Hanoi (including Ninh Binh), Vietnam

29th May – 31st May 2018

As we made our way to what should have been our gate in Manila airport, I thought I heard an announcement about our flight. As the flight attendants spoke so fast, we weren’t sure though, and there were no screens in the airport to help us, so we carried on. As another announcement was made to say that it was the final call for our flight, we arrived at the gate, to learn that the gate number had changed, and it was to the furthest gate away! As I wasn’t feeling 100%, with a cold coming on, running the length of the airport was not needed, but we made it!

Once we were on the plane, there was an announcement to say that they were still refuelling! I was not happy about this, as the run made me feel so much worse and the repeated announcements of final boarding were completely unnecessary! We had made it though, so that was the main thing. Luckily, we had a row of three to ourselves, which was nice, as it meant we could spread out and try and fall asleep.

The flight was three hours long, and we were soon in Hanoi, after an uncomfortable journey – we were ready for bed! As it had just passed midnight, the airport was fairly quiet, which meant that we were straight through immigration and ready to collect our bags. Once we had our bags, we requested a Garb and we were on our way to the hostel.

It was about 1.30am before we arrived at the hostel, but luckily I had emailed in advance to tell them that we would be arriving late. We were checked in quite quickly, and shown up to our room, where everyone was already sleeping. We crept around and got ready for bed, knowing that we only had a few hours before we were up again.

The alarm was set for 8am that morning, as we had booked ourselves on a free walking tour of Hanoi, starting at 9. We got up and ready and went up to the rooftop for breakfast (which was nice). As we had no idea what to do for the rest of our time in Vietnam (and we are only on a two week visa), we had only booked one night in Hanoi, hoping we could get a night train or bus the following night up north to Sapa. After further thought, we decided that we might have been rushing things, so before we checked out, we thought we would nip downstairs to the travel desk and get some advice.

As we sat and chatted with the travel advisor, time flew by and before we knew it, our guide had arrived and we hadn’t checked out, or got our things ready! We had lots of information though, and lots to think about, so with that, we ran upstairs, zipped our bags up and went back down to check out. It meant that we were a little late for the tour, but as it was just the two of us, it didn’t matter. We weren’t prepared at all though, as we had no Vietnamese Dong in cash, or any water, and it was a hot day and I still wasn’t feeling 100%.

Our tour was based around the Old Quarter, so the fact that our hostel was in the Old Quarter, was perfect. Directly outside of our hostel, was the cathedral, built in 1886. Apparently, the design is based on the Notre Dame in Paris, which I could definitely see. We had a walk inside to have a look around at the design. It was beautifully decorated and it is the biggest church in Hanoi. Our guide (whose name we struggled to say, never mind spell) told us that 70% of Vietnamese people have no religion at all, although they will still go to the temple for luck and good fortune.

The Vietnamese defeated the French in 1945. After being under the rule of China for 1000 year previous to this. Due to this, there are one hundred French denominations in Vietnam. As we were walking through the streets of Hanoi, our guide would share little snippets and facts about Vietnam. We spoke about the crazy traffic that occupies the streets of Hanoi, with her explaining that even as a local, she finds it difficult to cross the streets safely. She said that most people ride motorbikes in Vietnam, as cars are taxed at 200%, and people just can’t afford that.

As I was melting away, which the guide picked up on, she told us that we were on a relatively cool day. The seasons in Vietnam are pretty much the same as the UK, they just seem to be a month ahead over here, meaning we are in summer. The average temperature of a summer’s day in Vietnam is 35 – 40 degrees, something I’m hoping we won’t have to endure. She said in winter it only ever gets between 7-15 degrees, and she is sad that she has never seen snow.

We were also told about the street names, and that in the Old Quarter, the name of the street relates to what is being sold down there. The guide said that if the shop doesn’t sell what the street name says it should, then they have to close. It didn’t make sense to us, as it must be really hard to compete when everyone around you sells the same thing, but it’s much easier for the shopper, I guess. She told us that the street where all the herbs and medicines are sold is names after the Chinese man who invented the herbal medicine method.

Our next stop, was to the White Horse Temple. We were told that there is a legend behind most things in Vietnam – it helps the people with their beliefs. When the king moved the capital of Vietnam to Hanoi, he tried to build this new temple. The temple kept getting damaged, with cracks and it wouldn’t stay built properly. One night, he had a dream about a white horse, and when he woke up the next day, he followed the path of the white horse and the temple was undamaged the next time he tried to build it.

In the temple, we had a look around and it was interesting to see how much Chinese writing there was. Apparently, after being under control of the Chinese for one thousand years, the Vietnamese finally defeated them, but didn’t have their own written language, so decided to use the Chinese writing instead. Under each doorway, was a raised barrier, meaning that you had to step over it to enter each room. This was to make sure that people took a natural bow to the temple, as they entered each room.

Chinese writing on the doorways

 

In the back room of the pagoda, we saw a king’s chair. This is an important object, which is still used in festivals today. To celebrate, at each Lunar New Year, each local area will carry out their own festival. The king’s chair is carried by six to eight men, who don’t initially know where they are going. Apparently, they are guided by an invisible spirit who is sat in the chair. Our guide told us that she never believed this, until she saw it for herself – I’m not sure how she knew that they didn’t have a plan beforehand.

Five is a sacred number in Vietnam. In the temples, there are items to represent five elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal. Each item on a table in a temple has a meaning and represents something. On the tables where gods are worshipped, there is lots of food placed around. This food is left there for a few days, for the dead to enjoy, before it is removed and eaten, and then replaced.

Even those Vietnamese who aren’t religious, still go to a pagoda (which is similar to a temple) on the 1^st and 15^th of every month. In Pagodas, people worship buddha, whereas in a temple, the people worship a king or queen.

From the pagoda, we walked to the market. It is the biggest market in Hanoi, and it was huge! On the way, we saw some sad animals in small tanks and cages. As we walked passed one stall, up the market, a massive fish made a leap for freedom and jumped out of its tank!

In the market, there were rows and rows and rows of stalls. The top level sold clothes and material, but our guide said that the material is mostly sold on wholesale basis only, and not as retail products, but there was so much of it! We had a look around the stalls, but we still had no cash, so we couldn’t buy anything yet.

As we walked to our next stop, we saw lots of shops selling paper items. As the Vietnamese are big believers of life after death, these shops are all designed for dead people. I’m not sure I understand why it had to be paper but that’s what we were told.

The next stop was Long Bien railway station, where we went onto the tracks. The Long Bien bridge, which the train passes over, was built by the French in 1860. At the time it was built, it was the fourth best bridge in the world apparently. Even though it might not be one of the best bridges anymore, I think it’s still very impressive. It was used during the war to transport rice from the north to the south, to the Americans, and it is still used today. It would take more than two days to get from the north to the south on that line, but a train passes through Long Bien station twice a day. The bridge passes over the Red River, which is the river surrounding Hanoi (Hanoi meaning city inside a river). We didn’t walk over the bridge to see the river though.

During the Chinese wartime, there were five gates which surrounded Hanoi. Today, there is only one left. On top of the gate is the Vietnamese flag which has the red colour to represent the blood spilled during all of the wars, and the yellow to represent their skin colour. The five points of the star represents the five classes of people and it all comes back to five being a sacred number.

From the Old Quarter, we made our way to the French Quarter. On the way, we passed the main square, which was crazily busy with traffic. Apparently, at the weekends, there is no traffic in the main square, as it is blocked off to cars and motorbikes and I can imagine that is much nicer.

We stopped off at the Lake of the Restored Sword, which is a major symbol for Hanoi apparently. We walked to the Red Bridge and Pen Tower, where we learned about the symbolism of the rocky hill up to the tower, representing the hard work needed to get where you want to be. While we were stood on the Red Bridge, we heard about the legend of the lake and where its name came from. Back in the 14^th century, when the Vietnamese were still under the rule of the Chinese, the king was on a boat on the lake. While he was boating, a Golden Turtle God surfaced from the water and asked for his magic sword. The king believed that the Golden Turtle God was coming back to ask for the sword he had earlier given the king. Before returning the sword, he finished defeating the Chinese, and then renamed the lake to commemorate the occasion.

On the other side of the lake is Turtle Tower, which is there as a symbol of the help the turtles gave in defeating the Chinese. Turtles are still in the lake and are spotted on the island where Turtle Tower is.

In the city, there is a large statue of the king who moved the capital to Hanoi to celebrate what he did for the country.

