Hanoi

Following our Burma Pandaw trip in 2012 we committed with Sue and Martin to take a similar trip up the Mekong. As none of us had been to Vietnam previously we decided to have a look at the North and East coast before the river cruise. We arrived in Hanoi and a few hours later were joined by Sue and Martin. In turn we were both joined by Mike and Celia from Guernsey (see earlier blog this year) who unbeknown to Helen and I had decided to join this trip way back at Easter. A great surprise.

North Vietnam is low lying and many townships are built up through excavating lakes so as to raise the nearby ground. We were in the old part of the City and in the evening decided to start our exploration with a walk around the Hoan Kiem Lake.

It is well lit with some great colours and photo opportunities.

The only challenge as that access was by crossing a 3 lane road. Scooters charge down the road and if there are any road rules they escaped us. Hence a pedestrian crossing was no different to anywhere else along the road. Helen opted to holding hands, getting me between her and the oncoming traffic, keeping her eyes tightly shut and quietly murmuring “Insha Allah!”

Having strolled around the lake we successfully crossed the road a second time and found ourselves in a 4^th floor restaurant with a breeze and great views. Dinner and beverages ensured that subsequent road crossings were undertaken with far more confidence (bravado).

We opted for a taxi the following day and toured the Ho Chi Min museum. This underscored our lack of historical knowledge of the area whilst ensuring we were treated to a substantial helping of propaganda. It would be interesting to know what the locals really think.

The Mausoleum was being refurbished (not sure what that entails) and was closed. However, the guards were still occupied with a bit of marching.

In stark comparison some to the buildings in the old town are beautiful. This is the opera house. We had a peek through the doors and it looked pretty impressive but the only way to see inside was to buy tickets to a show. So this view is as good as it gets!

The traffic in the day was just as horrific and noisy but a little less confronting than all the headlights of night crossings.

The girls returned to the hotel for a little R&R while Martin and I went on to explore the railway. Although most of the accommodation was tiny, living by the railway was peaceful and quite compared to those houses with street frontage. Two trains a day was a small price to pay and there are certainly no pretentions of being on the wrong side of the track here.

Some of the street vendors spoke excellent English. Here you could have a book for free, however if you would like to make a small donation….

We only had a couple of nights in Hanoi and opted for evening cocktails at the top of the Soffitel Plaza. What a view, what cocktails, what a great nights sleep!