Xin Cao (pronounced as Sin Chao)! That's hello in Vietnamese, and yes, that's where I've been most recently, Hanoi particularly. This time I'll be sharing about my trip, where we went, what we ate and all. So stay tuned!
Hanoi is the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, more commonly known as Vietnam.It is the country's second largest city by population. The city lies in the middle of the Red River, from where it derives its name, literally meaning 'inside the river'. Its old name is Thang Long, meaning rising dragon, the dragon referencing the Red River, which shape resembles that of a dragon, apparently.
Hanoi is located in the north of Vietnam, shares its boundary with China, and they have four distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. So when we were there, it was autumn, so the weather was cold and crisp in the early morning and evening. It was perfect weather for lots of walking around. :-)
Hanoi is one of the most ancient capitals in the world, and here you can find colonial buildings, ancient pagodas, temples and unique museums. It was once colonized by the French, so their architecture has the French influence.
Word of caution when traveling to Hanoi. As is with any developing city, there are chances that you will get ripped off, if you do not know any better. When shopping, they tend to give prices of merchandise to tourists exorbitantly, and always try to haggle, starting from half the price quoted. Feel free to leave if you don't get the price you want, there are plenty of other shops around.
As for transportation, since Hanoi is not yet as modernized as its counterparts in Asia, there is no train system for going around in the city. There are local buses, but if you don't speak the language, it is impossible to tell the driver where you want to go and where you want to get off, much less figuring out where the bus is headed. That said, you are left with the only possible option, taxis. Most other blogs I read before I went there said that there are only TWO reputable taxi companies in Hanoi, namely Vinasun and Mai Linh. We rode Mai Linh most of the time when going back to our hotel, and we took Uber when we were going out- as we have internet when we are in the hotel.
As for the currency, Vietnam uses the Vietnamese Dong, one of the most undervalued currencies in the world. 100 PHP is equivalent to 45,000 VND, so do the math. I was a multimillionaire for a few days while I was in Hanoi, ha ha ha!
So, let's start. We took a Cebu Pacific flight, which took nearly four hours. Vietnam is one hour behind the Philippines, and we arrived in Hanoi 20 minutes past midnight local time. We went through immigration in a breeze, took our luggage, and since there was free wi fi at the airport, we booked an Uber car to the hotel. The airport was clean, and it was not crowded as it was past midnight already. The ride was 20-30 minutes from the airport.
We stayed at the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake, and all I can say about this hotel is it was excellent. They provide great service, the staff were very friendly, they accommodated us right away so that we can go to sleep soonest. They even upgraded our room to one on the lake itself free of charge!
All of the staff speak fluent English, and they are always helpful, even taking time to write down the name of the taxi company so that they could call them in case we leave something behind. Talk about great customer service! :-)
We had this view everyday while we were there. And like I said, our room was located on the lake itself, and when we wake up, we can go to the balcony and enjoy coffee and look at the beautiful view.
Right in front of our balcony is the view of the main building of the resort. Secluded by the hedges is the swimming pool. Since we arrived way past midnight, we went to sleep right away to get ready to explore the minute morning comes.
This is the building where our room was located. It is the one on the left most room and the one on the lower floor.
This is the famous Sunset Bar of the hotel. It is aptly named as such because it gives you an unobstructed view of the sunset as you relax and sip your drinks. :-)
We also did not miss an opportunity to take a dip in the pool, although we were the only ones swimming and the rest were just lounging on the chairs. Perhaps the water was too cold for them, ha ha! I took this photo on the morning of our first day, just as we passed it to go exploring. We would come back in the afternoon to laze around and swim.
Now, off to our adventures! First order of the day was to visit Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum is located. Unfortunately, we were unable to see his body as it was in Russia during that time for its yearly upkeep and maintenance.