Walking between places, I chatted to the guide about her life, and it was really interesting to learn about the differences in our lives. One big difference, that she couldn’t believe, was the uni tuition fees, but that didn’t surprise me. What surprised me the most, is how shocked she was when I explained that sons and daughters are treated equally. We were chatting about our siblings and she explained that she had a sister ten years younger, as her parents really wanted a son. Sons are more important in Vietnamese culture, as they will stay at home forever, and when they marry, their new wife will move in and they will raise their family with his parents. She told me that her parents wanted a son so much, as they didn’t want to be lonely. I thought that was really sad that they feel that way.

When we made it to the French Quarter, we saw the Opera House, which was started in 1901 and finished in 1911, built by a French man. It was originally a building used for accommodation for rich people, but it is now used for expensive theatre shows, according to the guide – nothing in comparison to at home though, as they are about 200,000 dong (£7). The yellow colour of the building was used to show royalty as yellow was an expensive colour.

Our last stop was the expensive and posh hotel, Hotel Metropole. We had a walk inside and around the grounds but couldn’t go higher than the ground floor. It was such a beautiful looking place though. Along one of the corridors was the history of Vietnam. I read about Ho Chi Minh who was a very influential figure in Vietnam. I learned about how much he helped the country with its independence status, dedicating his whole life to it, never marrying or having children. Vietnam gained independence on 2^nd September 1945, which is the same date that Ho Chi Minh died in 1969, in Hanoi. He said that once he died, he wanted to be cremated and be split between the north of Vietnam, where the capital is; the middle, where he was from; and the south, where a lot of his work was done. However, when he did die, they decided to preserve his body and put it in a mausoleum in Hanoi – something I would have liked to go and see, but it only opened for two hours in a morning and we didn’t have any mornings left.

As our tour ended here, we said thank you and good bye and made our way back to the hostel. We were both running on low energy, and after rushing to check out, we wanted to get ourselves organised. We sat in the reception area and weighed up the different options that we had. We had a couple of small problems, which made us have to rethink some of our provisional plans, but that didn’t matter, as we were reasonably flexible with timings.

After speaking to a different tour advisor, and a few of the guests who had done tours through the hostel, we sort of came up with a plan. Before booking anything, we wanted to get cash out, and we needed food, as it had been a long time! We went for a wander around the city, trying to find some cheap banh mi (which is a Vietnamese bread roll with filling, like a sandwich). We struggled to find anywhere that looked safe to eat, with reasonable prices, and we struggled to find ATMs that would work for us, and the energy levels were getting lower.

In the end, we were successful on both parts, so feeling a little better, we went back to the hostel to book our tours. We had decided to stay an extra night in Hanoi, as we would have been rushing to get to Sapa on the night bus that night, as we were booked on another free tour, about street food, from 6-9pm. We also had a little more time to spend up north, as we wanted to book a tour to Halong Bay, and the one that they recommended, which sounded good, less touristy and reasonably priced, was closing for a few days for maintenance and cleaning and wouldn’t be back open until 3^rd June, so we had an extra night to spare.

Instead of doing a tour of Sapa (which they also recommended), we decided it would be cheaper and a little more chilled out, if we did it ‘by ourselves’. We booked a return night bus, for the following night, until 3^rd June, and got some ideas of where to stay and what we could do when we got there. As we were advised to spend three days in Sapa to have time to do enough trekking, we then booked the Halong Bay tour for when we got back.

After spending a fortune at the tour desk, it was time to get ready for tour number two. We still had one thing we wanted to book, but we didn’t want to keep this guide waiting, so decided we could book the last thing, when we got back. We got ready and were back in the reception area just before 6, in time for our guide to arrive.

Our street food tour guide was different to our Old Quarter tour guide, which was a nice change (although I really liked our morning guide). Kemi (whose name mean ice cream!!) was taking us around the local eateries to try different traditional foods.

We started off in a café around the corner from our hostel – one that we wouldn’t even know existed if we hadn’t been taken in and around the back. Out morning guide did point it out to us and said it was the best street food, but we thought it was just a stand, we didn’t realise there was a café too. We sat down and were given two bowls with a watery sauce in. Kemi did all of the ordering, which was great, as we could try the best things, but as we couldn’t read the menu, we had no idea what she was ordering, until it came and she could point it out to us.

In the end, I think we ended up having fresh spring rolls, fried pork spring rolls, some other pork order and some type of fried veggie balls. They were all so tasty, but I wish I took better note of their Vietnamese names, so that I would know what to order in the future. It was very helpful having a local with us though, as she told us how to eat them, i.e. dipping them in the watery sauce thing we were given and having chilli sauce with the pork rolls. She also knew the best thing to order and attempted to teach us how to use chop sticks!

