Vietnam - Hanoi

The latest adventure for the Caudle family was a trip to Vietnam.  We spent 7 nights total, the longest we've stayed anywhere.  Truthfully, I think it was too long.  We were really ready to come home by the end, but we did find our trip fascinating and enjoyable.  I'm going to break it into two blog posts.  This one is all about our visit to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi.  The next post will be about out trip to Ha Long Bay, where we stayed on a boat.  

Hanoi is the second largest city in Vietnam and the capital.  Hanoi was the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954 and then the capital of North Vietnam from 1954 to 1976.  I found the remains of French occupation to be particularly interesting in Hanoi.  It is the only place in South East Asia where you can buy proper French Baguettes.  Mostly the bread in SE Asia is soft.  A hard crust is incredibly difficult to find, however, they know how to do it right in Hanoi.  The coffee was exceptional.  Many of the buildings in Hanoi echoed the French style. 

We stayed in the Old Quarter.  The streets are narrow and there are many shops.  Mostly are very narrow where they meet the street, but they go back a long way.  This is due to the way the shops are taxed, it is only by the width of the street front property.  Our hotel (Hanoi Elegance Ruby) was on a tiny alley that was only open to motorbikes and pedestrians.  It was an interesting lane that changed dramatically between morning and afternoon.  There were a lot of meat and vegetable markets on the street.  When we walked down in the morning, it was very busy with people buying and selling the fresh food.  Fish were being gutted and filleted right on the street, whole chickens were freshly plucked and for sale.  There is no illusion as to where your food comes from!  By afternoon, most of the shops had sold their day's supply and closed up.

Another feature about the old quarter is that all of the craftsman shops are located here and they are grouped together.  It seems each product was designated a specific area of town to set up shop.  Near us, it was the musical instrument shops.  We thought they were great fun and decided to bring home a Gong.  Everybody needs a gong right?  I noticed an area for silk and for shoes and one for furniture upholstery.  Every shop had a bird cage hanging outside with a little bird in it.  I read that the birds were there for good luck (bad luck for the bird I think!).  The cages were ornate and beautiful.  I would have loved to bring one home (a cage, not a bird!), had it been practical.  

At about 6:30 am each morning, we could hear some sort of radio broadcast played in the alley over a loud speaker.  Of course, it was in Vietnamese, so I have no idea what it said.  It started with the same tune and maybe a greeting and then a message.  It lasted long enough for me to ponder what it was every day (10 minutes, maybe longer).  I think it was some sort of communist government morning broadcast to the people.  Interesting. 

St. Joseph Cathedral in the Old Quarter.  When we walked here, we were lucky to find a service in session.  Usually, the gates are closed and you can't get very close.  It's a Catholic church built by the French in 1886.

It was the rainy season when we visited.  According to the Internet weather advise for travel, it was the worst time to be in Vietnam.  We thought, well, a little rain is no biggie.  It rains in Singapore too.  We really lucked out with the weather, it was fine.  It did rain a little each day, but we bought these hats and they are really great for rain!  

We stopped at a little back packers cafe for afternoon tea and we met up with a young guy from Romania.  He is a magician and had just finished filming a magic show for a television program in Vietnam.  He had his bird with him that he uses in his routine and he let the kids hold it.  Madeline was especially enamored with the bird.  

A typical fruit stand in a corner shop.

One of the main attractions in Hanoi is the Old Quarter.  The thing to do, is to just wander around and get a feeling for it.  We spent a lot of time doing this.  We found our favorite restaurants and little shops.  It's a very busy place.  It's crowded and the traffic is nuts.  There are sidewalks, but they are used for parking of motorcycles and cars.  Mostly, we had to walk in the street.  There are very few crosswalks, so to cross the street, you just go.  Most of the time, Scott carried Madeline on his shoulders and I carried Wyatt on my back.  Lily stayed close to us and we were able to maneuver the streets.  I was very stressed at first, but by the end of the week, I found that I was pretty relaxed and comfortable with walking around.

We visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.  It is a memorial located in the spot where Ho Chi Minh read the declaration of independence on September 2, 1945.  Photography is not allowed up close or inside the Mausoleum.  We did go inside and see Ho Chi Minh's body preserved for viewing.  It was quite a thing to see.  The Mausoleum is styled after Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow.  Behind Ho Chi Minh is a large wall with two red flags made in the stone.  One has the star for the Vietnam flag and the other has the hammer and sickle on it.  For this American girl, it was quite a thing to see. 

Surrounding the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a beautiful garden and grounds.  Included are the presidential palace (pictured above).  It was built in 1906 to house the French Governor General of Indochina.  

The Carp Pond on the Palace grounds.

Ho Chi Minh's residence on the Palace grounds (he did not live in the Palace).

This is the One Pillar Pagoda.  The Pagoda was built in 1049 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong as a sign of gratitude for the birth of his son. 

