10/24: Hanoi Meanderings

We decided to start the day by taking a walking tour of Hanoi’s Old Quarter that I had photocopied from a tour book. According to one book I read before we came to Vietnam, people could spend days discovering this area but we only wanted to meander the quarter for a few hours! 

Street scenes from Old Quarter:

We knew this busy intersection was known for its bird shops but had to look up before noticing the bird cages in the photo below.

Bat Dan St. once housed sellers of clay pots that were brought to the city from riverside workshops along the Red River. Stopped at #33 to see the very ornate and colorful communal house below. We knew to be on the lookout for the distinctive Buddhist prayer flags when trying to find the Old Quarter's many communal houses.

Small cafes were popular for men in the area.

Street peddlars are a common sight throughout Hanoi.

Looked for #105 on this street to see the publication offices of an important Communist paper but couldn't find it; figured the info in the walking tour was no longer current.

The wall of the Hanoi Citadel built by the Nguyen dynasty in the 1800s.

Amazing what a hot glue gun can do!

Wouldn't have minded stopping in one of the many nail salons to get pampered like these women were!

Street food!

We walked through the gates at this communal house on Hang Ga; note the Chinese script above the doorway. Inside was a small courtyard and temple dedicated to Bach Ma, the 'White Horse.'

Steven was a great map reader today - not an easy task on these small streets where we had to be extra vigilant where we walked because of all kinds of street traffic and, few if any sidewalks, etc.

A Bo Tree in the courtyard.

Continuing along Hang Va, we saw why it's called the bamboo street.

The Buddhist flags meant that we had arrived at 40 Lang Ong, once the communal house for the area's local Chinese population. All communal houses are open free of charge to visitors.

Photos of former communal house:

Thought it interesting that the information panels were put up in part by the French city of Toulouse. We enjoyed finding out more about the Old Quarter here as these were the first English language signs we'd seen. 

A pretty spectacular shrine inside the former communal house

It was curious seeing the offering of US bills in the temple.

Noticed for the first time an offering of beer!

Leaving the communal house, we noticed the huge number of herb shops that continued for several blocks on Lan Ong as this area is still home to ethnic Chinese.

These small storefronts date back to the origins of the Old Quarter.

Another common sight throughout Vietnam.

It was easy to distinguish the Chinese homes and businesses by their low roofs.

Photos from Communal House at #38  Hang Dao:

The 2 story spacious and elaborate home was once owned by silk merchants.

When the man in jeans noticed me taking photos, he asked the monk to turn around so I could take one of them.

Didn't see any families at the other communal houses we'd visited as my understanding was that they had been displaced when the communal houses were renovated and became tourist sights. That's why it was great to see young children living and playing here under the careful supervision of elders.

Saw a few female monks each with shorn hair, one of whom appeared to be cleaning ceramic vases in the former worship area.

Communal house on Ngo Goch below seemed to be mainly used as a parking lot for motorcycles!

Very odd seeing a stack of IKEA bags on the corner of the road.

Since we were so close we stopped at Cho Dong Xuan, the Central Market for a bit; it was the first one we’ve seen this trip certainly that had a fairly nice fountain in the middle. Nicer than other markets as it wasn’t quite as packed with vendors at least on the main floor.

                        Chuong Gate: The only remaining gate of the city's once formidable fortifications.

We had to look very closely for the small alley entrance to the Co Luong Communal House, which contained a temple of modern relief sculptures. I shall remember it though for the men playing chess in the courtyard.

It's impossible to miss all the propaganda posters and billboards walking around Hanoi; smart marketing therefore to have a store selling them!

The Dinh Kim Ngan Communal House was built by the street’s first migrants who settled into street to set up a silver ingot factory. By the end of the 19^th C. it became a meeting house for the street’s jewelers. T its original shape. During the Indochina War, the home was used a place for teaching the Vietnamese Latin script and to provide military training.  After 1954, a number of families settled into the house but 25 households with 83 members were relocated to other places and the communal house was restored to its original shape by the cities of Hanoi and Toulouse in 2009.

Both of us but I especially had had enough of communal houses by this point so we headed back to the lovely Hoan Kiem Lake where we had stopped briefly on our first day in Hanoi and had seen Tortoise Tower. We wanted to return there so we could visit the Ngoc Son Pagoda across the lake's bridge where we had taken photos of Thanh our tour guide.

Photos of Ngoc Sun Pagoda:

We stopped for a very well deserved apple break at the pagoda and chatted with an American couple, Dana and Julia, who had relocated to Hanoi from New Orleans with their daughters. They had had 3 restaurants in the Crescent City but sold them to work overseas as a consultant and be able to discover more of this part of the world.

Earlier in the day we had bought tickets to the 3pm performance of the longest running Water Puppet Show in Hanoi that was luckily located right across from the lake so we didn't have to walk far!

Photos of Thang LongWater Puppet Show:

We thought we had bought good seats close to the front but didn't realize til we got in that the theater was fairly small and the water puppets were tiny and difficult to see from our seats. I think 5 shows are offered per day as they cater to tour groups mostly who command the closer seats.

We didn't understand a thing obviously but it was interesting peering between the people in front of us and seeing the puppets and listening to the musicians during the 40 minute performance. Great sitting down too on padded seats.

Thank goodness my camera had a good zoom lens!

Don't fancy seeing another water puppet show anytime soon but glad we saw this one.

We had not seen yet any of Hanoi's Colonial Quarter which was only minutes but seemed like light years away from the Old Quarter.

Our stroll through the Colonial Quarter:

Saw masses of pointsettias as we walked there.

Statue of Ly, one of Vietnam's famous emperors, and, behind it, a large courtyard that was a favorite for skateboarders

Our first destination was the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel built in 1901 during the French colonial era. The Metropole is one of the 'grande dame' hotels and simply oozes charm and luxury. It's obviously a favored spot for wedding photos too!

Anyone wishing to experience the atmosphere of old charming Hanoi
could do so in the hotel's vintage 1953 Citroen!

List of Who's Who or the hoi polloi, i.e. royalty and prominent guests that have stayed at the hotel. We whiled away some time reading about the hotel's history and anecdotes written by some of the hotel's guests. One Briton from an earlier age wrote of the French 'The Anglo Saxon makes a day of his pleasures; our neighbor makes a pleasure of their duties.'

This antique phone actually connected to the hotel operator!

Not far from the Metropole, and dating from the same time is one of Hanoi's most famous landmarks, the Opera House, above. Next to it is the Hilton.

Steven wanted the caption for this photo to be 'Don't you love those pants?'

We'd seen a lot of pedicabs in Hanoi but none that looked as nice
as these ones in the Colonial Quarter.

Photos I took standing in one spot and only moving the camera a few inches to show polar opposites: 'Real' Hanoi above and the gentrified Hanoi below.

The Bull in front of Hanoi's Stock Exchange located opposite the Opera House.

Returned to our hotel via Hoan Kiem Lake but walking on the other side for the first time.

Four university students needing to practice their English stopped to chat; each one had a list of questions written down to help guide the conversation. I chatted with them for 10 minutes or so while Steven patiently waited nearby.

Exercise time at the park!

A view of Ngoc Son Pagoda on Hoan Kiem Lake where we had been earlier in the afternoon.

Exercise stations at the park.

We had had another delightful day discovering more of Hanoi but we were ready to move on tomorrow for the next part of our trip's adventure.

Posted on 10/30 from Hanoi, Vietnam.