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Published: November 26th 2011
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After two buses and a border crossing (amazing scenery on the first few hours from the border) Aoife and I arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. I've learned that it was the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam.
Our hotel, the Little Hanoi Hotel, was in a good location and they were extremely welcoming. They gave us coffee and fresh fruit on arrival. That evening we went to taste the local Vietnamese food. The restaurant only served one dish called Pho Bo, a beef noodle dish. When I say restaurant you are basically just sitting on small plastic chairs on the footpath. From the outside it did not look appealing but we ignored that and took our chances. The food was surprisingly tasty. The following day we had a pork dish in a different restaurant which was also good and a bit more filling. Their portion sizes are much smaller over here so you end up eating more often.
Hanoi is a hectic spot. Crossing the roads is an experience to say the least. There are motorbikes everywhere and there does not seem to be
any sort of sensible traffic light system. It is not unusual to see three people on one bike or to see some lad carrying a fridge or something else ridiculous that has no place on a bike.
We visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex, basically a shrine to the revered Ho Chi Minh. He was actually born Nguyen Sinh Cung. Ho Chi Min was one of his pseudo names which translates as “to bring enlightenment”. At one point in his life he worked in the Carlton Hotel in London and founded a workers party and he spoke out for Irish independence. Also supposedly at various times between 1913 and 1919 while living in West London he was a regular visitor to Chelsea F.C. which I think is cool if it's true.
The Vietnamese history is so interesting (similar to Irish history in many ways) and I'm doing my best to learn some of it. I’m reading a book called
"The Ten Thousand Day War Vietnam 1945-1975" based on the official papers and accounts from the senior individuals involved. It’s a brilliant book and well worth a read. I also read Ho Chi Min's famous Prison Diary. Ho
Chi Min was arrested by the Nationalist Chinese on August 24th and was detained till September 10th 1943 under the most inhumane conditions. During his time he wrote a diary, a book of poetry about his environment, how his resolve would not be broken, his beliefs and the value of liberty. The diary has been published in many languages and is a quick read. One of my favourite poems from it is entitled
"Listening to the sound of rice-pounding" "Under the pestle how terribly rice suffers!
But it comes out of the pounding as white as cotton.
The same thing to man in this world occurs:
Hard trials turn him into polished diamond."
When the Japanese 'occupation' ended in 1945 (they defeated the French colonists), Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh independence movement took over Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the declaration of independence, which was actually based on his recollections of the American Declaration of Independence. Ironically, the U.S. was the only country to have a major figure there at the ceremony (although they did not declare recognition of the country to
avoid insulting the French). In 1946 after the French would not give up their prized colony, the Viet Minh resistance began against the French till 1954 when the Viet Minh achieved their famous Dien Bien Puh victory to end the war. According to the Geneva agreements drawn up by the super powers the country was temporarily divided known as the 17
th parallel with elections on unification planned for 1956. Everyone including the French expected Ho Chi Min to lead a unified Vietnam but from 1954 the Americans influence increased in the South, fearful of a communist domino effect. And the rest is history!
I had a bit of a Walter Mitty moment in Hanoi. The night before our Halong Bay trip we went to a restaurant for some Western food that had the Arsenal v Norwich game on TV. I got too comfortable in there watching the Arsenal game and never copped it when we were leaving that I didn’t have my bag! That night I was packing my big rucksack because we were only bringing our small bags with us on the tour. Then I realised I didn't have my small bag. "Oh shit we have a
big problem" were the next words out of my mouth. My bag had our netbook, iPod, camera and passport! Aoife came out of the bathroom thinking we had more cockroaches (the night before there were a few big cockroaches in the bathroom). We took off running to the restaurant and we got there just as it was closing. The waitress had put it behind the counter for me thankfully and everything was still there. I gave her a few euros to say thanks which she was happy with.
Hanoi is hectic but an interesting place to visit. Although I was happy to be leaving Hanoi to go chill out in Halong Bay away from all the motorbikes!!
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Katie
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Ho Chi Minh
That Ho Chi Minh sounds like a pretty cool guy!