Walking Around Hanoi

I arrived in Hanoi at 4 in the morning. My hotel had arranged for someone from a hotel here in Hanoi to be waiting. There was going to be one of those signs you see at airports with my name on it and someone from a hotel waiting to whisk me away to a lovely place in the city. Alas, I looked and looked around through the sea of taxi drivers and moto drivers and saw no sign. I hung around for as long as I could stand it, brushing off the drivers and their offers to take me some place nice. But eventually it got to be too much. Still seeing nobody after about 20 minutes, I just took myself off and started walking. It being so early in the morning, I didn't expect to have much luck for a while so I sat and had some noodles at a roadside eatery that happened to be open and then continued on. I wasn't even really sure which direction I was headed until the sun started to brighten the sky. Then I had an idea of the direction, but I still didn't really know where I was headed. I remembered a little from a map I had seen and I was hoping that I was headed in roughly the right direction. After a while I turned and headed another direction and ran into a lake. The lake was something I had seen on a map and so I knew I was making progress.

It was still very early, about 6, so I found a bench looking at the lake and the park and sat to read for a while. And watch the early morning aerobics class. And the people doing their morning laps. And the people doing some Tai Chi. And people just sitting by the water watching the sun rise. It was quite relaxing and if I were more of a morning person, I might try to get out and experience it again. Nah!!!!!

After a while I hauled myself and my bag up and started looking for a place to stay. On the other side of the lake I found a cheap hotel that was open and got myself a room. It had all been rather painless, except for the walking around kind of aimlessly, wondering if I was going in the right direction.

I took a little nap and then tried to get myself on a trip to Ha Long Bay, the main reason for my visit to Vietnam. It is a famous bay known for its stunning scenery. From what I knew, I had seen something like it in both China and in Thailand, but this was supposed to be quite amazing in its own right. So I came to see for myself. One of the people I had met in Ho Chi Minh City gave me the number of a friend in Hanoi who could help me get a trip booked. I figured that would be the best way, using a connection. I would be better assured of getting a good trip. I have heard there are widely variable qualities of Ha Long trips. Unfortunately, when I tried to give her a call, she was busy and couldn't help me. I was unwilling to wait until she was free, so I just talked to the guy at my hotel and set it up.

Then I had the rest of the day to amuse myself and see the sights. I got a map and set out. On the map various points of interest were highlighted and I chose the ones that I was interested in and started out on foot. First I wanted to see the Vietnam History Museum. I set off down the lake and was stopped by some students who were doing an assignment and wondered if I would mind helping them. Of course not. So I answered their questions and then moved on. And another student started walking with me and asking if she could talk to me for a few minutes. Sure. After the usual sorts of pleasantries (where I was from, how long I had been in Vietnam, what I had seen), she started telling me about what I should go and see in Hanoi. They turned out to be the same things I wanted to visit myself, so she was pleased. Satisfied with our chat, she bade me goodbye and headed off on her day. It was nice.

I got to the museum and moseyed through it. It was an interesting museum. It mainly showed artefacts from various archaeological sites in Vietnam and covered the history from 10 to 15 thousand years ago through to the start of the communist era in 1945. Unfortunately there was little in the way of expository information. There were descriptions of the items in the museum and, in a nice gesture, most of the descriptions were also in English. But beyond the descriptions of the items. But it was good for a wander through the museum anyway.

After the museum, I started back the way I had come. My next destination was the Temple of Literature. I wasn't sure exactly what that was, but the name sounded intriguing. As I was walking along the I saw a sign showing ice cream. It was a hot day so I stepped in and got a really tasty ice cream cone.

Then I headed on. I arrived at the Temple of Literature and found that it was an ancient university that was built on the principles of Confucius. It was a pretty place and had some informative plaques explaining each of the four or five areas of the compound. It was nice just to walk through and feel the serenity of the place.

Following the university, I headed to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. I don't know what it is about communist leaders. They seem to often get themselves set up after death in huge mausoleums in public squares for the people to come and worship them. It just doesn't seem in keeping with communist principles. On the other hand, these leaders seem also to cause a huge change in their countries and rally the population to a cause, so I guess it does make a certain kind of sense that they would be revered. In any case, Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum is a large and rather ugly concrete block with little decoration, lots of security, and an expectation of decorum.

 

Unfortunately, I was in the city at the wrong time. The mausoleum was closed to the public for yearly maintenance that was to take a full two months. What? What kind of yearly maintenance takes two months? People could still walk by outside though. I just wasn't able to go and see the wax-like preservation of the man who saved the country. (Oops! There I go with my sarcasm again.)

Then I walked up to the river. Or at least I made my best effort. In every other city where there is a major river, it is usually easy to get to the waterfront to see it. There are often little parks or recreation areas to enjoy the scenery. Not so the Red River in Hanoi. I don't know about other areas of the city, but in the central area of the city, there are tightly packed communities along the edge of the river and I couldn't figure out how to go and look. I tried to get on one of the bridges to get a higher view, but I couldn't figure out how to get on a bridge either. Eventually I crossed a very busy street and went wandering in a “real” Vietnamese neighbourhood. One of the neighbourhoods that isn't connected with visitors and tourists. One where people are just going about their daily lives. It was pretty cool actually.

And in the end I did get a glimpse of the river before heading back towards my hotel after a satisfying day.

Only my day wasn't over. I decided to sit by the lake and read for a while, as the day was so nice. While I was reading some students came to talk to me. They were part of an English club at their university and had some kind of assignment. They asked if they could do the assignment with me. We chatted for an hour or so, sitting by the edge of the lake. They were quite interesting and I enjoyed speaking with them. Afterwards it was getting dark, so I got some dinner and then retired for the evening.