I am going to start this blog with a picture from last night because what the hell is with the power here.
After having explored Hanoi for 2 days now I have come to a few conclusions.
- It is crazy here, there are cars, bikes, noise everywhere.
- People own the foot path- we cannot walk on the footpath here for more then 2 metres.
- It is so interesting- there is always something to watch or see in all the chaos.
- The people have a good sense of humour.
Today we started with the buffet breakfast provided by the hotel. They have a huge spread of things to eat. Not only is it a buffet but they also have a quite extensive menu to order off. We ordered some food and planned our our day.
Our first stop was to wander over to Thang Long Imperial Citadel. It was a 1.6km walk from our hotel and after playing chicken with bikes on a few roads we arrived at an area of Hanoi that has actual nice and big sidewalks. From there is was a lovely walk to the citadel. We passed an old gate that had cannon damage and also passed a couple of goverment houses and such.
We arrived at the Citadel got our tickets and went to explore. The Citadel is 1300 years old and has been the home to many royal families and armies. It was heavily involced and destroyed in the Vietnam War. It is also UNESCO World Heritage Listed. It was a beautiful place to look around. The buildings are old and look amazing. There were also all these kids there celebrating ther graduations which made it a fun enviroment.
We decided after the fortress to walk back into Old Quarter to Banh Mi 25 which according to many people has the best Banh Mi is Hanoi. We ended up sitting in literally the attic of this building to eat. It was pretty cool. The food was amazing and sooo cheap. I have loved the food here so far.
We then decided to walk the bread off and hiked another 2.2km to The Temple of Literature. This was originally built as a university in 1070 dedicated to Confucius, scholars and sages. The buildings are stunning and it can also be found on the 100000 dong bank note. Each section of the temple grounds symbolises something like Respect or sucess. It was an beautiful place to explore.
We spent some time trying to find what matched.
NOPE!!
Not quite!!
WOOO! (Pictures and Video all done by Steve)
We grabbed a grab car from here and made it back to the hotel for a break. Some of us had a nap (We are getting old) before heading back out at 6pm. We headed to Cha ca thang long for dinner which only serves tumeric fish. It was actually very tasty.
We then wandered back through the night marker. Checking out some stores, eating more food and shopping. Rob got a really good North Face jacket for $20. It was a great day in Hanoi although i will be happy to not here constant beeping of horns.
