Walking Hanoi

We had a scheduled walking tour this morning and duly turned up at the appointed time, only to be told to wait. Well, it worked in our favour as the other people were no-shows, so it was just the two of us and our guide.

We covered some of the same spots as our food tour, but being a completely different time of day, we also saw many different things. One of the highlights was the wholesale market – where there were no tourists at all. 

A massive building containing more of the same crap as everywhere else, but on a larger scale – most items bundled up in sets to be sold together. Out the back of the markets were the spice markets, with large tubs full of all sorts of things. Many types of prawns and dried bits and pieces were common. Further on past the back of these markets were the fresh meat and seafood markets. There were many large bowls containing live fish, snails, frogs, and other such delicacies. Meat was being chopped up in front of us and funnily enough, the hygiene standards were questionable.

In the old quarter in Hanoi, some of the streets have retained their age old traditions – and are named after a particular type of thing that is for sale. There is tin street (all sorts of metal items are for sale), paper street (full of paper products – mostly used for sacrifices), beer street (full of pubs selling beer) and the like. Not all of the streets are like this – only some. It is great to see some traditions prevail. We also got to try the egg coffee at the original place that had been selling it since about 1946. It was extremely delicious – very creamy and we rated it the best coffee so far in Vietnam!

After we farewelled our guide, we visited the temple on the lake – famous for having a monster turtle exhibit. The temple itself was quite spectacular – but the turtle was the star attraction. Apparently he was 250 kilos or so, and lived well over 100 years – possibly up to 200 years.

Next stop was the women’s museum – a very large building that pays homage to the role of women in Vietnamese society. From courtship and wedding traditions, to women’s roles in the family, and much more in between, it was a pleasant way to avoid a downpour.

After hotel check out procedures were completed, we took in Hoa Lo prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton) recommended as a must-see attraction in Hanoi by many visitors. The prison was built in the late 1800s and survived several regimes before being mostly demolished to make way for a large commercial building. The parts of the prison that remain are set up to showcase the appalling way prisoners were kept, and to provide a memorial for those that survived – and those that didn’t. Full scale cells and dormitories, depicting the conditions the prisoners lived in were tastefully shown with life size models – all in a drab grey colour. We can see why people recommend this place – despite the nature of the site – it was extremely well presented.