28/3/2009
We signed up for a full day Hanoi tour with Vietnam Open tour earlier through Internet and it cost us USD 22 per person for the tour.
We had our 1st breakfast in Hanoi and there’re still time before our tour agent pick us up for the day tour. We decided to have a morning walk around the hotel. Amazingly, there're business women everywhere carry 2 baskets with a long pole on their shoulder and set their stall anywhere on the street, most of them are selling food, fresh vegetables, even flowers…
Fresh flower from the market, cost 20,000 Dong only
Kitchen we spoted during our morning walk.... though it looks unhygenic, but non of us got a bad stomach
At 8am, we walk back and wait for our tour guide at the hotel. Our tour guide was late for about ½ hour and we are so scared we got conned, there are so many negative feedback I read online about scams practice by tour agencies using the name of the famous open tour or Sinh café but they do not exist at all. Panic…. I later try to asked help from the Hotel’s receptionist, Zung to give a call to them and confirm our tour.
Our tour guide, San show up at last and pick us for the tour. This is a group tour where the agent will accumulate tourist from various hotel and make it a group. In our tour, there are 4 of us, a Sarawakian, 2 Mongolians, 2 couples form Singapore and also 3 ladies from Indonesia….
Our First destination of the day is Temple of literature. Its call Van Mieu in Vietnamese and its dedicated to Confucius and the first Vietnamese University was established here. The total area of the Temple of Literature has reach to approx. 5400m² build tranquilly in the center of Hanoi.
The entrance to the Temple of literature
And soon passing this gate, you will walk through a courtyard with lakes and pavilion providing space for study and leisure for the students during the old times at both side of the courtyard. Wake pass the ponds and garden will lead to the stelae pavilion. 82 stelaes with carved scholar name carry on the back of the stone tortoises are stored here.
Me posing in front of one of the Pavillion
This is so chinese cultural inspired
Mummy posing by the lake at the courtyard
Rows of stelaes
Stelae on the back of tortoise
Names carved are in chinese wording....
Continue inside will lead to the Bai Duong (House of Ceremony). There are seminars going on by the time we visit. We walk pass that and stop at the temple at the end of the courtyard. In this temple, the ground floor was use to worship Confucius and the upper level are statue of 3 Kings. The building and fitting here are very much alike the ancient Chinese back in Ching dynasty or earlier which you seen from the HK Drama.
Bai Duong
Beautiful Bonsai at the courtyard
Mini water puppets for sale
Some cultural performance on going in Bai Duong... Vietnamese women really have very squeeky voice when singing
They worship one of the minister who emphasize very much on education, he's once a lecturer in the university
Chicken served in praying position offering to Confucius
A crane standing on the back of tortoise symbolize the stability of power..
The model sample of the Temple of Literature and Quoc Tu Giam
Box used for nomination for the scholar
A bell at the courtyard
Drum used in ancient time court
I really like this random pic
Old trees are everywhere in Hanoi..
The morning breeze has pass and the heat started to strike when we leave temple of literature. Our tour van drove to the main gate and pick us for the next destination, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is located at Ba Dinh Square, where the independence of Vietnam is declared in 1945. The Mausoleum is the final resting place of Father of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh which his body is embalmed and store in a glass casket.There are unending stream of visitors to pay visit and respect to Ho Chi Minh despite the strict rules of dressing and camera or recording devices, cap, bags will be required to be deposited at entrance. The queue to enter the mausoleum is so long and we have to queue under the hot sun and sweat like a pig!!!! During the queue, we have a chance to view a group seems like retired army march and offer President Ho flowers and fruits. It seems like all army and police are station here… There are so many of them in different uniforms, green, khakis, blue and white…
We can only collect back our camera when we finished viewing the remaining body of President Ho. And photo is only allowed outside the Mausoleum. The slogan meaning President Ho Chi Minh lives forever in our heart. The mausoleum is close on Monday and Friday.
The slogan for Ho Chi Minh in Vietnamese
Me at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
The crowd queue up to visit Mausoleum
Next to the Mausoleum is Ho Chi Minh’s presidential palace. Visitor will see the presidential palace, fish pond, pergola, orchard, cars, the house of 1954 and especially the historic house-on-stilt of Ho Chi Minh which symbolizes his living way of simplicity, modesty, gentleness and dedication for the nation and the people.
