Vietnam Day 2: Hanoi (Part 1)

25/6/07

We woke up at around 8.30 in the morning and left the hostel to find some place to have our breakfast. We got the Hanoi map from our friendly hostel owner and we navigated around our hostel to find a cafe.

Street peddlers on Yen Thai Street

We settled on a cafe nearby to have our breakfast.

Cafe near our hostel

Next, we decided to go to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and took a cab there. By the way, we cannot squat in the premises of the Mausoleum as the guards would ask us to stand up.

The huge patch of grass in front of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Another shot in closer view

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and 2 guards stationed at the entrance

We wanted to go inside but it was closed on Mondays and we decided to go somewhere else. The weather was hot and humid and we were perspiring a lot.

Heroes Memorial

Hanoi Flag Tower

Statue of Stalin or Lenin (i think)

After checking out the historical sites around the vicinity, we took a cab to near the riverfront as there are some museums over there as well.

Hanoi Opera House

The opera house looks like it had been plucked out from Paris and planted in Hanoi. For people who do not know, Vietnam was once a French colony and some of the street designs and building architecture look parisian.

Also, the museums and other tourist sites were closed on Monday as well and we were rather bummed out that we cannot enter any of the places we visited. Also, the tourist sites are normally closed for an hour and a half during lunchtime. We decided to give the tourist sites a go another day instead.

Next, we proceeded to the riverside to check out the scenery. We crossed over major roads and went into several small alleys in the direction of the river.

At one of the small alleys with graffiti on the walls

To be continued...

End of Part 1 (9 am to 1 pm)