Blogs from Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 4

We have an evening flight back to HCMC so can squeeze in a whistlestop tour of Hanoi. We take a taxi to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. The driver takes a circuitous route; a large loop round the city followed by a full circuit of the mausoleum. Even with this detour, the fare comes to less than £2. The mausoleum is closed on Fridays, but you can still visit the complex. I hoped this would make it less crowded but it’s heaving, particularly with school groups, who all smile and wave as they pass. The complex includes the presidential palace, the house on stilts, where Ho Chi Minh preferred to live, his collection of official vehicles, a museum and One Pillar Pagoda (a pagoda built on a single pillar on a lake). The gardens where Ho Chi ... read more

We have booked an overnight Halong Bay trip, so it’s another early start, beginning with an excellent buffet breakfast. I eat until I can no longer move – it’s a good job I’m going to be sitting down all morning! Next the drive to the harbour. I thought this would be a chance to get a glimpse of rural Vietnam after 4 days in the bustling, polluted cities. In fact we see very little countryside. Just more towns and sprawling industrial areas where huge Chinese, Korean and Japanese factories add to the pollution. After 2 hours, we are deposited in an enormous warehouse full of goods, all allegedly made by Agent Orange victims, and encouraged to donate to disabled people. I’m not convinced – I have in mind the picture in Hoa Lo Prison where John ... read more

Woolly says – The usual clouds were loitering in the sky but with a packed schedule I thrust my raincoat into Jo’s bag, (it’s good to be prepared here), and led the way into the busy streets. Heading in the opposite direction to the lake we found that having walked for a good ten minutes that the crowds had lessened and that the pavements were useable, we were headed across the city towards one of its most important monuments. Ho Chí Minh (also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Ái Quốc), was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was Chairman and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam, Prime Minister (1945–55) and President (1945–69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). Little is known of his early life although it is believed he ... read more

Woolly says – I’d been up for hours with my trunk pressed against the window praying for the rain to stop, as each droplet fell I sighed, this wasn’t the weather we wanted for the day, I sighed again. I felt like joining in with the sighing but as the weather wasn’t going to change there was no point in letting it dampen our spirits, having handed my small friend a snack we climbed onto our mini bus and set off. Woolly says – The days adventures included a guided tour, not our usual thing but having tried to work out the details of the trip on our own it had been cheaper to book with a company. I sat watching the traffic stream past and counting the raindrops on the vans window, there ... read more

Hanoi comes alive at night. They know how to put on a show for young tourists. There are a couple of streets heaving with lit up clubs blasting out Asian house. We didn’t get home until 2am and subsequently slept through the morning. We spent the afternoon aimlessly wondering the streets of Hanoi with it being a cooler 19 degrees. There was a crowd of people outside a building carrying stretchers and extinguishers, but laughing like they’re having a hilarious time. Turns out it was just a fire drill... I wish ours were as fun as that. We then saw a few police vans and 20+ officers literally taking civilians’ bikes off the street. Next thing we know, bikes are quickly being driven off and hidden behind shutters left right and centre, the Vietnamese were in ... read more