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Published: July 17th 2011
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Hanoi is one of Asia's most dynamic cities. It's a great walking city. In fact, the guidebook recommends doing just that ... my default mode in a new city is to quickly get my bearings and then get lost for a while before finding myself back to my hotel.
I did that 3 times in one day in Hanoi ... Yes, getting lost on purpose is not easy. I tend to keep oriented and know rough North and South directions automatically. But, since many streets in Hanoi end up getting away from a grid, it's easier to get lost than in other more grid structured cities.
Got here on the night bus from Dong Ha, following the DMZ tour. The bus was not fast, I assume by design. That way you got a lot of sleep, and the sleeping buses are just great. Except for one thing ... the sleeping beds are the length of a standard Vietnamese ... so my legs stick out off the end by about 50 cm or so ... or I have to bend my legs.
Got a hotel in the old quarter, had a quick breakfast and shower and then set out
walking and trying to get lost. Visited the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", so named by the US pilots who ended up there, usually after having a SAM break up their aircraft.
The prison had displays of what the French used it for ... including another guillotine, just like in Saigon. Pictures and mockups of death row prisoners executed for being nationalistic. There were also pictures of American prisoners getting parcels from home, playing billiards and chess and holding Christmas parties. The prisoners in the photos looked a bit gaunt, but then it was wartime, and food wasn't that available.
From there, I walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum ... but, turns out, you can only visit from 07:00-11:00 and since I stopped for breakfast and a shower and the Hanoi Hilton ... I was now 11:30.
Oh ... there's a real Hilton in Hanoi now ... a tad bit ironic eh. But, there's also all the brand name decadence such as Gucci, etc. But, people are genuinely friendly and not into consumerism ... at least by their outward appearance. Some people do drive fancy cars and have fancy clothes, and this decadence seems out of place but
in a way, it also blends into the rest of the city.
Hanoi is so spread out that it can have some decadence spread out among the great architecture and ambiance.
With all this walking, though I've been eating copiously, I've lost between 5 and 10 cm around my waist/hips. And I didn't bring a belt to hold up my travel pants. I'm travelling light remember. So, I need to eat more. Talking of eating, I'm sticking to mainly street food. It's good and tasty and very cheap ... on average I'm paying between $1 and $2 for a full plate and soup on the side. These are roughly the prices I remember paying throughout Asia over 20 years ago! So, in dollar terms there hasn't been much inflation ... but in local currency that comes out to between 20,000 and 40,000 Dong. Yup, $1 = 20,000 Dong. So, you only need $50 to be a millionaire here.
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