After Halong Bay we had a few days in Hanoi before the New Years celebrations began in full. Everything was either busy and bustling, or already closed until after the Tet Holiday.
We spent most of our time in the Old Quarter, just North of Hoan Kiem Lake. Most of the main sights are walkable and there are tonnes of bars & restaurants lining the narrow streets. Our first night there happened to be a Sunday, which was great because each week they dam the streets from the incessant flow of motorbikes and have loads of live music. We ate dinner to the sounds of these guys playing mariachi-style Rhianna covers…
Over the next couple of days we walked to see some of the famous sights. The lake itself is nice to walk around, especially with all the Tet flower displays in place.
The Turtle Tower sits on a small island in the middle of the lake. I took this shot so I could give a dead arty description like… “I feel this photo represents the alignment of the old and new Vietnam. The culture is invariably dominated by money and commerce, though the Vietnamese still find time to keep the old traditions at the forefront of their daily lives.”
The Catherdral was quite impressive, but closed to visitors when we arrived.
We did some souvenir shopping at Dong Xuan Market. As we’re travelling on hand luggage only we bought some gifts and posted them home, rather than carrying them around. For anyone interested in posting a package from Vietnam to the UK, a 3kg package cost us £27 by surface mail, which is so slow we might get home before the box! The international post office is just by the Hoan Kiem lake and the staff there were very helpful in finding us a box and ensuring everything was packed safely enough.
After seeing the lake & cathedral, we started the next day with a walk to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It’s quite an imposing structure but we didn’t bother going in to see the body. We had to squeeze in a visit to the Museum of Ethnology, which is well worth more of your time (and will be covered in a separate post as I took way too many pictures there).
One of the best bits about Hanoi (and Vietnam in general) are the Bia Hoi ‘bars’. Each night tiny shop fronts and pavements become a sea of tiny plastic chairs and tables. Take a seat at one and you can enjoy a cold glass of draught beer from $0.15 – $1 (£0.10-£0.65).
Needless to say this is a popular way to pass an evening. The streets become a lively hive of activity and passing street vendors will ensure you don’t go hungry either.
When Tet came, many of the local attractions were closed but we still managed to find things to see & do, such as the world’s longest mosaic wall, and swan pedal boats on the West Lake (more on all that later).
