This morning is once again overcast, but not raining. The temperature is in the low 20"s, a good deal cooler than we were expecting.
We headed off for our morning walk at 7am, this time to explore the Old Quarter more extensively. The streets were alive with merchants selling their fresh produce of the footpaths everywhere, anything from fresh fruit and vegetables to pork, fish and a variety of other seafood was on display.
We finally discovered a few convenience stores on this walk , as up till now, it has been a bit of mystery where the local procure day to day needs of processed items from.
The push bike still plays a major role in moving goods around in the busy streets, although they are rapidly being replaced by motor cycles.
Our walk took us through the major shopping district of the old quarter, and it reminded us very much of the old days when we lived in KL.
There are lots of old colonial buildings, and we stumbled upon the only prominnent church we have seen so far in Hanoi, St Josephs Church. It looks quite out of place in amongst the surrounding, very Asian buildings.
After a good hours walk, we met up for breakfast at 8.30am. By now it had started to rain lightly, so enthusiasm to venture back out to explore other parts of Hanoi was muted. Mike and I decided we would walk ( ~1.5km) to the "Hanoi Hilton", the jail the French built to incarcerate local political activists, and later criminals. It was used in the Vietnam war to hold American pilots captured as prisoners of war. Only a small part of the structure remains, and it has been converted into a museum, which covers the history of those held there over the period it was in active use. Included in the displays is a guillotine, that was used to execute a number of Vietnamese political prisoners in the early days.
The Main Entrance
Prisoners were held in large cells with their feet in stocks
Guillotine
Lunch today was at a local restaurant Quan An Ngon, finally we found a restaurant that served local street food, including noodle soups for lunch. It is a very popular restaurant filled with locals and a sprinkling of expats. The food was excellent and good value for money.
Once our stomachs were full, we decided to go to Ba Dinh square to see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and Presidential Palace. We arrived in time to witness the changing of the guard.
Changing of the guard at the Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
A bit of gardening activity at Ba Dinh Square
Presidential Palace
Having seen everything we could at Ba Dinh Square we caught a cab back to the Hotel. We now have to fill in about 5 hours, as we are not being picked up to catch the train to Sapa until 8.30pm. Rather than sit around the hotel , we decided to go for a final walk around to see the Opera House and the Vietnam National museum of History. Unfortunately we were not allowed to see inside the Opera House, but did get into the museum for the princely sum of $1 Aus.
Opera House
Museum of History
It is now close to 8.30pm and need to go to meet our guide to take us to the station to catch the train to Sapa. We have had mixed reports about the "luxury" train trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment