A day in Hanoi

Wednesday 7th March

We started today with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Museum and then went to view the old man himself in his mausoleum.  This involved a fair bit of security, checking in our bags and cameras before entering, and being carefully watched by uniformed guards every step of the way.  Uncle Ho is looking remarkably well for his age.  The viewing involves entering through one door, doing a circuit and leaving by the opposite door.  It wasn’t really the most inspiring thing we’ve ever done, but we couldn’t let the opportunity go by.

John and Ho Chi Minh

Our next stop was the Hanoi Tower shopping centre, where we had been told we could buy cheap leather motorcycle jackets.  We went there by taxi and got ripped off by the driver, but when we realised that the extra 20,000 dong that we paid is only 89 cents, we weren’t too worried.  Unfortunately, the shop in question no longer has any leather jackets so we left empty handed.

Mum's taxi

The mini-skirted side-saddle technique

The mini-skirted-side-saddle-high-heeled-text-as-you-go technique

We took a taxi to Kangaroo Café, this time checking the meter and settling up before getting out.  We took out 10,000,000 dong from the ATM and went to the Kangaroo Café to pay the remainder of our tour costs.  It was nice being a 10 millionaire for a few minutes!

We then headed off to the Old Quarter to roam through the streets of vendors selling all manner of goods including clothing and fabrics, metal cookware, fresh and dried food, souvenirs, wooden items, kitchen gadgets, pots and pans and everything else that anyone might need.  After visiting the Old City Gate, we came across the Dong Xuan Market and spent some time wandering around numerous stalls.  John just had to buy himself an army green hat with a red star on it ($1.23).  He won’t be wearing it Vietnam, but we made sure to get a photo of it.  In readiness for our trip to Sa Pa on Saturday, we bought a couple of windproof jackets.  The weather forecast for Hanoi is quite cold so we’re expecting the weather to be REALLY cold in the mountains.

Vendor going through the Old City Gate



Fruit and vegetable sellers

A feast for the eyes!

Feeling pretty hot and grotty, we made our way back to the hotel for a rest and shower before heading out to a restaurant called Highway 4 for a really nice dinner and then to the Water Puppet Theatre.

The Water Puppets planting rice

The water puppets were terrific!  The show was quite spectacular and was accompanied by musicians and singers performing traditional music.  We thought that our $4.45 each was very well spent and would recommend a visit to this show to anyone spending time in Hanoi.  The puppets are an old art form which was originally performed in rice paddies and has now been adapted for the theatre.

We made our way back to the hotel and got our packs ready for our next adventure - the trip to Ha Long Bay tomorrow.