We swung by a restaurant for lunch and felt sorry for the fish swimming in a tank outside the kitchen knowing that they’d be next soon (not that JC looks particularly upset about it).

Thay Pagoda was another wonderful site.  Again, a Buddhist temple consisting of numerous buildings/pagodas.

We crossed a small bridge and huffed and sweated our way up 249 steps to an amazing jungle like temple up a hill.  It was the sort of place I’d expect Indiana Jones to appear at.

It had a shrine in a cave which, was not only interesting but super cool temperature wise.  We would have lingered longer, except the local resident seller/guide/hawker was determined to advise us and engage with us (for a fee) that we left for some peace.

Back down and a fresh coconut to drink revived us before the drive back to Hanoi.

Vietnam - Hanoi Orientation

JC has always been keen on Asia and one winter evening randomly suggested we should visit Vietnam.  Next thing I knew was the Rough Guide to Vietnam was bought.  We started reading it and were hooked.  We booked our trip for the end of June/early July to fit around work commitments.  The downside of this was that we visited in the hot, sticky, monsoon season.  The upside was that there were fewer tourists around so we had a lot of the sites to ourselves!  

Friday 24 June/Saturday 25 June 2022

The journey to Vietnam was smooth although we left an hour late as the plane had a power cut.  We were just about to board (in the tunnel) and would have preferred not to see the engineers trot up and down to fix it!

The 11:30 hour flight was fine.  Jc produced a birthday card and present at just past midnight UK time.  No idea where we were but it was fun.  We had a 2:50 transit at Bangkok (shortened to 1:50 due to delayed departure from LHR) and to assist us the aircrew hurried us to the front to stand by the exit doors as the plane taxied.  I've never had that before and suspect that certainly wasn't in their Health and Safety procedures.  I opened two more cards on the next flight.  Birthdays flying east may be shorter than usual but still fun! 

We were staying at a lovely boutique type hotel in the old quarter of Hanoi.  We checked in and headed off to find food.  The streets are full of mopeds, cars and pedestrians and it’s each person for themselves to navigate and weave a safe passage for oneself.  Lots of honking (vehicles not pedestrians).  I had my birthday supper at a busy pavement cafe and managed to successfully order two plates of noodles, with duck for JC and freshly fried vegetables for me.  Even though we’re convinced they upped the price for us (my vegetable dish cost more than JC’s, partly because if was bespoke) the whole meal with two drinks was ~£5 so not a problem!

Sunday 26 June 2022

We explored the old quarter of Hanoi today.  This quarter developed as a trader's area to support the Emperor’s citadel just to the west.  Artisans from the countryside came to the city to provide B&Q like services to the citadel.  The streets are subsequently named to reflect the trade guilds that grew up in them such as tin, jewellery, medicine/herbs, copper, leather etc. so the shops are still grouped similarly.  

Health and safety standards haven’t quite hit the Vietnamese welding business yet.

Birds are everywhere - but sadly only in cages.  [We were later told that wild birds, and indeed a lot of wildlife, has been hunted/captured and tends to only exist in the wild deep inside forests].

And, as expected, the markets were full of fresh produce - in the case of the eels, very fresh!

We visited numerous temples, most with altars full of provisions to the Gods and memories of ancestors.  We were amused by the beer fest altar. 

We also visited an historic old house, built in the late 18th century.  The houses in the old district of Hanoi are narrow but extend a long way back due (called tube houses).  This was to mitigate a local a tax levied on the street width of one’s property.

At one juncture we detoured off to find the longest mosaic in the world.  This is over 4km long and wonderful!

We also found the Long Bien bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel, of you-know-where fame.

The nearby lake, Hoan Kiem, is worth a visit on Sundays as the local roads are shut meaning stress free strolling.

We popped over to Ngoc Son Temple, accessed by a bridge into the lake.

We were melting by now as our British systems weren’t yet used to the 35 deg celsius temperature.  We tried to drink lots but were still thirsty and appreciated a sit down at a lakeside cafe.  We were soon joined by a Vietnamese boy keen to try out his English.  So he and JC chatted about football for a bit.

We ate out in the Hanoi Social club on a balcony watching the lightning flash across the sky.