Ba Dinh Square is the place where the late President Ho Chi Minh read the Proclamation of Independence of the Democtartic Republic of Vietnam on September 2,1945. When Ho Chi Minh died, they built a granite mausoleum to display his embalmed body against his wishes.
Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square is one of the top most visited places in Hanoi. It is the resting place of Ho Chi Minh, the most iconic and popular leader of Vietnam, known to his people as Uncle Ho. His body is preserved in a glass case, but sadly we could not see it like I said as the body was in Russia during the time that we were there. But even if it was there, photos are not allowed, so we would only have been able to see it briefly. It is said that before he passed away, he said he wanted his body to be cremated and scattered all over the country, so that land can be saved for agricultural production. His followers did not execute his wish, as they wanted to honor and express their admiration to their leader. So they built the mausoleum and displays his body to this day.
There were a lot of visitors to the square, mostly Chinese tourists by the buses. I also heard Indonesian phrases here and there, so there was a lot of chatter. If the body was there, strict rules are to be followed inside the mausoleum. There is heavy security in the vicinity, in fact, if you just cross the marked line where people are allowed to step on, the guards blow the whistle to let you know, as experienced by one of the tourists who tried to step on the elevated walkway. Inside the mausoleum, absolutely no talking or finger pointing is allowed. No short skirts or tank tops are allowed inside, and absolutely no picture taking while inside, and each person is only allowed a maximum of 10 minutes inside. I guess that's plenty of time to see Uncle Ho.
Entry to the Presidential Palace compound is 25,000 VND, which is roughly 55PHP. You only get to take a picture of the palace from a distance though, as it is closed off to the public. This palace was intended to be the official residence of Ho Chi Minh but he opted to live in a traditional Vietnamese stilt-house instead. As the palace is still used for official gatherings, visitors are only allowed to explore the gardens and the stilt home where he used to live.
These are the official cars he used to ride. There are four cars in total, all on display in some buildings in the compound. There were a lot of tourists though, so I could not take a picture of all four cars at once. The reflections of people can also be seen on the glass, which is not very good.
This is where he used to have meetings with the Politburo members. Again, they shouldn't have put glass, they could just put signs that entry is not allowed or something, because the glass does not allow you to see things clearly, let alone take decent pictures. My reflection can be seen in the photo. Inside the room is a small table and a few chairs, showing its simplicity.
This is the house where the president actually lived in, not the palace a few meters away. Here we could see the simple life he lived, as evidenced by the simple furnishings and things on display.
The dining area is on the ground floor, and you just see a dining table and chairs on display. There was nothing else to look at, again the simplicity. Perhaps that is why Uncle Ho was much loved and admired by his people then and now.
This room was his study- we can see a desk, a chair, a lamp and a book case that contains a few old books inside. The house had two rooms upstairs, and it was his study and his bedroom.
The bedroom was not much different. There was also a desk in it, a hat on the desk, and a single simple bed on one side, although I could not take it in the picture as we could not go close enough. So this house was where he spent his last days on earth.
Just a few steps away from the house is a pomelo grove with so many fruits. These trees are way too young to have been there during the time of Uncle Ho though. I think they just planted them a few years ago. Most of the trees in the compound though are old and very big so they were there when he was still living.
The house and the pomelo grove was connected by this bridge, and on the pond there was a lot of koi fish. The tall cypress trees, the pond, the palm trees and the surrounding gardens give the place a sense of peace and serenity. It was quite nice walking around, learning about the lifestyle of Uncle Ho and seeing the place where he lived.
Inside the presidential compound are well-kept gardens and lush fruit groves, so you can take your time walking around and take pictures.
The brochure describes this path as the mango grove, as it it lined by mango trees of course, and it says that this path was where Ho Chi Minh used to walk and go about his daily exercise.
There were also areas not described in the brochure, and this was one, and we only came upon it because we were looking for a public toilet we can use. And those are hard to find, actually. If you see the sign WC, that's what it is. Run and go relieve yourself, as you don't know when you can find the next one, ha ha.
