Our first stop in Vietnam was Hanoi, the capital and second most populated city in the country. Throughout history Hanoi (translated inside the rivers) has had almost 20 official and unofficial names, with the current official name in place since 1831.

We stayed in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, but also ventured out into other parts of this very busy city of almost 8 million people. Streets are crowded and noisy with cars, busses, and two-wheeled vehicles. We learned to be deliberate and very observant when crossing the street. Houses, often with a shop on the ground flour, are multi-story and very close together plus we saw many tall apartment buildings.  Despite the high concentration of people in this city of 233 square kilometers in the urban area, we did see residents making good use of public areas by participating in activities such as walking, bike riding, and sidewalk games of badminton. 

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Old Quarter – On foot we explored quite a bit of the Old Quarter, which includes a maze of 30+ residential and commercial streets established during imperial times. In the past each street was named and dedicated to selling a specific type of merchandise. Vendors on Hang Dong street sold copper wares and craftsmen on Hang Tre street sold bamboo wares. Though the names have remained mostly unchanged, the type of items for sale today is different. We did notice, however, that similar varieties of stores are located on the same street. We saw streets for tailors and mass-produced clothing, streets for souvenirs and crafts, streets for flowers, streets for pots and pans, and streets for motorbike repairs.

In the heavily touristed and densely populated area of the Old Quarter we observed quite a disparity between rich and poor. We walked through Trang Tien Plaza, a shopping mall filled with designer clothing and accessories listed at very high prices (non-fancy slip-on women’s shoes for $600 US) and saw a Rolls Royce parked on a nearby street. And a few blocks away we saw women selling food on sidewalks or in suspended baskets to help support their families.

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Pedestrians overwhelm a few of the Old Quarter streets on the weekends to visit the Night Market. The manager at our small hotel encouraged us to go. So, we braved the crowds to check out the vendors’ merchandise and also bought a bowl of “ice cream” which tasted like crunchy puffs (think Cheetos without the flavor) and was chilled by dry ice. Our conclusion was that no cow was near in the making of that food. Barriers prevent cars from traveling on the Night Market streets from Friday afternoon until the Night Market closes on Sunday evening, which we and many others really appreciated. During our daytime weekend strolls there we watched several dance teams make videos and delighted children drive electric toy cars. The parents paid a small “rental” fee so their little ones could drive the vehicles in designated areas. Fortunately we did not observe any toy car crashes or mishaps. 

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Along some Old Quarter streets we discovered beautifully-painted electrical boxes. Once Susan started photographing this type of fun, flowery artwork she could not walk by without taking a picture.

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Hoan Kiem Lake – This popular tourist spot in the Old Quarter is in the geographical center of Hanoi. One evening we walked over the picturesque red, wooden Huc (Rising Sun) Bridge to Jade Island, but did not visit Ngoc Son Temple. The lake is reported to be full of turtles, sacred animals in Vietnamese culture, and the water is greenish in color, which is not a common water color for lakes in this country. We did not see turtles at the lake, but we did notice the greenish water color when we walked around it several mornings during our time in Hanoi.

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Saint Joseph Cathedral – We were surprised to discover this 120 year-old Roman Catholic cathedral just a three minute walk from our hotel. About 6% of Vietnam’s population is Catholic and 8% is Buddhist. About 80% of the citizens state they have no religion. The exterior of the cathedral depicts the Western style through the doors, windows, and religious paintings. And the interior reflects Vietnamese style, including an emphasis of red and yellow (gold) colors.

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Hao Lo Prison – In the 1880’s to 1930’s this prison (now museum) housed up to 2,000 Vietnamese political prisoners at a time during the French colonial period and US prisoners during the Vietnam War in the late 1960’s. Most of the prison was demolished about 25 years ago so that an office and hotel complex could be built, so we visited the gatehouse that remains. The French-given name to the prison, Maison Centrale which means Central House, is stilled displayed over the entrance. We viewed exhibits of stockades and a guillotine used by the French, as well as prison cells that held US prisoners. The museum posters we saw depicted humane and special treatment given to captured American pilots rather than the actual miserable conditions of the prison, including poor food and unsanitary conditions. The American POWs held there during the Vietnam War sarcastically named the prison “Hanoi Hilton” in reference to the upscale US Hilton hotel chain. Senator John McCain, one of the most well-known Vietnam POWs, was incarcerated at Hoa Lo during some of his 5 1/2 years years as a prisoner. During its use, the prison wasn’t extremely secure as hundreds escaped, some even through very small sewer gates which we saw displayed with portions of the stone sewer system.

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Temple of Literature – We took a 20 minute walk from our small hotel to the Temple of Literature, a site that includes the temple, courtyards, pavilions, gardens, and statues.  Originally built as a university in 1070 dedicated to Confucius as well as scholars and sages, the temple exemplifies traditional Vietnamese architecture. We were quite interested in the 82 large, stone turtle (some sources say tortoise) stelae which display the engraved names of those who passed the royal exams.  In Vietnamese culture the turtle, one of the four sacred animals, represents wisdom and longevity. In prior years visitors to the Temple of Literature were permitted to touch the stelae and many rubbed the turtles’ heads for good luck. A small fence prevented us from doing that. During the Vietnam war the stelae here were buried in sand and surrounded by a thick concrete wall to protect them from possible aerial bombs. This historic site is also called the Temple of Confucius and includes an altar with a statue of Confucius in the fourth courtyard. A picture of the Temple of Literature is shown on back of the Vietnamese 100,000 dong banknote.

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Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long – From the Temple of Literature we walked over to another important part of Hanoi’s past. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was the most important part of Great Viet, the former capital city, during the 11th to 18th centuries. Even though the royal palaces and many of the citadel buildings were destroyed or torn down due to disrepair by the 1900s, we did spend a couple of hours exploring this interesting historical place. During our visit we climbed the stairs of the South Gate, walked through the current archeological digging site, viewed the interesting archeological finds in the air conditioned museum, watched the red Vietnam flag wave in the breeze at the Flag Tower, looked at historical photos of military parades and athletic activities at this location, enjoyed the very beautiful gardens, viewed the outside of the North Gate at sunset, and appreciated the grandeur of the place.  It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

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Tran Quoc Pagoda – One afternoon we explored the West Lake area of Hanoi and visited this 6th century pagoda, which is the oldest Buddhist temple in the city. Unfortunately the pagoda and surrounding buildings were closed, but at least we took a pretty photo or two.

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Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum – We saw the exterior of the imposing gray granite building which houses Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed remains in a glass case. Even though the building is normally open to the public, we did not go inside. Instead we viewed a bit of the plaza and the beautiful surrounding gardens.

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One Pillar Pagoda – This temple, originally constructed in 1049 and in the same large plaza area as the mausoleum, was designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is the Buddhist symbol of purity since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond. However the One Pillar Pagoda we photographed on a warm, sunny afternoon is a replica because the French military destroyed the original building in 1954. The temple, built of wood with a single stone pillar, is one of Vietnam’s two most well known temples. And we were fortunate enough to see it!

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