Knowing we had another lovely long day ahead of us, Llew and I decided to set our alarms, wake up early, go to breakfast with enough time to linger over the delicious Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk and then go down to the lobby to check out of the hotel for the next leg of our travels.
Breakfast was another delicious bowl of Pho Bo (Beef Pho) for me as I simply cannot get enough of this amazing concoction. Followed with the said coffee and fresh fruit, it makes for a most satisfying meal. Llew followed suit and together we had ourselves a splendid breakfast while seated at the corner picture window that offered 180 degree views of the city of Saigon. We’d really enjoyed Saigon and had fully connected with its colonial history and its post-colonial spirit of resilience and achievement. Truly, it is a modern, affluent, organized Asian city, and in many ways, reminded us of places like Singapore, Shanghai and Seoul. I was actually just a tiny bit sorry to say Sayonara to Saigon, but I was also excited about the rest of the adventures in store for us.
Flight to Hanoi:Our pick-up guide and driver arrived on schedule and, in no time at all, we were driving to the airport, really grateful to have the convenience of these arrangements that made our travel stress-free. Once at the airport, we checked in a bag each and walked with our carry-ons into the airport for our Vietjet Air flight—only an hour long. It flew by, of course, and very shortly, we were touching down in the capital of Northern Vietnam, Hanoi. There, we were met by our guide, a sweet young chap who told us his name was Thom but told us to call him Bobby. He saw us into our private cab and off we speeded to our next hotel, the Flower Garden Hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. There, we were greeted warmly by Reception staff, served a lovely welcome drink and provided keys to our room.
Thom told us to get settled and to relax a bit in our room and he would be back about an hour later to begin our tour of the city of Hanoi with us.
Touring the City of Hanoi:Right off the bat, in fact, as we were driving from the airport to our hotel, it was very obvious to us that Hanoi and Saigon are two very different cities. While Saigon is mainly spiffy and obviously high-tech, Hanoi is old, traditional, run-down. On our tour of the city which occurred throughout the afternoon, we received a very good sense of its old-world flavor. In fact, since our hotel was located right in the Old Quarter, we fully absorbed the flavor and local color—both of which are available in abundance.
The Extensive Ho Chi Minh Complex:The biggest attraction in Hanoi is the Ho Chi Minh Complex, a vast spread of beautifully landscaped gardens in which the most important monuments and buildings of the city are located. A short drive from our hotel dropped us off in the parking lot from where we footed it with Thom, going past the modern Parliament House on our left. We were unable to enter it as it is closed to visitors. We gathered, soon enough, that most of the buildings are closed and visitors are only allowed to enter a couple of them. This has largely to do with the fact that it is not the tourist season—apparently when there are visitors in great numbers, they are allowed inside.
Inside the complex, the most striking building and the most regal one, is the strangely painted mustard colonial President’s Palace building which used to be the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Hanoi during the French colonial regime. I loved the striking bones of its architecture, built very much in the French chateau-style. After Independence, it became the official residence in Hanoi of the presidents of the country; but HCM who adopted the principles of austere living, started the trend of retaining the building only for foreign visitors or emissaries. The building sits in a really serene spot—there is nothing grand about it, but it is regal and extremely appealing.
Literally next door to the European aesthetic of this building is another one, a far more modest one. This was the sedate building that HCM chose for his Residence. It consists of a simple bedroom, a living room and a dining room. Few visitors entered these premises because HCM did not marry, staying single all his life and, therefore, did not entertain. The only indulgence he permitted himself are the wonderfully impressive cars that were presented to him by the Soviet Union as he was a great champion of Communism. They sit in individual garages today, gleaming with the weight of history behind them. Many a visiting dignitary was ferried around the city in one of these cars.
It was a lovely walk around the periphery of a great artificial lake that brought us over to the other side where we saw yet another two-storey building that HCM used as his office. On the top floor, is his bedroom and office and on the lower level is a large table surrounded by chairs. In this space, he conducted his party meetings, had high-level discussions with other heads of state, etc.
Leaving the building behind us, we walked along a vast grove of pomelo trees—each drooping with the weight of huge, ripe citrus fruit. This walk took us towards the most important building in the complex—HCM’s Mausoleum. You cannot miss this stunning building when you are driving by it. It is shaped like a Greek temple and reminds you vaguely of the Parthenon, except that it is made of grey granite rather than white marble. In point of fact, there is nothing Grecian about it—it is, in fact, modelled on the mausoleum and final resting place of Lenin, HCM’s fervent hero, in Moscow. Once again, we were informed that we could not enter the building although tourists are allowed in the high season.
A few short steps then took us forward to one of the most famous structures in Hanoi, the ancient One-Pillar Pagoda which is over a thousand years old. It is still a holy place of Buddhist worship and attracts many visitors as its design is so unusual. Indeed, it rises out of a small enclosed pond on a single broad pillar—the pagoda-pattern on the top is the only indication of its sacred purpose. It could easily pass for a very large dove cote. At the top of a short flight of stairs is the main altar with a statue of the Buddha and the entire structure is strung with prayer flags.
