I arrived late at night to Hanoi aboard a Malaysia airline MH0752. It was a short flight, and like I mentioned in my last post I was so exhausted that I fell asleep when I first sat in my seat and had to be lightly shaken awake by the flight attendant after we had landed.
Hanoi is a massive city that has long been the cultural capital of the Vietnamese people. Most people today associate it with the Vietnam War, and there are still remnants of that terrible time (for all countries involved) years later. It is still a Communist country today, but the sort-of “light Communism” you’ll find in Beijing. That said, there is still propaganda around Hanoi, especially around the war.
The first place on our tour was the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. This is how humid it was.
Ok, in truth that might actually be fog on my lens, but it was really humid and quite hot. It was also a couple of days before Vietnamese Independence Day (the call it National Day), so the lines were longer than usual. I guess the term for how I felt was “conspicuous” as I’m about 6’1″ and fairly barrel-chested. I’m almost certain I was the only caucasian in the area that day, which put me quite a bit taller than most and made me stick out a bit. Carnation asked if I wanted to see Ho Chi Minh’s cadaver, and no I did not. She asked why not, and I didn’t really want to get into the politics, so I made up an excuse that seemed to appease her. She settled for me taking a picture of the mausoleum.
The first thing you see in the complex is the bright yellow Presidential Palace. It was built by the French in the early 1900s to serve as a reminder to the Vietnamese that the French were their rulers and they better listen. Once the French were kicked out at Dien Bien Phu, the palace was given to Uncle Ho to live in, but he said he preferred his little stilt house.
Travel to Halong Bay in the morning for a 2 day one night cruise in Halong bay itself. The journey to Halong bay from hotel took about 4 hours. Once we reach there, the view is stunning. I can see many small mountain like structure protruding out of the bay. The cruise we took is Dragon cruise.
Starting from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, you are in the Red river Delta and have chances to enjoy the rural area with villages, rice fields. You will visit the Hoa Lu Citadel, the capital city of Vietnam under the Dinh Dynasty between 968 and 1009 AD,visiting the Dinh and Le sanctuaries and then move on to Tam Coc for a 2-hour boat trip along the Boi river the you will continue to Halong Bay, our Natural world Heritage. With thousands of limestone mountains and cliffs jutting from its calm waters, Halong Bay is one of the world's most spectacular natural wonders.
Bye Vietname, Will miss you. =(