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Our first morning in Hanoi we were woken by the cities loud speaker system blaring out something incomprehensible to us, never mind we wanted an early start anyway!! So off to breakfast followed by the Lonely Planets walking tour of the old quarter. It was quite an interesting tour and took in parts of the city that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise, i.e. headstone makers street, tin box street, silk street, I think you get the picture. We saw loads of interesting stuff and to be honest didn't get half as much hassle as anticipated, it was also our induction into crossing roads Vietnamese style.......not easy at first but we soon got the hang of it. Basically you step off the pavement and head for a spot on the opposite side of the road, keep to the same pace and don't make any sudden movements, this way the traffic can pass you swiftly and easily without knocking you for six.....easy peasy, if only Baga Road were the same!!
Day two in Hanoi we had a good old long lie in, managed to ignore the loud speakers somehow and awoke refreshed and ready for our visit to Uncle Ho,
or to be more formal Ho Chi Minh who is preserved for all to see in a whopping Mausoleum - actually the Mausoleum complex is a bit like a theme park. Lots of Q'ing involved, a shame really because Uncle Ho's wish was that there wasn't to be any grand ceremonies after his death, just a simple cremation. The body is encased in a glass casket and surrounded by six security guards who make sure that you walk at an even pace (a bit like crossing the road), no camera's are allowed inside. The body is taken to Russia for a bit of an MOT for three months of the year. Let me just say at this point that he looks very good for his age but some sceptics (according to The Lonely Planet) reckon Madame Tussaud's have the contract!!
Besides Uncle Ho you also get to see the Presidential Palace, the old stilt house where Uncle Ho lived and the one pillar pagoda.....like I said it's a bit of a theme park.
From The Mausoleum we took our first cyclo ride to the Temple of Literature which was founded in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Thong and is
Crossing a Hanoi street
Easier after a few Bia Hoi's ... we tested that theory !!! dedicated to Confucius, Vietnams first University was established at the Temple. We Paid the entrance fee and were short changed - caught the woman out big time!!! She offered to re-count the money for us and I actually watched her snatch up the extra notes from her till and stuff them into our pile of change......Naughty!!! Confucius say "No rob foreigner when she have tourettes or she tell you take long hike off short pier - ahso"
After a day of enlightenment and culture we decided it could only go down hill from here and we jumped at the chance to take time to participate in the national passtime of BIA HOI. The cheapest draught beer in the world at only 10p per pint it's a bit of a bargain and very moorish. The bar was located down a long narrow alleyway, in fact the alleyway was the bar complete with plastic chairs designed for five year olds and enough beer to rid you of your 90p before you fell over a strategically parked scooter!!! We ate at the bar too - as recommended by some Ozzy guy and his wife who said the ribs were to die for
Presiedential Palace
They even put out the red carpet for us!! and at a cheap 1 quid per portion we decided to push the boat out - nice boat it was too, the ribs went down nearly as well as the Bia!!!
Breakfast around Hoan Kiem Lake with a Croissant and coffee was a nice way to start our final day in Hanoi - Croissants and Baguettes are just a few of the things left over from the French Rule. The Hanoi Hilton was on the itinerary for today, better known as Hoa Lo Prison. Once used to detain US POW's the prison was built by the French in 1896 to incarcerate Vietnamese Revolutionaries - the tour is quite interesting and we spent a good couple of hours there, it's just a pity that most of the display info is in Vietnamese!!
On the way back to the Hotel we bought some baguettes from a street vendor for the train journey to our next destination Sapa. The lady tried to charge us 10,000 dong but being clever we'd stood back and watched the locals buying from her and paying just 1,000 dong....she wasn't happy but when I gave her the bread back she soon changed her thieving little mind
Uncle Ho's final resting place
Not that he'd approve of all the pomp and ceremony. and promptly rammed them back at me with a smile as big as a croissant!!! Confucius say "you never make much dough if you ripping off on dough - ahso"
Our next adventure starts here, we are booked onto the overnight sleeper train to Lao Cai - border town with China and gateway to Sapa the mountain town in the north West of Vietnam. 400KM, 10 hrs, 11 quid BARGAIN!!!
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jeanniewigs
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uncle ho
what a fabulous place. pity it's a bit like rip off britain in some places. i would definately like to visit some day, looks like a fascinating country.