After we had paid up (although it was a free tour, we were in charge of paying for all expenses, which was fine), we moved on to food stop, number two. This time, we sat on little plastic stools, outside of a local café. Kemi ordered us Banh Trang Tran, which was rice paper rolls, mango. dried beef and dried octopus, with sauces and quail’s eggs on top. It was quite a sticky dish and for two people who are complete beginners when it comes to using chop sticks, it was a struggle. It was another tasty dish though, and was definitely something new to both of us, and something that we wouldn’t have ordered by ourselves.

Serving number three took us to another street – the shortest street in Vietnam – where we sat on more plastic stools and got served with papaya salad with dried, fried beef and dumplings with shrimp, mushroom and pork. The papaya was completely different to the papaya I had in South America, and so much nicer! The salad was really tasty, but we were getting really full by this stage. The dumplings were not so nice, I tried one but that’s all I could manage, and there were so many!

Although I was full, I definitely had room for our final dish: ice cream! We left the ordering to Kemi again, as her name was ice cream, she couldn’t go too wrong. She ordered me ice cream with green rice which was so tasty, and Joe got ice cream with yogurt and jackfruit, which was also good. They were, again, both dishes that neither of us would have ordered if we had gone in ourselves (we probably wouldn’t have even gone in), so it was good.

The tour was a great way for us to learn about the different foods in Vietnam. It was a little hard to not have a say in what was ordered though, or learn properly what we were having, as it meant we couldn’t go back and get the same again, as we didn’t know the Vietnamese names. It was still a great experience though and something I would recommend, and probably do again!

We said goodbye to Kemi at around 7.30, which was a little annoying, as we could have made the 9pm bus to Sapa that evening, but we didn’t know that earlier so there was nothing we could do. It was a good time to end the tour, as neither of us could eat anymore! Kemi took us to the lake before saying goodbye to us.

At the lake, we went for a little walk, before sitting on the edge to enjoy the night time views of the city. The moon was so low and bright and the Red Bridge was lit up, it all looked really pretty. While we were sat there, we had a couple of Vietnamese locals come and sit with us, asking if they could practice their English with us. We were happy to help them, I thought it was such a good idea for them! They had only been learning for four months, so it was a little difficult but their English was really good to say it had been such a short space of time. They tried to teach me some Vietnamese words and I forget straight away. While they were sat with us, another student sat with Joe and had a long chat with him. It was all a really nice idea, but they said that they find it really hard to practice as lots of tourists say no to them.

After about twenty minutes, they moved on, and we decided to head back to the hostel too. Back at the hostel, we booked our final bits with the tour desk. They had open bus tickets to get us down the country, for only $40 (I’m not sure why but they tell the price in USD first and then convert to Vietnamese Dong to pay), which included four city stops along the way, to do on whichever dates we wanted.

Once our Vietnamese plans were complete (kind of), we made our way up to bed. We had had a very long day, after such a short sleep, and we had another busy day ahead the next day, so we needed some sleep.

As we were in a dorm, and both on top bunks, I took Joe’s phone to bed with me, as I like to know the time if I wake up in the middle of the night, and I wake up to alarms, unlike Joe. Although this is usually true, I slept through the alarm on this morning, making me shoot out of bed when I realised. It was on really quiet, but it had been going off for ten minutes before I woke up!

Once I had woken Joe, we got ready and went up for breakfast. We weren’t overly hungry, so just grabbed a quick breakfast, before getting our things together, and going down to check out, again. We left our bags in storage, and waited in the reception area for our tour guide to come and pick us up. Although I think we could have easily spent another day exploring Hanoi, we had booked a tour to go to Ninh Binh for a day, as it was the only chance we would get to see that part of the country.

Despite the fact that we were in the reception area for 7.30, we weren’t collected until after 8, which was annoying as we could have had an extra half an hour’s sleep, but never mind! We had a long drive to Hau Lo, which was our first stop in the province of Ninh Binh. We were on a bus full of people, but only six of us were on a tour, so it was a nice small group.

In Hoa Lu, our visit was to see the temples which were there. Hoa Lu was originally the capital of Vietnam, before its move to Hanoi. The name came from the shape of the mountains in the area. The king thought that they looked like flower cups, so named it Hao Lo (hoa meaning flower and lu meaning cups).

