Day 136 – Hanoi
Full day exploring the vibrant capital
Today we decided to explore the capital starting by walking from the Rising Dragon Palace Hotel to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. The streets were pretty empty in the morning. On weekends the mausoleum closes at 11am. Once we got there, it was close to 11, but we saw a massive line of people waiting to go in. We decided to opt against joining the line, and we weren’t sure if we could have if we wanted.
Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh Museum
We then decided to walk to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, which is close by. In a string of bad luck, the museum was closed for a two hour lunch break, from midday to 2pm. Again, we decided not to wait as there is plenty of other sites to see in Hanoi.
Just down the stairs from the museum is the Buddhist Temple Chua Dien Huu. We decided to go and was surprised by how grand it was inside. At the back of the temple is the One Pillar Pagoda, which as the name suggests is a pagoda on top of a single pillar.
Chua Dien Huu One Pillar Pagoda
We then went to the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, which was built in the 11th Century. The entrance ticket was 30,000 VND / $1.82 AUD per person. The Citadel was first used by the Chinese to rule and then Vietnamese Royalty. The citadel houses several different buildings but the main attraction would be the Doan Mon Gate. The surrounding grounds have a museum, bunker and several other attractions.
Doan Mon Gate Megaphone with carved lotus petals Giant Precious Sapphire Turtle
We then unintentionally stumbled along the Hanoi Street Train. This is a section of line that goes through a narrow alley. Either side of the alley is either housing or cafes. We were glad to have stumbled upon this section. It is a live section, but we didn’t see any trains while we were there.
We then went to Hoa Lo Prison Memorial, which is a French colonial prison. During the Vietnam War, it was used to keep USA soldiers. The entrance fee was 35,000 VND / $2.12 AUD per person. Most of the prison has been demolished, and only a section of the prison remains. There are some films, recreations, lots of photographs and a small gift shop.
We then walked towards Hoan Kiem Lake, which was closed off to traffic and had been converted into a massive family friendly street party. Kids were running wild in remote controlled cars, and people were walking in every direction. All the cafes in the area were bursting with people. Not wanting to miss out we went to the close by Trang Tien Plaza for Dunkin’ Donuts (it was honestly the worst service we had in Vietnam, not recommend)
After this we went to the Lotus Water Puppet Show. We had bought the tickets in advanced (3 days ago – Day 133) and we were still a few rows from the front. The tickets cost 100,000 VND / $6.05 AUD per person. The show went for around an hour, and it was really done well. The water puppets stage is actually filled with water and the puppets move around here. It was excellent to see and I recommend it if you have a free night.
