Hanoi

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18th July 2009

First up in Hanoi was a visit to the House of Literature, the oldest university in Vietnam. Before entering Alex, in his wisdom decided to barter for a bottle of water outside the grounds. Thinking he was in for a good deal, confusion over the many naughts on their currency meant that we nearly paid 500,000 dong (about 16 pounds) instead of 5000 dong. Lesson learnt, don't barter for water on the streets of Vietnam, its cheaper in the shops! The grounds were particularly beautiful, with a series of courtyards, that led to a temple. The university was set up by Confusicus and the temple was dedicated to him. Scholars that went through the university took several sets of exams, the final set were questions asked to the individuals by the king himself, we're glad university life has changed! Hot and sweaty, we walked to the lake in the centre of the Old Quarter for a drink.


19th July 2009

With our plans for the day disrupted by the fact that the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum was closed we had a wasted journey, but found a nice cafe for lunch. Undeterred, we headed to the Buddhist Temple on an island in the centre of the lake. Today was particularly hot and reaching the temple was a relief as there was shade to be found. The centrepiece of the site was an embalmed giant turtle. There was a pleasant myth behind why it was embalmed, involving a turtle of this species returning the kings sword to the bottom of the lake after a great victory. It is still said that turtles of this kind pop their heads above the murky waters of the lake.

20th July 2009

Taking our plans from yesterday, we returned to the mausoleum. There was very strict etiquette involved in seeing the embalmed Ho Chi Minh, which began with a hot wait in a queue outside, where you were not allowed to sit down. Once in, the relief of the air con hit us, but we were not allowed to enjoy it for too long as we were herded along like cattle. It was a little strange to see the body of a man who's wish was to be cremated lying in a glass case in front of us. Soon we back into the heat of the day, heading for Ho Chi Minh's House on Stilts. There was a perfectly good presidential palace just 100 or so metres away, however as we were told, "he was a simple man and wanted a simple life" and so resided here. The wooden house was in perfect condition and we were both convinced it was actually only built last year! Hot and bothered we spent the rest of the day hiding from the heat!

21st July 2009

The morning was spent looking into the best deals for our tour to Halong Bay for the next day. Having got what we believed to be the best deal (or so we thought) we had a spot of lunch. The afternoon was spent in Lenin Park, a good walk away from the centre, but a place you could get away from the heaving traffic, pollution and noise. Here we watch on as young and old (we're talking up to 70's) doing their afternoon exercise rituals. Particularly impressive was a bench pressing pensioner, we wish we had his strength even now! The evening meal was eaten at our favourite restaurant, Little Hanoi.

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