There were two temples within a close range of each other. We had to both wear skirts to enter, as we were in shorts, but they were free to borrow. The first temple that we entered was the temple built to honor Linh. Linh was the first emperor of Vietnam, after the Chinese were defeated in the 900’s. he named himself king after playing a huge role in the war, but his reign was short lived, after he was murdered forty years later and his six-year-old son was too young to run a country. In the temple, there was no palace, as it was destroyed when the capital was moved to Hanoi, so that it was made sure that king’s would be in Hanoi, instead of Hoa Lu from then on. The temple is still there in Linh’s memory though.

Looking at the temple, we learned about the symbolism of the architecture. The dragons which were placed above the doorway and in front of the temple, are a symbol of power for the king. In front of each temple, there will be two mythical animals to represent different strengths for the king. They may be security, longevity or power.

Walking into the temple, we passed some trees along the way. The wood of the trees is good for detecting poison, so it is used to make chopsticks, as it will turn from white to black if there is poison in the food. These are planted in the grounds of the temple as a warning, since the king was poisoned.

At the entrance of the main, inner temple, there was a bowl of incense. People light incense and pray, to let the king know that they are there, visiting them.

From Linh’s temple, we walked a few hundred metres, to find Hanh’s temple. Hanh was Linh’s top general. He helped Linh’s son with the reign after Linh’s death, despite others not liking this. With a rebellion brewing, the Chinese saw this as a perfect opportunity to regain their power over Vietnam. Hanh fought off the rivals and declared himself the new emperor, before the Chinese could reattack. He also married Linh’s widow.

Hanh’s temple was different to Linh’s though. There were no dragons on the outside, or the inside, as he didn’t see himself as a true king, as he had not inherited it. It was respectful but smaller to Linh’s temple.

After looking around the temples, we had a little rest in the grounds, while we waited for the bus to come back for us. When it arrived back, we got back in, and were taken to lunch, which was buffet style. There were lots of choices, some of which were good, and some not so good, but that’s what you get with buffets, I guess. We ate what we wanted and sat and rested, until we were called back to the bus.

Back on the bus again, we were taken to Tam Coc (meaning tree cave), another area in the Ninh Binh province. When we arrived, we were dropped off, and we went to pick up some bikes for a bike tour. The bikes weren’t in great condition, and the roads were very gravely, so it didn’t feel incredibly safe, but it was a flat and easy ride, so that made it easier. On the route, we saw lots of very beautiful views, as we cycled around the mountains. We stopped and looked at a temple in the cave, which was interesting too.

Once we had dropped the bikes off, it was time for a boat ride. It was just the two of us (and the paddler) on a paddle boat, which made it a little nicer. We went along the river, through the beautiful mountains and under caves, for about forty minutes. When we turned around, we did the same route in reverse, until we arrived back in the village. It was so beautiful and different to see how the local people lived.

When we got back to the village, it was just after 4. We were the first back out of our little group of six, so we had to wait for them to arrive back. The bus wasn’t ready for us yet anyway, as it was collecting people from around Tam Coc to take them back to Hanoi. We didn’t have to wait too long though, and soon everyone was back on board and we made the long drive back towards Hanoi.

After a few hours, and a little break, we arrived back at around 7.30. We had to drop everyone off, and of course, we were the last drop off. I think at some points it would have been easier and quicker for us to get out and walk, which we did in the end. On the way back, I looked in the shops for a patch, but it was a struggle. I eventually found something that I could make work, so I bought that, and we went for dinner.

For dinner, we went back to the first café we went on the street food tour, as it was around the corner, cheap and good food. The only problem was, was that we didn’t understand anything on the menu, so didn’t know what to order. The waitress helped us the best she could but we still only ended up getting one of the same thing as the night before, which was a shame.

After dinner, we made our way back to the hostel. When we got back, we got changed and got all of our things together, and waited in the lobby for our bus to arrive to take us to Sapa. Lots of different transfer people arrived to collect people, but our guy was one of the last. He arrived eventually though, and we were picked up and on our way to our next Vietnamese destination.

Hanoi is a beautiful city, with some really nice and interesting things to see. The walking tours were amazing for us, as we learnt so much about the history and culture of the city. The day trip to Ninh Binh was a great way to see that area of the country, and although I usually prefer to not be in a tour group, this was the best way for us to see this particular area. As I wrote earlier, I wish that we had another day, so that we could have visited the mausoleum and revisited some of the places we had seen on the tour, but at a more leisurely pace, but it’s time to see more of the beautiful country now, as we head north to Sapa.

To travel is to live, Katie x