The presidential palace
The house of 1954
Strict looking police in white uniform guarding the pergola
Ho Chi Minh House on stilt
Within a walking distance, is the one Pillar Pagoda. It was build by King Ly Thai Tong. According to the story, King Ly Thai Tong was childless and dreamt that Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) handed him a baby while seated on a lotus flower. The Emperor was later granted a son and constructs the One Pillar Pagoda in gratitude for this. Many locals believes to pray here for the wish of granted a son or daughter… I did pray for my little Venice, but she should arrive few years later… hahahaha
One Pillar Pagoda
One Pillar Pagoda is one of the famous tourist spot in Hanoi thus many locals taking this opportunity to sell souvenirs here. We got a few pieces of fridge magnet here. Without even need to bargain, the price is cheaper than souvenir shops in Old quarter… what a ripped off!!!!!
The tour package did not include any mineral water for us, we are so thirsty and out of no choice, we have to pay expensive rate for water or we’ll be dehydrated to death.
We are all sweat heavily due to the hot weather and yet have to stuff ourselves in the tour van with very weak aircon… Luckily the next destination, Ethnology Museum is not that far.
Entrance to the Ethnology Museum
Once we got into the main building of Ethnology Museum… Whoa!!!! Savior!!! Got cold aircon here!!!
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is a valuable center for the exhibition and the preservation of cultural heritages of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. It is also a center for ethnographic research employing many experts on the different ethnic groups. People come to the Museum just not to visit or entertain, but also to learn about these ethnic groups, their cultural diversity and the uniqueness of each group and region, as well as traditional values throughout the Vietnamese country.
The artifacts displayed in the museum are reflecting tangible and intangible cultural heritages of the communities, reflecting lives and creative activities of the people.
We are called Ma Lai Xia in Vietnamese
Vietnamese are so well known to carry loads on a bicycle
The iconic conical hat of Vietnam
Among the 54 ethnics, the most common ones are Muong, Nung, Yao, Lolo, Cham, Giarai and The Hmong. The Hmong is the mostly seen by international tourist when they visit to Sapa. The Hmong inhabit the highest reaches of the mountain of northern Vietnam. Hmong are expertise in producing hemp clothing and using indigo dyes and batik.
Most of the local minority tribes are practicing a very poverty lifestyle. Living on the mountains and their main source of income are from planting and harvesting paddy. Look at their sample house, the only thing they have in their house is a kitchen with stove using charcoal and maybe a knitting machine. No luxury electrical appliances that we are all took granted for. It makes me feel how lucky we are living the lifestyle now…
We were then explained by our tour guide a very cruel tribal ceremony. It was recorded in video and its call the buffalo killing ceremony. As explained, the buffalo are serving to worship to god for the harvesting. But they were killed in the most cruel and inhuman manner. It will be stab to death by the villager during the ceremony… poor buffalo….
We were all very hungry by the time we finish visited the indoor museum, and there’s still the outdoor exhibition for us to visit. Many local loves to take their wedding photo’s here… we at least saw 2 during our visits on that day.
The outdoor exhibitions are mainly sample houses of the tribe.
The outdoor exihibition
This spectacular communal house of the Bahnar symbolizes skills and strength of the villagers, especially the power of man. The stair heading up the house is some step craved on a wooden pole…. I’m scared of height of course, but out of curiosity, I climbed up and have a look and scared the hell out of myself when getting down….
Ede long house is modeled on a long house in Ky Village. Its over 42 metres long and would have accommodated the families of daughters and granddaughters of an extended matrilineal family.
The Giarai Tomb. The large wooden figurines encircling the tomb are intended to accompany the dead into the afterlife. Sexually explicit carvings and those of pregnant women are symbols of fertility.
