Hello Uncle Ho!

I was awakened by the Hanoi's traffic at around 7.00am, but the weather was so cool that I felt so tempted to laze in my bed all day long. Still, I had a long day to go, so reluctantly I dragged myself up to prepare myself for my 2nd day in Hanoi, which we had planned to pay Uncle Ho a visit.

And so we started walking from our hostel towards the Hanoi Citadel, which is the center of the Vietnamese Communist Party is situated (I think) and that is why it is so heavily guarded. Throughout our walk we decided to try some local food which was packed with customers -- since it's so popular, the food should be fantastic! Well, try taking white steamed chicken with yellow glutaneous rice, and you'll know how it tasted like!

Anyway, foreigners strolling along Hanoi's streets tend to be warmly greeted by cyclos (rickshaw) and motorbike taxis (xe-oms) who keeps on yelling "Hello there!" or "You want taxi?" whenever they spot someone who doesn't look Vietnamese. Also one needs to elude from the tenacious street peddlers who generously flash their wares at unsuspicious travelers. I recalled another fellow Paraguay backpacker whom we met in our hostel, who told us how one tried to ripped her off. She was happily strolling along the streets when this old lady selling some pineapples on the road just dumped the loads she was carrying on her shoulder to the fellow traveler's, snatched her camera and took a photo of her and tried to charge her US$10! Jesus Christ! Nonetheless, after a series of bargaining, she ended up paying US$2 instead with for one small pineapple and a few more shots of her posing with the old ladies pineapples!

On the other hand, all of the printed and online travel guides stated that no one should miss Ho Chih Minh's mausoleum if they happened to be visiting Hanoi, so I have decided to heed to that piece of advice. It was already swarmed with zounds of people the moment we arrived there (we ended up taking a longer route since we went to see the local market where they sell lots of things - birds in cages, vegetables, fruits, meat, etc.. And there was already a long line from the entrance towards the mausoleum where lies our beloved Uncle Ho, heavily guarded with such tight security which I'm not surprised that there aren't any flies at all in there! Well, still he is the most endeared figure in this country, and everyone who wants to pay him a visit, has to walk upright, with hands at their sides, in total utmost silence. Basically you'll only see a well preserved old guy in a glass box, that's all.

We headed towards the Literature Temple or known as Van Mieu, which was located 15 minutes away from the citadel. This so-called temple actually was an academy where scholars from all over Annam gather to sit for their examinations (like how Chinese scholars do), and the one with the highest score attains fame and riches and a stellae carved with his name on, which will be displayed in the temple for eternity! The only funny thing is, the stellae were carved in Mandarin characters, of which modern Vietnamese people can't even read a single word!

Hunger stricken, we decided to take our lunch at a nearby stall at the roadside. A word of advice from a friend who had been to Hanoi, is that, if you want to eat somewhere in Vietnam, the lower the stool is, the scrumptious the food will be. I find this extremely true, despite the fact that all roadside stalls only offer you small a foot high stool to sit on while dining! It certainly was a challenge for me and Jessica, as we were rather tall ourselves, and having to sit on such small stools definitely was not easy at all. But the food was scrumptious, nonetheless. Oh, and one more thing. You just have to bargain for everything in Hanoi as you will be charged with an extra few thousand dongs compared with the locals; so, if you're really tight in your pockets, you can try bargaining for everything - noodles, facial wipes, bottled water, sweets, spring rolls, souvenirs, T-shirts, etc..

Jessica and I stopped by the old quarters on our way back to do some light shopping whilst I myself have to entertain my sister's demands for souvenirs. Aside from that, we were also researching for our Ninh Binh and Halong Bay trips, which we finally made up our mind. We would be going to Ninh Binh on our own, and booked a tour to Halong Bay through the company that our hostel recommended to us, which of course will be another story.

It seem to me the local Vietnamese's enjoy sitting on the foot high stools on the streets after work, sipping a glass of iced cold local beer (Bia-hoi) or a cup of coffee, and looking at travelers trudging on the streets. Everyone does that; the old folks, working middle classes, young teenagers, and even some seasoned travelers too!

That night, we went out for dinner with our newly made friends - the local Vietnamese girl, and the Paraguay traveler at a barbeque stall just outside our hostel. Sitting and dining on the streets of Hanoi at 14oC certainly was a great experience! I've never tried eating anything while shivering and trembling before!

After our dinner, we marched across the street to a famous local cafe that serves one of the best coffee in Hanoi. Vietnamese coffee is distinctly different from coffee in Malaysia; and since there ain't any Starbucks in Vietnam, the locals would just sip their coffee at such local coffee shops, sitting on their foot high stools, and relax on the five-foots. 

We slept early again the next day as we had another long day to go. Our next destination would be Ninh Binh where we were to visit the famous Tam Coc grottoes, a.k.a Halong Bay on land. :)