Cypress knees are distinctive features that form above the roots of cypress trees. Their function is unknown, but they do grow and are generally seen on trees growing in swamps. These are also featured in the brochure and they have been named as Buddha's roots.
We followed the throng of people walking, not sure where our feet would take us, until we came to these street that was filled with stalls selling souvenirs.
We did not buy anything just yet, but one of my nieces tried on the Vietnamese hat and I furtively took a picture of her just in case the vendors do not allow it, ha ha.
One Pillar Pagoda is one of the most iconic temples in Hanoi. It is said that the late King Ly Thai Tong had a dream of the holy lady (Phat ba Quan Am), sitting on a lotus and was leading him to a building similar to this. When he woke up, he was advised by a monk to build the pillar-based pagoda like in his dream and top it with the lotus flower of the lady, hence the design. The people lined up are going up there to pray, and we just took a picture of the structure.
A few steps away from the pagoda is the Ho Chi Minh museum. Entrance fee to the museum is 10,000 VND. The museum tells the life of Ho Chi Minh of course, from his childhood and upbringing, how he traveled the world to find a way to rescue the country from colonialism. It also tells how he translated the influence of Marxism and Leninism ideal into founding the Vietnamese Communist party and striving for national independence.
By this time we were already feeling hunger pangs despite buying some fruit snacks at the pagoda, so we set out looking for a place to eat. We came to a local market and we had the first taste of Vietnamese cuisine.
We walked around until we saw a tiny stall that sells what we thought we could eat. And thus, we had our first taste of bun cha. Bun cha is one of the most famous dishes of Hanoi, and this dish is unique to the city. It is basically a cold noodle soup, with grilled pork. The meat comes in two kinds- grilled pork belly and grilled ground pork. My younger niece, who is a very picky eater loved it. I had to let the lady know not to give her the soup though. There will be a separate article about all the dishes we ate so as not to make this article too long, as I believe it already is.
The Hanoi Citadel is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the former residence of Vietnamese monarchs dating back to the Ly Dynasty and remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1810.
The royal palaces and edifices were largely destroyed in the 19th century. The few remaining structures are the Doan Mon gate which marks the entrance to the palace, which we see in the first picture about the Citadel, the Flag Tower which is the picture above.
Entrance to the citadel was 30,000 VND, but at the time we visited the underground bunkers were closed, so it was a big disappointment. My sister was complaining that we paid 30,000VND not seeing anything much except take a few pictures up the gate and that's it. Oh well.
We took the stairs that goes up the gate to see what we could see- nothing much except that from that vantage point you can see the entire place basically.
We just enjoyed the nice breeze under the trees while we were up there to take a breather and then we decided to go back to the hotel and enjoy the pool and relax. It was quite an eventful first day, and here ends my first entry about my Hanoi trip.
Stay tuned for the rest!
You can read more travel articles here.
Hanoi is the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, more commonly known as Vietnam.It is the country's second largest city by population. The city lies in the middle of the Red River, from where it derives its name, literally meaning 'inside the river'. Its old name is Thang Long, meaning rising dragon, the dragon referencing the Red River, which shape resembles that of a dragon, apparently.
Hanoi is located in the north of Vietnam, shares its boundary with China, and they have four distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. So when we were there, it was autumn, so the weather was cold and crisp in the early morning and evening. It was perfect weather for lots of walking around. :-)
Hanoi is one of the most ancient capitals in the world, and here you can find colonial buildings, ancient pagodas, temples and unique museums. It was once colonized by the French, so their architecture has the French influence.
Word of caution when traveling to Hanoi. As is with any developing city, there are chances that you will get ripped off, if you do not know any better. When shopping, they tend to give prices of merchandise to tourists exorbitantly, and always try to haggle, starting from half the price quoted. Feel free to leave if you don't get the price you want, there are plenty of other shops around.