Viewing the Vast Precincts of the Temple of Literature:The next stop of our tourist agenda was a visit to the equally famous Temple of Literature. This massive complex reminded us very much of the many Buddhist temples we had seen in Kyoto and Tokyo in Japan as well as in China. They are deceptively small from the outside. It is only when you enter inside that you realize there is ‘room’ after ‘room’, each of which is set in lovely mature gardens with well established and very impressively tall trees.
Thom explained that the Temple of Literature is dedicated to Confucius, the Chinse scholar whose interpretation of traditional Buddhism spawned a whole new denomination of the religion—Confucianism-- which is a highly popular form of spirituality even today. The temple is especially popular with students who visit it to pray for success in their exams or to find good employment.
As you enter through the main gate, you will see Chinese motifs on the two side walls—one features a dragon, another a white tiger (both associated with China). Inside, there are a few remarkable gates, doorways and structures that speak of the fervent architectural activity that was carried out in Vietnam over a thousand years ago when Chinese influence was established in the country. Of particular interest is a pagoda that features on the 100,000 Dong note.
When we entered the last structure, we found it milling with faithful devotees, especially young ones. They were carrying offerings with them and bending down in prayer. Confucius was depicted, in a towering statue, on the main altar and is flanked by contemporary Chinese scholars of Buddhism who adopted his interpretations of the religion and took it far and wide across the Eastern world. The air was filled with incense and was highly atmospheric.
The ‘Obama Combo’ for Lunch:By this point, Llew and I were both rather hungry. It was about 5.00 pm and our last meal had been breakfast—a large breakfast but it had been a tiring day and we needed refueling. We told Thom to suggest a place where we could have a late lunch-early dinner and, without batting an eyelid, he suggested Hueng Lien’s, a very nondescript noodle house that sold the best Bun Cha in town.
So, a word about Bun Cha: Bun Cha is Vietnamese for Noodles with Pork (Bun is Noodles, Cha is Pork). It is eaten throughout the day and you cannot mistake the vast number of restaurants and small eateries all over town that advertise this dish. Now, as it happened, President Obama had made a trip to Vietnam and, being a fan of the late TV chef and food writer, Anthony Bourdain, he had requested the foodie to take him on a walking tour of Hanoi’s special joints. For Bun Cha, Bourdain had recommended Hueng Lien’s. And presto, before you could say Ho Chi Minh, this place soared in fame and fortune. In fact, Bourdain did a special episode of his cookery show called Parts Unknown featuring Obama in Hanoi.
Today, troops of tourists file into the tiny place that is extremely no-frills. You sit, Vietnamese-style, on low, backless, plastic stools (not the most comfortable seats, to be sure) and tuck into the ‘Obama Special’. This consists of a large bowl of grilled pork, cut into thin slices and served in a broth that has been simmering forever. A bowl of white soft rice noodles is offered on the side. There is also a large plate of salad greens. As if this were inadequate, there is a very large, super-filled fried spring roll. And to drink? You are served a can of cold beer. You dunk the noodles and the greens into the bowl of broth and enjoy!
How was it? Awesome. The broth is so flavorful and the noodles so filling and the herbs offering such a fresh burst of taste and spice (there is plenty of Thai basil) that you simply cannot stop eating. Llew and I thought our first introduction to Bun Cha was splendid and we simply could not stop thanking Thom for introducing us to such a delightful place. I believe our entire meal cost $7.
Our sightseeing frenzy was over for the day and Thom dropped us off at the Hoan Kiem Lake which is a popular place for locals to gather. In the center of the lake is the Turtle Temple—also ancient, as we could easily discern. The lights came on around the lake and cast lovely colorful reflections in the water. We said goodbye to Thom and decided to take a walk along one of the small fruit markets nearby so that we could buy and taste the local fruit. We ended up buying longans, mangosteen and rambutan—we had plenty of litchies in Bombay (so we did not buy those). We also walked through a long coveryed market by the lakeside which offered all manner of local eats and novelties including the strong-smelling durian fruit.
Long Walk Back to Our Hotel:It was finally time for us to call it a day. We had walked a lot and were ready to return to our hotel. Thom had told us it would take us 15-20 minutes, but it turned out to be more like 45-by which time I was thoroughly pooped. We walked for the most part (after we left the periphery of the lake) along a single long street that was filled with street kiosks and stalls as part of a street market. On the weekends, these vendors stay up until 11.00 pm. Being that it was a week day, they were beginning to close shop at about 7.30. These street markets are local markets that attract non-tourists. We took in the abundance of local color and finally reached our hotel.
All that was left was for us to have our showers and get ready for bed after watching TV which confirmed that the crew of the Titan had all died in a likely implosion that took place soon after they began their descent into the ocean. It was such a sobering and sad way to end our day!
Until tomorrow…
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