Hanoi: Socialist Republic of Vietnam #2

Route: Ho Chi Minh City -> Hanoi

Airline: VietJet Flight time: 2 hrs

Accommodation: Silk Collection Hotel & Spa Stay: 2 nights

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the spot we chose was ideal for a 2-night stay. We were just 5 mins away from the lake. The lake that boasted off a beautiful bridge, a pagoda, and an old turtle temple.

Better still, this is where the hop on/hop off bus started from. Day started quite late so we didn’t have much time. The bus sounded like a good idea to kick us off. Along with cloudy, windy weather to sit on the top. And for about 45 USD for 3 of us.

The audio guide provided a good history of the city and the monuments we passed by. It was worth the price tag. On the top left is the world’s longest mosaic wall. On the right is temple Quan Thành. It was a Taoist temple, just by Truc Bach lake, where John McCain’s plane was shot down, and he was captured.

The yellow building is the presidential palace, where the French governor lived in early 1900s. Ho Chi Minh refused to live there after the French left, and made a quarter next to it as his residence.

Shanaya has a great time up there, Trees were so close. She loved standing up on the chairs to touch them. Some tree branches were so low, one hit Ashif right on his face. He almost escaped injury.

We finally got down at the temple of literature, that sounded like a good name to us. It was a really large temple built in 1070, hosting Vietnam’s first university. It is also called the temple of Confucius, for the Chinese philosopher. There is Confucius on the throne, and was surrounded by his disciples. It had about 4-5 large courtyards, with dragons, unicorns, and turtles, the latter depicting longevity and wisdom.

It started to get very hot by the time we got done with the temple.

We took another hop on/hop off, this time past the Lenin Park, with a statue of VI Lenin, the Russian communist revolutionary. The statue was gifted by USSR to the Vietnamese people.

Got down at Baskin Robbins for some ice-cream to curb the heat. It was a Friday, so Ashif went to pray while the three of us played some self-designed games

The dude decided to even get a shave while we waited and waited at BRs

It was time to eat now. No more sightseeing. The closest and nicest rated one was the Hanoi Social club.

Ofcourse, it wasn’t marked correctly on google maps, so we went back and forth on these narrow streets, asked a few people, and finally landed here

Good food, lovely ambience, was mostly about hippy crowd and open support to LGBT community.

It was quite late in the evening, and we were getting tired. So we did quick walk past the famous central jail. The walls and jail looked nice, but it was closing time, so only an outside view

Next was the St. Joseph’s cathedral, next to a very crowded market. Sometimes, these guys act really funny when I ask them to pose. All in “attention” pose

School kids on bikes, tourists, locals alike - damn crowded. Lucky to have been able to get to the other side of the roadto get to our hotel

Rested for an hour before heading out at 8 for a walk to the walking street, and for a glimpse of the night market.

It was the best thing of the trip. The next 3 hours were super-duper fun. The walking street that went around the entire lake was closed off to vehicles. So, everyone was on the roads doing tricks, performing, playing or just having fun.

The turtle temple in yellow looked astonishing. No camera can do justice to the view that night. The lake looked damn pretty at night. With the reflections of the beautiful red bridge, and the lit boats.

There were kids and their parents sitting on the road, building different structures, with hundreds of Jenga blocks of different shapes and sizes. Magician showing tricks, and people in hundreds watching the show. They were several other artists lined up, including a monkey.

Many youngsters trying to pull off a sterling performance on the same song. We saw at least 3 such groups. These guys were the best. Not just them, couples dancing in and out of rhythm. It was such a lovely sight to see them enjoying themselves so much.

Featherball, also called a Jianzi, is played in a circle with people using all parts of their body to keep the shuttle in the air. The guys there were doing it very well. My family, not so much! They have been practicing since, and still not gotten any better. We bought a few back home.

Singers with their bands performing in the balcony and so many people standing downstairs cheering them. Several tiny kids on perpendicular lanes, riding these remote controlled cars. Shanaya has zero focus. I will never get her a car. Infact, she will never a get a license, with her attention span. Can’t look straight for more than 20seconds

Quick stop at McDonalds on the same street, before moving on to the night market. Jenga was still going strong!!

There were tens of these teenagers dancing in full coordination. Another large group of ladies doing simple but coordinated steps. And people like us kept picking up the steps, and adding to the crowd.

Crazy thing I noticed, that however nice the performance, people don’t clap or whistle much. Sometimes it looked like I was the only one making sounds

The next was a quick stop at the night market, which was on our way to the hotel. It was crowded and had excellent deals on items. There was food and toys and clothes and souvenirs. Quality of most things was kind of below average.

Ashif was done with us stopping at each shop. He left for the hotel with Shanaya. Dia and I picked up a few earrings before we returned.

Dia and Ashif went out one more time, almost at midnight to buy another couple of featherballs. They forgot theirs at the night market.

Next day we only wanted to go the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the single tower pagoda. But first a small notebook for my younger one who also wanted to write

We grab a grab and head to the mausoleum. Only at the time of getting off I realize I don’t have my phone. We had already checked out with our luggage at the hotel lobby. I was not sure where I kept the phone.

Ashif is like we only went to the shop next door and the hotel, so we should find it. Let’s visit the sites first. But my heart was sinking. Used find my phone to see that it was at the hotel somewhere. Called them, and they surely found it

With a bit more relaxed mind, started enjoying the sprawling outdoors of the Ho Chi Minh museum. Museum was closed, and we didn’t have time anyway, plus no interest.

The mausoleum up close and the surroundings.

We just made ourselves happy with the fact that we saw the pagoda from the bus, and went on to grab the grab to the hotel.

Another grab from the hotel to the airport

We messed up one more time, and reached the domestic departures. Luckily, we had time. So we took a buggy to get to the international terminal. Cambodia, here we come!!