This is the gate leading to the Temple of Literature.  It is a temple of Confucius.  It was the site of the Imperial Academy, the first national university of Vietnam.  King Ly Nhan Tong built the temple in 1070.  It is nearly 1000 years old!

On our first day in Hanoi, we tried to visit the Temple of Literature, but we found it to be intolerably crowded!  We later learned that students love to come to the temple for good luck before they take their exams.  The day we tried to visit was the Sunday afternoon before exam week at all of the universities in Hanoi.  The place was packed!

We returned later in the week with our guides from Hanoi Kids.  Hanoi Kids is awesome!  College students volunteer to take tourists around Hanoi and teach them about the city and its history.  We had two lovely guides, Ha and Cong that took us to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Temple of Literature.  They were great with the kids and very informative and interesting!

Inside the Temple of Literature is this statue of the crane and turtle.  It signifies a special relationship.  In times of flood, the turtle can offer the crane a safe spot to land to rest its wings.  In times of drought, the crane can pick up the turtle and help it to find water.

These pictures are of the large drum (above) and bell (below) that were used by the Imperial Academy to announce a beginning or end to study time. 

This bridge is in Hoan Kiem Lake (green lake) in the middle of Hanoi Old Quarter.  It leads from the edge of the lake to the Den Ngoc Son Temple.

Entrance to Den Ngoc Son Temple.

These bicycles with seats are very popular in Hanoi.  We hired two of them to carry us home one evening.  We were planning on walking, but I unfortunately, stepped in a pot hole and fell.  Wyatt was on my back and luckily he was unharmed.  I scraped up my leg and knees pretty good and had blood dripping.  This guy was nearby and offered us a ride home (for a price of course!).

A visit to Hanoi is not complete without a tour of what remains of Hanoi Hilton.  The French called it  Maison Centrale and the Vietnamese named it Hoa Lo Prison.  The architecture reminds me of a mid-evil prison you might find in Europe.  The French built it in 1886 to 1889 (some dispute on the actual date, but in the approximate time period).  It was built to hold political prisoners in French Indochina.

During the Vietnam War, the prison was used to hold US POWs.  They endured miserable conditions including poor food and unsanitary conditions.  US pilots report torture and interrogation as part of their treatment in this prison.  The purpose of which was to get the pilots to make false statements about the US to provide North Vietnam with propaganda to use to promote the North's image in the eyes of the world.  That image is still promoted today, in the display hall at Hao Lo Prison.

I tried to photograph the top of the wall surrounding the prison.  It is cemented with cut glass protruding and what looks like electrical wiring.  

The prison grounds as they were when the prion was in operation.  All that remains is a small portion where the majority of the buildings are.  

There were two rooms where items and photos of the US pilots were on display.  In all of the photos the US pilots could be seen playing basket ball, watching movies and playing chess.  The museum is very particular to point out how miserable the Vietnamese were treated here in the hands of the French and how well the US pilots were treated at the hands of the Vietnamese.  

...

We visited the Ethnology Museum.  I learned that Vietnam is made up of 54 ethnic groups.  This museum is dedicated to preserving the history of those ethnic groups.  On the grounds surrounding the museum house, there are several traditional homes constructed.  We all enjoyed climbing up into them!  The grounds were lovely and it gave the kids a large safe place where they could run and play.

We saw the water puppet show!  Water Puppets are a traditional art form in Vietnam.  It originated in the rice fields as entertainment.  I really enjoyed the music played with traditional instruments.

It's difficult to take good pictures in dark theaters.  These puppets were holding candles.  

At the end, the puppeteers came out holding this large dragon.  The lights came up a bit, so I was able to get a little better picture.

The rest are pictures that I took in the Old Quarter.  

These little blue stools were EVERYWHERE.  Mostly, the people here live above their shops, so the sidewalk outside their shop is their front porch.  This is where they eat their meals and visit with friends.

A narrow lane off of one of the bigger streets.  The narrow lanes did not allow cars to enter, only motorcycles.

A little temple off the street.  A bicycle carrying vegetables (more blue stools).

These ladies were everywhere!  They sold all kinds of things in their baskets.  This one is obviously selling fruit.  Often they had bananas or prawns.  Sometimes they were selling donuts or baguettes.  Sometimes beads, necklaces, bracelets.  We visited the Women's History museum.  In it, they talked about these ladies that are street vendors in Hanoi.  Often, then come from surrounding villages (or maybe a village further away).  They can rent a bed in a kind of dormitory and live in Hanoi to earn money.  Usually, they go home to visit their husband and kids every two weeks, hopefully earning at least $20 (US dollars) in that time.  The men stay home with the children and farm (either crops or animals, often pigs).

I'll post about Ha Long Bay soon...  This one took me a while to process what I wanted to write.  It was really an adventure for us to visit Vietnam.