The tour van then picked all the hungry ghosts for lunch at the open tour office at Hang Be, old quarter for lunch.After the filling and sumptuous lunch, our tour guide bring us to walk to our next visit, the Ngoc Son Temple. As the Balinese ladies are not so keen on temple visits due to religious reason, they are substituted for a water puppet show with some additional charges. We then have to cross the busiest junction in front of the theatre cross over to Ngoc Son Temple at Hoan Kiem Lake. Actually, if this is not your first time crossing a road in Hanoi, you’ll know that to cross the road with stream of cars and motobikes, you just have to brave yourself without look at the coming cars and CROSS!!! They’ll somehow manage to avoid banging into you. It was my second day in Hanoi, so I kinda manage to catch the art of crossing road in Hanoi.
Here’s a video I downloaded from Internet showing how busy was the street. BB will be amaze the normally so clumsy me manage to cross road like this.
(Video courtesy of delboy1999 from youtube)
The Huc Bridge, meaning Sunbeam Bridge is the red color arch bridge connecting to Ngoc Son temple on the lake.
The red Huc Bridge
Ngoc Son temple literally meaning Jade Mountain temple. Its dedicated to the Hero who defeated the Vietnam invaders and there are also altars dedicated to scholars and several other deities. The temple consists of main building housing the praying altars and a souvenir shops. In a room off the side of the main altar house a specimen of the lake giant tortoise. There are some newspaper articles being frame in the hall saying a giant tortoise was found here in year 1997… something like that, I can’t understand Vietnamese.
Entrance to Ngoc Son Temple
Our tour guide said this the ink pad they use to write on a monument at the entrance...
Tortoise specimen in Ngic Son Temple
We toke a short rest at the pavilion while waiting for the Mongolians to perform prayers… here I saw a Caucasian couple arguing… The husband wanted to visit more place but the wife refuse to go… so he left her alone there… hahahahaha…
We cross that busy street once again and alighted the tour van for visits to the west lake. Our tour guide said it was call West Lake not because it was at the west of Hanoi. Its because it’s a lake in a district of western people.. huh??? Like that also can???
Westlake surrounded by highrise building
And lake side seafood restaurant
Unlike Hoan Kiem Lake in the old quarter, high-rise building and many lakeside restaurants surround West Lake. Tran Quoc Pagoda is just located next to the West Lake. The pagoda was originally sat on the bank of Red River but was soon move to West lake and renamed as Tran Quoc (National Defense). Tran Quoc Pagoda is Hanoi’s oldest temple. In the garden also stands a Bodhi tree, the tree where Buddha sat under and get his enlightenment.
Entrance to Tran Quoc Pagoda
Convenience door???? so malu... i can't even read the chinese word at the side
The view i captured of Pagoda and stupas..
Then its end of our Hanoi full day cultural tours… Our guide send us back to the hotel and we are very please with his guidance and given him some tips. A full day of walk around and activities under the hot sun and dusty city has drained our energy to maximum… we took a rest and a nice bath before heading out for dinner again.
We got a recommendation from Zung, the hotel staff for a nice place for meal. Call the Cha Ca La Vuong serving grilled fish. I wouldn’t elaborate too much on the restaurant here as I have another posting just to introduce you our meals in Vietnam.
Once we got out from dinner. The weekend night market just started. The market stretches from Hang Dao Street to Dong Xuan Market. The stalls here mainly selling clothing, shoes, souvenir, toys, and street food like grills, Banh My (Vietnamese Baguette) etc..
I shop for a few clothing at really cheap price after some bargain… really wasted our effort to bargain at Dong Xuan Market… The night market is much more merrier and full of nice stuff to buy.
Today is the world earth hour day where Hanoi city will switch off the lights at 8.30pm. Many restaurants along the lake turn into romantic candle light dinner place…. And the street is soooo crowded… full of cars, in this packed and jam situation, they’ll still find their way to squeeze through the jam… be very careful on weekend on the street as Vietnamese has no patience at all at jam….
Hanoi Pasar Malam
Speciality shop selling chinese wedding stuff
The crazy weekend night traffic... these bikes are all moving...
We go to the only supermarket in Old quarter, The Intimax for a short walk, get some snacks and another task… buying instant noodle from Vietnam to bring home. I once tried, their instand Kuey Teow is soooo delicious. I think we bought 20 packets to bring home.
We then waited at the lake side for the lights to be turn on again.. at least we wish to witness a memorable moment in Hanoi.
Back to the hotel and packed our stuff as we are going for Halong Bay tour tomorrow.