As for transportation, since Hanoi is not yet as modernized as its counterparts in Asia, there is no train system for going around in the city. There are local buses, but if you don't speak the language, it is impossible to tell the driver where you want to go and where you want to get off, much less figuring out where the bus is headed. That said, you are left with the only possible option, taxis. Most other blogs I read before I went there said that there are only TWO reputable taxi companies in Hanoi, namely Vinasun and Mai Linh. We rode Mai Linh most of the time when going back to our hotel, and we took Uber when we were going out- as we have internet when we are in the hotel.
As for the currency, Vietnam uses the Vietnamese Dong, one of the most undervalued currencies in the world. 100 PHP is equivalent to 45,000 VND, so do the math. I was a multimillionaire for a few days while I was in Hanoi, ha ha ha!
 |
| The Vietnamese Dong bills |
So, let's start. We took a Cebu Pacific flight, which took nearly four hours. Vietnam is one hour behind the Philippines, and we arrived in Hanoi 20 minutes past midnight local time. We went through immigration in a breeze, took our luggage, and since there was free wi fi at the airport, we booked an Uber car to the hotel. The airport was clean, and it was not crowded as it was past midnight already. The ride was 20-30 minutes from the airport.
 |
| Noi Bai International Airport Arrival Area |
We stayed at the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake, and all I can say about this hotel is it was excellent. They provide great service, the staff were very friendly, they accommodated us right away so that we can go to sleep soonest. They even upgraded our room to one on the lake itself free of charge!
 |
| Main Entrance of the hotel resort |
All of the staff speak fluent English, and they are always helpful, even taking time to write down the name of the taxi company so that they could call them in case we leave something behind. Talk about great customer service! :-)
 |
| sunset at hotel |
We had this view everyday while we were there. And like I said, our room was located on the lake itself, and when we wake up, we can go to the balcony and enjoy coffee and look at the beautiful view.
 |
| view from the balcony |
Right in front of our balcony is the view of the main building of the resort. Secluded by the hedges is the swimming pool. Since we arrived way past midnight, we went to sleep right away to get ready to explore the minute morning comes.
This is the building where our room was located. It is the one on the left most room and the one on the lower floor.
 |
| Sunset Bar |
This is the famous Sunset Bar of the hotel. It is aptly named as such because it gives you an unobstructed view of the sunset as you relax and sip your drinks. :-)
 |
| the pool |
We also did not miss an opportunity to take a dip in the pool, although we were the only ones swimming and the rest were just lounging on the chairs. Perhaps the water was too cold for them, ha ha! I took this photo on the morning of our first day, just as we passed it to go exploring. We would come back in the afternoon to laze around and swim.
Now, off to our adventures! First order of the day was to visit Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum is located. Unfortunately, we were unable to see his body as it was in Russia during that time for its yearly upkeep and maintenance.
 |
| Ba Dinh Square |
Ba Dinh Square is the place where the late President Ho Chi Minh read the Proclamation of Independence of the Democtartic Republic of Vietnam on September 2,1945. When Ho Chi Minh died, they built a granite mausoleum to display his embalmed body against his wishes.
 |
| Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum |
 |
 |
| Presidential Palace |
Entry to the Presidential Palace compound is 25,000 VND, which is roughly 55PHP. You only get to take a picture of the palace from a distance though, as it is closed off to the public. This palace was intended to be the official residence of Ho Chi Minh but he opted to live in a traditional Vietnamese stilt-house instead. As the palace is still used for official gatherings, visitors are only allowed to explore the gardens and the stilt home where he used to live.
 |
| Cars of Ho Chi Minh |
These are the official cars he used to ride. There are four cars in total, all on display in some buildings in the compound. There were a lot of tourists though, so I could not take a picture of all four cars at once. The reflections of people can also be seen on the glass, which is not very good.
