After a late night. We manage to wake up in time(~8.30am)...for breakfast provided compliment of the hotel. Breakfast was pretty simple. Consist of Bread with butter and jam provided. They also "home" cook various items like ham, eggs and spring roll(VND) and "Fried rice" which look like vietnam version of it cos it taste like our glutinous rice. Lots of Fruits provided like Watermelon, grapes to name a few.
A Small Review of the Hotel
A small intro to the hotel which was choosen by Mr H. Cost us USD $28 for a Deluxe room with 2 bed. Definitely worth the price consider the distance to places of interest and the facilities it provides
It is also convenient located near the famous Hoan Kiem Lake where the water puppet show theaters are. This district is where most of the happening are...there is even a small shopping center there.
Room were clean and tidy. The beds are queen-size. Blankets are kept in the closet, though they are relative thin for my liking...(my friend turn on 18C Air-con and sleep "half-naked".....probably also fat help keep him warm)
There is even a small living room area with some coffee and chairs to chit-chat...
They even provide scandals for your convenience.
Internet access come with the room and it's the first time I see a PC inside my room...COOL.
Generally, I rate this Hotel 4/5. Location is a plus as it is minutes from the the shopping areas, friendly staff that make our trip enjoyable and the superb facilities provided for just 28USD..
H & R Walking Tour Highlights
After Breakfast, we ask the reception for a map and location of some places of interest and off we are on "foot". Yeah there is no MRT here yet....else it would have been so much convenient. Hanoi is not small and the roads are a bit "messy"
We actually have no idea where we want to go...we only know just to see the river then we are in the correction direction..Mr H is the map-reader for the day....
We actually walk around the Old Quarters exploring the livelihood of the locals. I was relative surprise that our hotel is actually located in a relative active area during the day....it was pitch black at night.....
Here are some of the photos taken during our morning walk. All I can say is that Vietnamese are simply and seem to expect not much. But I could be wrong though.
One of the Shop-houses in the street of Old Quarters, units upstairs are probably where the locals stay.
Standing near a store which i believe makes "ladders"
Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated here in Vietnam. Must be due to it's proximity to China? They even have moon cake, but didn't have time to go buy one...though, which I thought should have tried.
We decided to stop by this small cafe for a cup of cold coffee...temperature here in Hanoi is hot.....I heard it's around 40C...The Cafe in Vietnam resemble alot of those that I have seen in Paris. Here the people do seat along the street and watch the traffic just like in Paris....with of course a cheaper coffee. Cost ard $2 sing.
I must say...I am beginning to like Vietnam coffee....It is not too thick and they put condense milk in it...making it relatively sweet with enough coffee taste...it quite different from the coffee we tasted in Singapore or Coffeebeam. The only problem is that it is a relative small cup and there seem to be not enough water put in.....lol...(not sure what the reason...are we suppose to wait for the ice to melt?)
Taken by the shop-owner...a young man.....but i doubt he know what we are trying to say though...we use a special kind of language....call..."sign"
A school in Hanoi.....spoken to a local...on education in Vietnam...it seem like the people here are not too keen to study....much more interest to earn a living....I come to realize that one can get by with just USD150 per month....in Singapore context...that would be starving....
This is the typical street in Vietnam, Hanoi, usually you should be able to find somebody selling something along the streets...be it food, tee shirt and tourist stuff...be sure to bargain and shop around before buying.....price difference can be huge ~ $5 or 50000 VND difference
Came upon a small park. This park is located someway outside of the old quarters. We walk around and took some pictures. We are actually heading to the Ho Truc Bach, aka "Red River" as called by the locals. It's actually 2 river separated by a short strip of land.
This seem to be some monument park with statue of people revolving around vietnam history
Took time to take photos here....
It was relative tough having to navigate as well as walk to the places of interest under such hot weather (~39C), look at the photo and u will see how hot the place was....My shirt is wet!!
We finally reached the river in time for lunch.
