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April 17, 2005
Vietnam | Hanoi Part 1 | 7-8 March | Hanoi Part 2 | 12 March
Hanoi is a really beautiful, eclectic, relaxed city (especially compared with the hustle and bustle of Saigon!). The ‘old quarter’, which is the central area for tourists and backpackers surrounds Hoan Kiem Lake, which has plentiful walking (and Tai Chi’ing) footpaths around it, along with broadly scattered trees and modern art sculptures. In the middle of the lake, on the northern end is the Ngoc Son Temple, on a small island, accessible by a small bridge. The temple is dedicated to the Tortoises in the lake, which are mostly fiction, although there are apparently sightings and photos around the place.
Legend goes that in the 15th century, the Emperor had a magical sword (to drive away those pesky Chinese). After the war, The Emperor was cruising the lake and came upon a giant golden tortoise, which snatched the sword from his grasp and took it to the bottom of the lake (presumably to eat it, don’t all golden Tortoises eat magical swords? – Editors Note). Thus the lake became Ho Hoan Kiem – the Lake of the Restored Sword – as it had been returned to its ‘divine owners.’
Ngoc Son temple, in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake | Cool Pathway around Ngoc Son Temple | The old East Gate
The lake makes a nice, albeit not ‘very’ lengthy walk, which is nice at 6am when you arrive back from a 3-day trek and the travel agent with your bags isn’t open, nor your destined hotel – more on that later :)
Hanoi, the current Capital (Emperor Ly Thai To had a dream, and proclaimed it to be lucky, so moved the capital there) has plenty to see and do. You can do a walking tour of the old quarter (as in the Lonely Planet - mostly covering all the different types of traditional shop and shop-areas), peruse plenty of museums and galleries as well as Pagodas and Temples, and last but by NO means least – Go visit Uncle Ho himself!! Yes, you can, if you get there early enough, get a glimpse of the Frozen Body of Ho Chi Minh in his Mausoleum. It was kinda weird but kinda cool at the same time. Its very formal, pushed through (you cant stop walking), guards everywhere, no talking, no bags, definitely no phones, nothing but respectable attire, etc. I thought it was cool, seeing as he’s almost considered a God to most Vietnamese, so I definitely recommend it.
The markets around Hanoi, similar to the rest of Vietnam are vibrant, colourful, surprisingly clean and presents an amazing feast for the nose and eyes. The amount of tofu there is incredible – the fried stuff VERY tasty :). Speaking of food, the north does have a certain difference in flavour… My major comparison is the pho, being my daily sustenance. In the north, I found the phos to be darker, heavier and little or no bean sprouts and greens to accompany them. Still clearly very tasty, but I’d have to favour the Saigon phos if you asked. There’s an area on the edge of town, which I didn’t have the time/opportunity to visit which is known for the dog meat they sell – its apparently good luck to eat it during the first half of the lunar month. I did see, in Sapa, dog meat for sale in the market, and that was more than enough for me. In each of the smaller towns, there’s usually at least one ore more specialties - the north, eg. Hue containing hundreds due to the Nguyen Emperor’s demands for variety.
Hanoi isn’t the cheapest place to stay in Vietnam – you end up really pressed to find single fan rooms for less than US$7, that being said, Saigon is only a dollar or two cheaper. Most of the smaller towns are better value, mostly because they are less frequently visited en-mass.
There is a definite difference between the people and culture of the north compared to the south. The southerners ARE more open and welcoming of different cultures, and often willing to exploit it for capitalistic gain. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, as it gives relatively open reign to us westerners to do what we want to do – and it doesn’t seem to have ‘overtaken’ the local culture either which is good. In the north, however, things are a little more conservative, and restricted. For whatever reason, the nightlife in Hanoi sucked, even though I’m sure there were plenty of like-minded tourists and backpackers there. I went out on a Saturday night (9-10pm, and most places still close at midnight), and out of the nightclubs/bars/cafes I went past, one was filled with guys (and I found out later that its ‘that’ kind of bar), another filled with no-one, and the final one with just a few guys (and its NOT that kind of bar). Compare this to Saigon, and there’s simply no comparison. You can party hard and as long as you want in Saigon, albeit you may have to go to certain bars after 1-2am. Even in some of the smaller towns like Hoi An there was a definite party-zone, as well as an after-midnight venue.
In a similar vein to ‘nightlife’, I found that Hanoi wasn’t a very accommodating place for a single guy with no friends in town. The backpacker ‘area’ is pretty well spread out, more hotels than guesthouses, thus not that many communal areas or meeting places, etc. Then again, this was just my limited 3-day experience, but it was enough to make the decision to base myself in Saigon (plus I already had friends there).
All in all, a beautiful, rich, historical Capital with plenty to see, do and relax to – just don’t expect it to be a party town :)
Posted by Dan at April 17, 2005 08:13 AM