Friday, 9 January 2025: Hanoi

Hop on hop off bus.  I know they are overrated, but I still hold that they are a good way to get familiar with the lay of the land.  We walked 15 minutes instead of 8 to get to the hop on spot.  (Don’t tell Justin.)  We completed one loop then went back to Quan Than temple and the Temple of literature. 

Quan Than, Place of the Gods, dates back to the 11th century. The Tao temple is one of four sacred temples built in four directions to protect the capital from malevolent spirits. Quán Thánh protects from the North, while the other three temples protect from the South, East and West. 

This public art display is 6.5 km in length along the Red River in Hanoi.  Designed by a local artist, the mural was initiated in 2010 for the city's millennium anniversary.  

Hoan Kiem Lake, Lake of the Returned Sword, in the middle of the city, offers peacuful views and squillions of blooming flowers.  Turtle Tower is in the center of the Lake  They say John McCain's parachuted into the lake when his plan was shot down during the war.  Although we enjoyed many of the stops along the Hop On Hop Off Bus, we didn't take time to visit what was once the Hanoi Hilton.  


The Temple of Literature was high on my list of places I wanted to go since I first read about it months ago when we started planning.  Built in 1070, it is Vietnam's first university.  It is dedicated to Confucius  Can you just see the scholars and royalty walking in the grounds having Socratic type discussions, or curled up under a tree cramming for their exams?  

Reminiscent of Girls Day, Boys Day or Shichi-Go-San in Japan when children go to the temple, in Vietnam, young ladies celebrate Tet (lunar new Year) or graduation, or celebrations by dressing in traditional wear (ao dai) and taking photographs.  The specific colors often denote age or marital status (white for purity and pastels are very popular). Costumes are for rent but most seem to have their own dresses.  It seemed a nice blending of the traditions with modern. Some of these girls are just beautiful… even if I did need to wait from time to time to get the shot I wanted. 

Can you imagine needed to redo all this shoji?

Coffee is certainly another cultural experience.  Vietnamese coffee is bold. Not just strong but full. Today I tried “salted coffee.”  Robust Vietnamese coffee is blended with sweet condensed milk and topped with creamy, salty foam. It’s almost a salted caramel flavor; it works!  

We crashed a water puppet show.   Ok, we didn’t really crash it, the door was open and we walked in.  This 1,000 year old tradition tells folk tales with puppets on the water.  We went in to see about tickets, and instead saw enough of the show to earn that merit badge.  

Dinner at Mun Dining on top of Le Chanvre Hanoi hotel. We couldn’t  have had a better table even if we had reservations.  Justin and I were drawn in by their crab asparagus soup.  We had an assortment of perhaps five appetizers and called it dinner. 

Entered into the NorthFace world after dinner in yet another night market.  I scored a jacket. 

It was after 11pm when we got back to our hotel.  Yes, the day was done.