 |
| Politburo's meeting room |
This is where he used to have meetings with the Politburo members. Again, they shouldn't have put glass, they could just put signs that entry is not allowed or something, because the glass does not allow you to see things clearly, let alone take decent pictures. My reflection can be seen in the photo. Inside the room is a small table and a few chairs, showing its simplicity.
 |
| Stilt house of Ho Chi Minh |
This is the house where the president actually lived in, not the palace a few meters away. Here we could see the simple life he lived, as evidenced by the simple furnishings and things on display.
 |
| Dining Area |
The dining area is on the ground floor, and you just see a dining table and chairs on display. There was nothing else to look at, again the simplicity. Perhaps that is why Uncle Ho was much loved and admired by his people then and now.
This room was his study- we can see a desk, a chair, a lamp and a book case that contains a few old books inside. The house had two rooms upstairs, and it was his study and his bedroom.
The bedroom was not much different. There was also a desk in it, a hat on the desk, and a single simple bed on one side, although I could not take it in the picture as we could not go close enough. So this house was where he spent his last days on earth.
Just a few steps away from the house is a pomelo grove with so many fruits. These trees are way too young to have been there during the time of Uncle Ho though. I think they just planted them a few years ago. Most of the trees in the compound though are old and very big so they were there when he was still living.
The house and the pomelo grove was connected by this bridge, and on the pond there was a lot of koi fish. The tall cypress trees, the pond, the palm trees and the surrounding gardens give the place a sense of peace and serenity. It was quite nice walking around, learning about the lifestyle of Uncle Ho and seeing the place where he lived.
 |
| Pond by the house |
Inside the presidential compound are well-kept gardens and lush fruit groves, so you can take your time walking around and take pictures.
 |
| Mango Grove |
The brochure describes this path as the mango grove, as it it lined by mango trees of course, and it says that this path was where Ho Chi Minh used to walk and go about his daily exercise.
There were also areas not described in the brochure, and this was one, and we only came upon it because we were looking for a public toilet we can use. And those are hard to find, actually. If you see the sign WC, that's what it is. Run and go relieve yourself, as you don't know when you can find the next one, ha ha.
 |
| Cypress knees, also named Buddha's roots |
Cypress knees are distinctive features that form above the roots of cypress trees. Their function is unknown, but they do grow and are generally seen on trees growing in swamps. These are also featured in the brochure and they have been named as Buddha's roots.
We followed the throng of people walking, not sure where our feet would take us, until we came to these street that was filled with stalls selling souvenirs.
 |
| One Pillar Pagoda |
 |
| Ho Chi Minh Museum |
A few steps away from the pagoda is the Ho Chi Minh museum. Entrance fee to the museum is 10,000 VND. The museum tells the life of Ho Chi Minh of course, from his childhood and upbringing, how he traveled the world to find a way to rescue the country from colonialism. It also tells how he translated the influence of Marxism and Leninism ideal into founding the Vietnamese Communist party and striving for national independence.
 |
| Hanoi side street |
We walked around until we saw a tiny stall that sells what we thought we could eat. And thus, we had our first taste of bun cha. Bun cha is one of the most famous dishes of Hanoi, and this dish is unique to the city. It is basically a cold noodle soup, with grilled pork. The meat comes in two kinds- grilled pork belly and grilled ground pork. My younger niece, who is a very picky eater loved it. I had to let the lady know not to give her the soup though. There will be a separate article about all the dishes we ate so as not to make this article too long, as I believe it already is.
 |
| Doan Mon Gate of Hanoi Citadel |
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| Flag Tower |
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| Passage under the gate |
We took the stairs that goes up the gate to see what we could see- nothing much except that from that vantage point you can see the entire place basically.
We just enjoyed the nice breeze under the trees while we were up there to take a breather and then we decided to go back to the hotel and enjoy the pool and relax. It was quite an eventful first day, and here ends my first entry about my Hanoi trip.
Stay tuned for the rest!
You can read more travel articles here.
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