My friend Andrew stopped by Vietnam for a week to conclude his five-week vacation across Southeast Asia. He stayed with us in Ho Chi Minh City, but we carved out time during his visit to head north to Ha Noi and Ha Long Bay.
We returned from Ha Long Bay late Tuesday evening and would spend the following two days paling around Ha Noi on foot.
Wednesday we walked to some of the more common tourist spots in Ha Noi. This included the Norther Gate, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum, and the Lake of the Returned Sword.
Thursday we walked to a few popular-but-less-touristy spots around the city. This included the Temple of Literature, the Ha Noi Train Station, Thien Quang Lake and Bay Mau Lake, the history museum that doubled as my Vietnamese language school a decade ago, and one more walk around the Lake of the Returned Sword.
We ran into all sorts of fun and unique things during our walks around the Hoan Kiem District.
We ran into all sorts of fun and unique things during our walks around the Hoan Kiem District.
If you want the CliffNotes, here's a quick one-minute video of our trip.
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Day 01: Wednesday
During our walk towards the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, we came across a small park with this statue. The script at the top roughly translates to "self sacrifice for the survival of your country."
We then stopped by the the Northern Gate of the Ha Noi Citadel.
This is what the Northern Gate looks like from behind the big doors.
The following was inscribed in French along a small part of the wall. This doesn't look like your run of the mill graffiti, so we assume that there is some cultural or historical significance to this message.
We finally make it to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. This is what Andrew looks like after seeing a dead body. Not too different from his usual look.
We then stopped by the Ho Chi Minh outdoor museum. The first thing we checked out were his collection of (three) cars.
This is where Ho Chi Minh used to live. It's called "the house on stilts."
The guards wouldn't let Andrew take a picture with them. Guards, you're getting a picture with this man whether you like it or not.
This guard's job was to feed the gold carp in the large pond outside Ho Chi Minh's stilt house.
We then toured the actual official indoor Ho Chi Minh Museum. We would spend about two hours here learning about his rise to power.
Andrew saw this and had a hankering for fried chicken. He couldn't put a finger on exactly why that was.
Message and content aside, it was interesting to see how critical and serious Ho Chi Minh was at drafting his own speeches.
Yes, I recognize that any discussion is taboo and controversial among Vietnamese abroad. I approached this visit as a completely neutral outsider curious in learning about one man who changed the trajectory of a country's development for generations after him.
We made our way towards Ho Hoan Kiem, or "The Lake of the Returned Sword." Also known as "Turtle Lake." There was a small part along the trail that borders the lake where people were working on their fitness.
It's starting to get dark in Ha Noi, which means the lights go on at the temple in the middle of the lake.
We continued our way around the lake. We stopped by the Ly Thai To park and statue along the way. Ly Thai To founded the Lý Dynasty, reigned from 1009 to 1028 AD, and moved the capital to Hanoi in 1010. This park comes alive at night. We came across a number of skateboarders doing their thing across the smooth concrete.
Day 02: Thursday
Over breakfast, the cook for the hotel we were staying at started up a conversation with us. It turns out that she has a daughter who also lives in Seattle! She asked us if Andrew could take home a Christmas gift to deliver to her daughter. Andrew was happy to oblige. She gave us both scarves to give to our own moms as a token of gratitude.
A stop at Trung Nguyen Coffee is required for everyone who visits Vietnam.
We take a short photo break at St. Joseph's Cathedral.
Along the way to Van Mieu, we catch a couple of guys playing Chinese Chess.
"Your move, bro."
We make it to Van Mieu, the Temple of Literature.
This is the garden that leads to the temple itself.
As luck would have it, we stumble upon a group of high school (maybe college?) graduates celebrating their graduation at Van Mieu!
Cheers guys!
Now, I know what you're thinking. I did not, however, ask to take this photo. This newly graduated young woman's friend asked us if they could borrow our camera to take photos because theirs ran out of battery.
Of course we said yes! On the premise that we could all take a photo together.
Damn straight I'm taking a photo with the graduates :) We stayed around a bit to bask in their jubilation. It wasn't too long ago that Andrew and I were celebrating our own graduation from the UW Foster MBA program.
After Van Mieu, we decided to take a sharp right turn and lose ourselves in a random residential neighborhood. Granted we had maps, we enjoyed deciding what direction to take at every new turn. I had the Legend of Zelda theme song playing in my head the entire time.
We finally make it out of the maze that is a regular residential neighborhood and walk past the Ha Noi Train Station. On my last trip to Vietnam back in 2002, our group took a train from this station to central Vietnam.
It was around 1:00 PM and we were getting hungry from all the walking. Naturally I gravitated towards bun cha, a popular dish from Ha Noi. We just so happened upon the second oldest bun cha restaurant in Ha Noi, established just a short 5-minute walk down from the train station.
It was as delicious as this photo indicates.
After we finished our meal, I looked at Andrew and told him "the group of Vietnamese sitting next to us loses their shit in 3, 2, 1..." and then I asked for the bill in Vietnamese. The group takes notice.
One minute later, we're asked to join them for lunchtime vodka shots and another round of bun cha!
In our (rather, 'my') slightly drunken stupor we walk over to Bay Mau lake. Andrew was worried that I was going to stumble into traffic and get hit. I survived. Once we entered the park next to the lake, we came across a group of soldiers who were learning how to carry each other.
We turn to our left, and there we find a bunch of guys getting their street workout on at the park gym.
At the lake itself we find a solitary man fishing.
As we started to make our way out of the park, we came across a group of high school students learning how to play badminton. I ask if I could volley with them, and one is happy to hand me her racket. They asked if they could take a picture with us before we left.
This would be the second of two cockfights we could come across during our walk around Ha Noi. This was right out in the open for everyone to see.
"We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die." - Bane (2012)
Breast cancer awareness has a presence in Ha Noi. Yes, those are breasts.
This is the hotel where my VASI classmates and I were placed during our time in the VASI language program. This is where I would meet fellow classmate and my long-time friend, Julie Pham.
We finally make it back to Ho Hoan Kiem for one last walk around the lake. We take a quick break on a bench next to the river. A short moment after we sit down, a young man approaches and introduces himself to us. He states that his intent is to practice English with us. We invite him to take a seat and join us.
Pretty soon, more Vietnamese students start to join in the conversation.
After 10 minutes, so many students came that I had to take a few aside and form my own conversation roundtable. I took my group to a nearby cafe for coffee and English practice.
Nearly two hours pass since the first young man came to ask us to practice English. We exchange contact information and make our way back to the hotel to collect our things and catch our taxi to the airport.
We had a wonderful time in Ha Noi. It was fun to be Andrew's interpreter; I got plenty of opportunity to practice and improve my own Vietnamese language skill. Andrew experienced much of what Ha Noi had to offer for all of the senses. I also got to relive a few personal stories and experiences that I collected from my first visit 11 years go.
I'll be back to Ha Noi a few more times before we leave Vietnam and head home to the States.
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