Here at the river, they even rent out paddle boat...probably for families or lovers to paddle out onto the river...but with such a hot weather....I wonder who will be interested
We decided to pamper ourself a little by going to a slightly posh place for Lunch. Happy house, Located on the river itself. (Photo of me infront of the place)
At that time when we are having our lunch, there seem to be some important function, aka AGM? in a corner where people dress in formal attends. Overall....relative good atmosphere for lunch....i bet this place will come alive at night....
The bill amount to 220,000 VND , ~ S$22. As we can't read most of the instruction in the menu book provided, we just ordered...cautiously...
We order some fresh spring rolls....this one is really healthy and is make up of vege only....Come with a sauce with vinegar which I find it extremely smelly. There were 4 such rolls...and cost 35,000 VND, or S$3.50
The next dish is relative "Raw" but healthy as well. This dish also come with a sauce...not sure what it is.....but it doesn't taste good alone but still goes well with the dish. The Dish Consist cheese, Ham, hot-dog and some beef slices...
We each order different drink with me going for the Avocado milk shake but with much disappointment as I still think Alexander market's one is way better...
2nd Part of the Tour Begins...
Begin with a walk to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Along the way, pass through some high security areas where there are guards prowling everyway....Went pass the Presidential Palace but since there are so many guards...i didn't manage any photos....just took one outside..lol
There is a long stretch of road...very straight leading to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Lots of Guard here and there...since it's still a communist country ...did dare to take photos too much...(timid la). The Stretch of road I am talking about is Hung Vuong
Came across this building while walking Toward Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, but not sure what building this is...But I must say...taking this photos is tough...(10shots to be exact). I Crop the photo just to make it right.....
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is closed during the time we were there. It's a Friday and According to the Hotel's Staff...most museum are not open today. We can only see see look look. There is also guard prowling here...and there is an exchange of guards taking place at regular interval. There is even regulation when Entering this museum, there shall be No talking, short pants, or other signs of disrespect allowed while viewing; photos are allowed only from outside.The Body of Ho Chi Minh lay here and during the year end, 3mths to be exact, his body is send for maintenance...abroad.
Since we spend such an effort to reach here...(Walk from morning till now 1.30pm), we took some photos. This one is taken by a local who travel all the way from HCM City alone...
The Flag of Vietnam, with a yellow star, is hanging high and with good weather, this make a good photo spot as well...
The Vast spaces available here is something hard to find in Singapore....
Mr H from L&H Tours striking a pose and try a pose different from me....though I must say....in term of posing....I lose out hand-down....lol(See photos and u know what I meant)
It's a pity, the site was close for the next 3 months...really wanted to see how it is like inside the building...This site remind me of my trip to Rome, sometime back....though the scale here is smaller...I was told, from photos that the site is even more spectacular at night.....but didn't have the time to walk all the way here...
A short distance down the road is the Ho Chi Minh Museum. This was also closed on Friday. The photo explain why - there isn't a single soul there..when we visited beside us and a few tourist (<5)
The One-Pillar Pagoda was just around the corner, however we were being pestered by those cyclo drives..so We decided to leave the place....without noticing the important place...(such a pity)
Instead, we took photos at this fountain area near the museum....lol
We return back to our hotel for some wash-up and headed to the Hoan Kiem Lake Area to book our tickets to the Water Puppet show in the evening..We didn't forecast that this show is one of the main attraction in town. In the end, We ended up with a lousy back roll seat....(I got a friend - Chicken, who manage to seat in the first row, how lucky)
After getting our tickets...which cost 40,000VND for 2nd class ticket. Didn't manage to get first Class tickets which are front seat tickets (60,000VND) as they are already sold out for the 6.30pm show...and 8pm show as well. They Charge for taking photos (15,000VND), but I think it's Ok not to buy as the Authorities did even bother to check the photo-taking tickets...and everyone is snapping off in the theaters...
While there is still sometime....we walk to the nearby attraction along the Hoan Kiem Lake where the Ngoc Son Temple is. Did go inside as it's bit rush thus just took photo nearby...
Along the Hoan Kiem Lake.
Entrance to the Ngoc Son Temple. though a small area of attraction, there are quite a number of local around. This Temple displays Vietnamese history, giant turtles, including a mummified specimen. The world's skinniest kitten lives on this island
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