Hanoi

by Sophie · 19th January 2014

We stayed in a small hotel, tucked away in Hanoi’s Old quarter, and this was our favourite part of the city. Narrow streets crammed with stores, Ladies carrying their wares, street cafés taking over the pavement and mopeds packed with jangling teapots, huge blooms of flowers and kumquat trees. It was full of life, and there was something which caught the eye in every direction!

The lake is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. We walked around it and also chatted with some students who wanted to practice their English! There are also a few parks. Olly went for a few morning runs and was surprised by the number of people in the park and also all the activities they were doing, most popular was people just freestyle dancing with themselves!

We went to the water puppet theatre, a traditional entertainment show. We were impressed, the puppets were cleverly designed, there were special effects. and the puppeteers are in the waist-high water throughout.

On our last full day, we explored the cultural side of the city. We started with the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and museum. It was quite overwhelming and we wouldn’t recommend it. Unless you have a lot of prior knowledge about the previous leader, it is intense. We followed this with the war museum. We went in hoping to learn more about the country’s history, but felt like we left with little knowledge, having seen artefacts but not fully understanding their significance. Our last two stops were more satisfying. The Temple of Literature was the first university and had beautiful grounds. The old prison was incredibly interesting too.

The food in northern Vietnam is heavier than the south but we did become addicted to ‘roll you own’ crispy and fresh pancakes. Olly also ate as the locals did for most breakfasts: bowls of ‘pho bo’ beef noodle soup!