อี้จิง Tales from Thailand อี้จิง: Hanoi

Hanoi is a wonderful town! We had three full days to explore the sights, and as it turned out that was barely enough time! Luckily our second guest house in Hanoi was much nicer than the first (no poo smell covered with "FLOoW" deoderant), and located right in the Old Quarter. This was by far my favorite part of the city. The circuitous narrow streets seem to fold in on themselves, and the noisy chaos of motorbikes is somehow muted by beautiful ancient trees embracing overhead to create green tunnels. The shops are owned by families who have kept the same buisness -- often for many hundreds of years. These shops are long and narrow -- often only 2m wide, with the family owners living at the far back. This construction had lent these units the title "tube houses."

The activity within the shops in the Old Quarter spills out over the sidewalk, which apparently is not public property as it is in the U.S. Walking through the Old Quarter, a pedestrian is often faced with the choice of stepping into the street with it's dangerous wall of screaming motorbikes, or gingerly stepping over a family slurping noodles on tiny plastic stools. We saw a woman lifting up her infant daughter to pee on the sidewalk as we maneuvered our way around them. Unlike the tense, almost dangerous streets in Saigon however, I found that the old world charm of Hanoi overshadowed the negative effects of all the edgy street activity. Throughout our stay we explored the many cosmopolitan restaurants (including one where the waiter dropped a heavy fan on my head), shops, bakeries, and bars. We even found a bar with live jazz music and another quirky place amusingly called "Half Man Half Noodle." The latter had a ceramic dalmation outside along with a sign that read "Drink here or we shoot the puppy." Wierd.

We did manage to venture outside of the Old Quarter to explore other parts of the city. We of course had to pay a visit to "Uncle Ho" and the mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh's pickled body rests in a glass case for public viewing. I of course have no pictures to document this as all of our personal belongings were confiscated at the entrance. It took us forever just to get to the entrance because despite the fact that it perpetually loomed ahead, we always seemed to approach it from the wrong direction. Inevitably whistle-blowing, rifle-waving guards would yell at us. After nearly 20 minutes of this nonsense (with no signs to tell us where we were actually supposed to go) we decided that we aren't huge fans of communism.

When we finally got inside, a search of my bag revealed that I had neglected to remove the broken cell phone I had forgotten at the bottom. Two stern guards escorted me to an office with blinding phosphorescent lights and forced me to sign my name on a form admitting to having "broken the rule." It was kind of scary, but soon enough I was released to enter the mausoleum. Inside it was very dark, silent, and a little creepy. Eight guards stood around the preserved body of their deceased ruler, frozen like soldiers in a wax museum. We shuffled through, and toured the colonial grounds where Ho Chi Minh's house stands as a museum.

Matt trying to look tough in hisVietnamese battle helmet (nevermind that flower)

One pillar pagoda - on the grounds of the Ho Chi Minh Mausaleum

Later, we visited the Temple of Literature, an ancient school where scholars have learned Buddhist teachings for thousands of years. The grounds of the temple were beautifully landscaped, provding a welcome respite from the surrounding city.

The Temple of Literature

Ancient turtle tablets engraved with the names of past scholars

Traditional Vietnamese water puppets

Grounds of the Temple of Literature

We spent a lot of time exploring the city and connecting the sites according to my Rough Guide book. This is my favorite way to see a new city -- breaking up the sites with frequent stops to try local cuisine, drinks, or ice cream. Hanoi has a number of lakes, most having walkways and parks around them with places to stop off for a cappuccino or a drink. Many of these lakes have interesting islands with ancient temples. You can usually take a quaint pedestrian bridge over to explore.

Swan boats on one of Hanoi's many lakes

Hanoi's oldest temple

Look out for the androgenous moustached lady tiger!

Don't get in an accident with this bicycle! (Those are all glass vases!)

All in all, I really enjoyed Hanoi. I got a great knock off North Face backpack for $20, ate some delicious food, was chased by scary armed communist guards, and got a taste of the ancient Vietnamese culture.