Hanoi - Vietnam

We have been busy in Hanoi seeing the sights.  Hanoi has a population of 6.5 million, a very busy city, traffic everywhere.  We are staying in the "Old Quarter" - it is full of shops, restaurants and hotels.  On our first day we did a bit of a walking tour, around the Old Quarter, visiting the temples and walking the streets.   The area retains the old organisation - with each street specialising in a product, we visited a number of different streets: toy street, tin box street, straw mat street (bought a yoga mat), herb street, linen street, Buddhist altar street, sunglasses street, shoe street - the list goes on and on.  While doing our walking tour we ran into a number of soldiers who were also busy being tourists.  Here is a picture of Chuck and Cole with one of the soldiers. 

They were a lot more interested in getting their picture taken with Kenna - 5 of them lined up for a photo shoot with her!






















In Hanoi motorbikes are used to transport people and goods through the narrow and crowded streets.  We have seen a number of bikes carrying 4 people!  There are also products piled high on the back of bikes - I really like this one - so colourful.




































There are a number of temples in the "Old Quarter" - this one is decorated for a special event.























We spent a day on a tour with two University Students - Yen and Ha - who volunteer through the "Hanoikids" Tourist Group.  This is an opportunity for them to practise their English and share information about Vietnam and learn more about different cultures.  They were excellent tour guides.  We spent the day visiting Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, HCM's home, and the Temple of Literature - the first University in Vietnam, opened over a 1000 years ago. 


All official buildings in Vietnam are painted this colour to clearly show they are official government buildings.  This is the Presidential Palace - HCM never lived in this building, so it was only used for official meetings/business. It is still in use today.  HCM lived in a much more simple 2 room house on the same grounds. 

There are many guards around the HCM complex.

























This is "Uncle Ho's" home.












Yen, Cole, Ha, Kenna and Myself (Colleen) at the HCM complex.
















Kenna and Cole at the Temple of Literature - the tablet behind them is dedicated to a top student from the original class.  The tablet is standing on a turtle to represent longevity.























The gate at the Temple of Literature.




































Confucius and his best students are immortalised in the shrine at the Temple of Literature.  Schooling in Vietnam continues to be based on memorising facts.  Exams are all related to being able to remember the learnings from teachers/masters.  Kenna shared the education philosophy of Canada with our guides - they were very interested in the different style of education that we have at home.








Cole is rubbing the head of a turtle for luck.                                                                   
















St. Joseph's Cathedral - built in 1885.  Evening mass is occurring right now - we were at a restaurant beside the church and were able to hear the singing and bell ringing during the service. 





























Hanoi's growth has been incredible over the past 10 years - infrastructure is struggling to keep up.  This is a typical sight throughout the town.  The speakers are used in the morning to announce the news of the day to the citizens of the city.

In Hanoi there is a vibrant street life. During the day there are a variety of temporary shops set up on the sidewalks - you can get your shoes shined, keys cut, motorcycle tire fixed, a pedicure, a haircut and buy snacks, drinks and meals all on the sidewalk.  In the evening the stores close and the little chairs and tables come out - the sidewalks becomes restaurants and places to gather.  Our guide Yen told us the most profitable job in Hanoi right now (without a University Degree) is to run an ice tea shop on the sidewalk as the costs are so low and the young people in Hanoi love to hang out on the street and watch the action.  Here is a photo of a temporary restaurant just by our hotel.