Hanoi, Vietnam

We landed in Hanoi Feb. 6^th and it was chilly; a welcome relief from the heat of the south and the Philippines. We were staying at the Hanoi Elite, a hotel that was rated #1 on Tripadvisor with over 100 excellent ratings. I had never seen such a high rating before – and for 50 dollars a night – I booked it.

The manager had warned us of the many taxi scams at the airport a fact I already knew from my extensive readings. Taxi drivers will say your hotel is booked, or burned down, or moved, and will recommend somewhere else; somewhere that isn’t as nice but one that benefits them financially. As a result of this scams, we decided to use the hotel taxi and were told that the driver would not only have a sign with our names on it, but also, a CODE that would match the one they gave us. Such security!

The hour drive into town wasn’t overly impressive, it was a dully dreary day and we looked out onto fields dotted with farmers and clusters of tall grey buildings. The city skyline was equally unappealing. We turned north and followed a road lined with a long mosaic wall dividing the road from the homes and stores behind.

Eventually we turned into the Old Quarter down narrow roads crammed with scooters and street vendors then stopped perpendicular to a tiny side street. In the old quarter, stopping your vehicle generally means stopping traffic as there’s nowhere to pull over. This picture is one of the wider streets.

A hotel employee greeted us with smiles and grabbed our bags. We followed him down the tiny road (big enough for scooters but not cars) to the hotel where the two ladies standing behind the desk smiled and greeted me as Mrs Wendie (I was always greeted in this manner, Ian was Mr Ian). The ladies urged us to take a seat while they got the paperwork ready. The lobby is super small with only three tables, a large bench and 6 chairs and the reception desk. A small kitchen was off to the side. I worried that we’d never get a seat at breakfast but that was never a problem.

The receptionist came with our paperwork and a map and went over areas of interest. She was most thorough. Our room was up two flights of stairs and the boy followed with our bags. There isn’t a lift and the staircase in very narrow, two rooms on each floor. We were thrilled with the room – a bit on the small side but modern and clean. King sized bed, flat screen TV, plenty of closet space, safe, a/c, desk, separate shower, kettle, fridge, WIFI and a LAPTOP!!! The hot water was always HOT and there were two shower heads (one a rain head). The beds were so comfy and we had two huge soft pillows each. Oh, and the TV had a file with free HD movies. What else could we want for??? All for 50 dollars!!

We were so happy we decided to book our Halong Bay cruise through them and return to the hotel for a further 5 nights. Since it was a 3.5 hour drive to Halong Bay, we decided to do the 2N/3D cruise with Dragon’s Pearl. The hotel looked after everything for us.

Breakfast was yummy – Ian had pho ga (pronounced PHA GAAH), chicken noodle soup most mornings and I usually had cereal and a small baguette with fruit. Our very first day we went to see Ho Chi Minh (or as Ian and I call him, Uncle Ho). We dressed appropriately and left our cameras and water at the front. The line up was long but went quickly. We walked to the huge Mausoleum and entered through the front –

Security was plentiful, 4 guards stood at attention next to the body and several guards watched as we filed by them – looking for cameras or phones I imagine. The room was dark and you could walk around three sides to see Ho Chi Minh lying serenely behind glass. I thought I would find the entire thing weird but instead, I was awed. Lying before me, looking very good I must say, was the deceased President, a leader of great inspiration to the Vietnamese people.

Ian and I exited the side and wandered over to see the Presidential Palace and Ho Chi Minh’s simple accommodation. A stilt house with an office and bedroom sparsely furnished.

Entrance to the palace is forbidden so we simply admired that from outside. Next up was the Ho Chi Minh Museum and that was odd. I found it incredibly strange. It was full of symbolic art installations celebrating his life. One example was the piece representing the cave where strategic planning for the war took place – it was done up like a brain - the brain power of Ho Chi Minh. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to really appreciate that kind of symbolism so I raced through and waited for Ian at the end of it all. I watched him meander through with a large smile on his face. You couldn’t help but grin….

Coffee was in order so we found a tiny spot with relatively few smokers and had a couple of cappuccinos. We then walked to the Fine Arts Museum but decided to do lunch first so off we went to KOTO. Koto is a restaurant designed to help kids in need. There was a lovely write up on the menu that spoke of training the kids in both the service and cooking industry. One year, the entire graduating class was hired by a big named hotel (Hilton?).

There are four floors and we sat on the third. Lunch was great. I do not eat beef and rarely eat pork (occasionally I’ll eat bacon or ham) but I decided to order the Bun Ca which is similar to the meal I eat at the Pho place down from my school at home (only it comes with chicken). I received small pieces of carmelized pork and small pork patties (Ian ate the patties), a bowl of vermicelli noodles, lettuce and the sauce you pour into the entire mixture (what is that sauce??? It’s so good!). The meal was scrumptious.

After lunch we headed to the Art Museum which was incredibly propagandist with the majority of its works celebrating its soldiers, their relationships with the local people, and their fight against the “American aggressors.” Unlike the museum in Saigon, here we were not allowed to take photos.

The next day we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake where we visited the Den Ngoc Son temple, founded in the 14^th Century. 

We crossed the red bridge to the tiny island housing the temple.  There was a pagoda where two older men sat playing a game (checkers?) and a small temple.

Many wedding couples posed for their photos around the lake – more so on Valentine’s Day. We made our way around the water and over to St. Joseph’s Cathedral, a neo-gothic building from the 1880s.

It was great walking around Hanoi, well, except for the constant fear of getting one’s elbow knocked by a passing scooter. The roads are so narrow that bikes have to park on the sidewalks causing pedestrians to walk in the roads. Shops are tiny selling beautiful wares like brightly coloured purses and bags, lovely silk and woollen scarves, embroidered or oil paintings, woven baskets, jackets, shoes, etc. Food stalls would set up shop with tiny child-like stools and customers would sit on the sidewalks sometimes spilling out into the street. On the corner of our street, dozens of teens would sit and eat something that looked like BBQ bird embryos….

The next day was our Halong Bay cruise with a pick up time of 8am so we packed our bags in readiness.