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The past few days I have been exploring the sights and sounds of Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. The city is not too big and the traffic is a bit more managable than Hanoi though there isn’t much to do outside of sightseeing.
[read on]
I have been here in Hanoi for just under a week now, trying to get a feel for the city. Hanoi is definatly cleaner and more modern than I expected. I was staying in a nice room with a great view for a few nights. I was evicted when the hotel operators somehow broke the power.
The old quarter is very charming and easy to get lost in. Each street is named after a certain good that is supposed to be sold there. For instance, there is a street with shops specializing in making gravestones. Another street has a fair number of shops making things out of tin. It took me a while to get comfortable walking around without a map.
Before arriving I had heard about the crazy motorbike traffic. There are few stop signs at intersections, and most drivers don’t stop, only slow dow. Everyone just kind of goes with the flow and avoids each other. Not without honking their horn at every available opportunity. On some of the larger streets, you will see thousands of motorbikes with a few cars and bicycles mixed in, all jostling for position on the road. I tried to capture the madness in this picture.
I have been to a fair number of the tourist attractions here. Last sunday I visited the Ho Chi Mihn Mausoleum, where Uncle Ho (as he is known to the Vietnamese) is on display to the public, much like Lenin. Uncle Ho is lying in a glass coffin (he supposedly wished to be cremated), looking a little pale but with a slight smile on his face.
I also visited the Temple of Literature, which is an old temple complex dedicated to Confucius. It contained some great traditional arcitecture. I took a ton of pictures – here is a particularly good one.
Yesterday I took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda, which is a few hours out of town. To get to the Pagoda complex, you need to catch a boat rowed by a young Vietnamese women and head upstream about 1 hour. The Pefume Pagoda is one of the holiest sites in Vietnam, but not nearly as interesting as the surrounding countryside. The scenery is gorgeous. I can’t wait to come back to these mountains.
Last night I went to a birthday party with one of the workers at my guesthouse. After a motorbike ride through night traffic, we arrived at a small room with about 15 university students eating and drinking Vietnamese rice vodka. I quickly became the focus of the guests, who kept pouring me drinks and teaching me how to properly toast in Vietnamese.
Tonight I am off to Hue, which is supposed to have much to see and do. I love it here in Hanoi, and cannot wait to come back.
Neil
PS. I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have taken the time to read my blog and send me emails or post a comment. Sometimes the road can get a bit lonely. There is no better cure for a bout of homesickness than walking into an internet cafe and finding out who has taken the time to see how I am doing. Thank you.
Neil