3 Days Hanoi

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It"s 11:45 pm touch down at Hanoi Airport, so very deserted as we are the last flight in for the night. Our hotel transfer is surpose to be waiting for us, but is no where to be found. An airport security personal comes to our aid, he promptly rings the hotel, telling them to get someone to us pronto, eventually sleepy eyed taxii driver turns up finally.

The temperture has dropped, a slight coldness in the air, damp roads and the streets are quite.

After checking into our room, its straight to bed. The beds have been a interesting mix of hard, harder and concrete hard with the odd coil spring bed that is more like sleeping on raw wire coils. Most of the time we are so tired that all of the above are gratefully appreciated at the end of the day.

Day 1 - Next morning we head out to survey the area, the sky is grey with a little light misty rain, the sort you do not get wet in. Our hotel is located right next to the Hoan Kiem Lake, this is the main lake in the centre of Hanoi and no doubt would be a beautiful sight in better weather conditions.

(a) Leading to the centre of the lake is Den Ngoc Son (Temple of the Jade Mountain), you walk through a series of 3 gates painted with Taoist symbolism then cross the red-painted wooden bridge called The Huc (Rising Sun). The temple has been used by several groups such as: the Trinh mandarins, as a Buddhist pagoda, then a temple for the cult of a Chinese warrior, Quan Cong, and later for the Spirits of Literature and of the Soil. This shrine is now dedicated to Tran Hung Dao, a 13th century Vietnamese military national hero.

Inside the main building the preserved body of a giant soft backed turtle (Rafetus Lleloii). This turtle is 2.1 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, and weighed 250kg. It was found in 1968 and was said to be 500 years old. This gives some truth to the legend about the giant turtle, which took the goldern magic sword of Le Loi in the 15th century and heroically returning the sword to the lake where it belonged.

One or more large turtles still inhabit the lake and it is considered a sign of good luck to glimpse the head rising above the water. Good luck if you can see anything as all as the water is a murky grey that matches the sky colour today.

Turtle Tower is a single structure sitting high in the same lake, at night it is light up and looks very impressive when lit up at night.

As we continue to wonder down the street we see the well known Hanoi Water Puppet Theatre and right next door, appears to be a coffee cafe, a beline is made straight for a coffee fix aussie style. Coffee in Vietnam is very strong and taste like tar, heaps of condensed milk is added to improve its taste. The Vietnamese tea is very bitter and is usually poured in very small cups, this also takes some getting use too. Fresh milk is also rearly found.

(b) Mua Roi Nuoc or Water Puppet is a unique art which has it origin in the delta of the Red river in the 10th century. The farmers in this region devised a form of entertainment using what natural medium they can find in their environment. In ancient times, the ponds and the rice paddies after harvest were the stage for these impromptu shows.

There are 3 price levels to choose from to see the puppet show, of course we take the cheapest option (Nose Bleed) section last row of the theatre. It is very similar to the IPAC in Wollongong which is a pleasant surprise to see that all the seat gave great views. You are charged a separate fee for using a camera and video to film the show. This is worth a look if you have never seen this sort of show before.

After the show we ventured into the old market district, where you see many shop and roadside stalls selling cloths, food, trinkets etc. As the day turns into night some of the streets are blocked off and soon the roads are covered with stalls selling much to same as can be seen in the street front shops. It starts to lightly rain, but this has not dampend the atmosphere, further along, a street show is in progress, there are 5 dancers in beautifully decorated outfits. It is on closer inspection you soon see these are what is referred to as shims (man dressed as women), these guy/girls are very beautiful.

Aleks head back to check on our new hotel room, after upping stakes and moving, it is hoped this will be better suited. Ha! Ha! Ha! What a shock, we have been placed on the 6 floor, no elevator, bloody hell its a long way with luggage in tow. This is a family room, bunk style, you have to laugh, its smaller. So complaint all round and the next day we have been given two rooms for the price of one on the second floor. Ahrrr this is much better.

Day 2 - Look out legs & feet, today promises to be a very long day of walking.

(a) Vietnam Women's Museum located in Ly Thuong Kiet street, when you enter the museum you see under the dome a golden statue entitled "Me Vietnam," Standing tall and fierce with a male child on her shoulder, Me Vietnam holds her right hand out to push away difficulties.

Five floors are dedicated to the traditions and cultural history of the Vietnamese women. Each floor focuses on one aspect of the Vietnamese women, eg includes material on Hanoi’s women street vendors, marriage and family life, as well as displays on the role of women in Vietnam’s wars against the French and the US backed South Vietnamese Government. Did you know 980,000 women were in the vietcong fighting movement during the war?

I was really impressed with this museum: it's well-laid out and bright, with quality exhibits, and the content is extensive and well presented. It took over ten years to collect the 3,000 items on display.

(b) One Pillar Pogoda, or Chua Mot Cot is a small pagoda that stands in a lotus dam just around the corner from the Ho Chi Migh mausoleum. It was build way back in 1049 and was standing on it´s one pillar until 1954 where the french blew it up in anger over being thrown out of Vietnam as colonial masters, now rebuild you can visit it again. it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom.

The godess inside the temple with the hundred arms is being visited by many young vietnamese couples who want to have children as it´s believed that she can help.

(c) Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum is the largest memorial in Vietnam and located at the Da Dinh Square. This is where President Ho declared independent for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on Sept 2, 1945. The body of Ho was cremated in this building.

You are allowed to visit only the outside of the building and this is at a distance, a white line clearly marked on the road indicates how close you can stand and the area is strictly enforced by staffs and guards.

(d) Round trip past the Military Museum, major foriegn consolates, past many smaller attractions then finally back to the Old Hanoi Street market. My goodness our legs are getting a workout today.

Packing our bags once again tonight, for we are heading to Halong Bay.

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