Hanoi, located on the bank of the Red River and with its centuries old architecture, is one of the most ancient capitals in the world. We had less than a day in the city before being collected for our cruise around Ha Long Bay, however you probably don’t need a great deal of time to take in the main sights.
Hoan Kiem District (the Old Quarter), with its streets roughly arranged by trade and packed with scooters and cars, is quite chaotic. We quickly had to learn how to deal with the traffic ‘local style’! Firstly, we stood by the side of the road, surveyed the traffic, scratched our heads, surveyed the traffic situation again (crazy!) and we were still baffled, as zebra crossings were being ignored by all, as were red lights and traffic seemed to be coming at us from every direction. Fear not, brave traveller… it won’t take long for a local to turn up to give you a demonstration! We watched as a local woman launched herself across the road and right through the traffic. We followed, shadowing her closely and watching as she dodged the swarms of scooters, beeping cars and darting bicycles, like she was speaking some secret code with her eyes and hands. She calmly held out her palms, in a stop motion, like some sort of Vietnamese ninja, and made it to the other side of the road without dying. Lesson: you must learn to trust the ‘Power of the Palms’ young ninjas!
After this vital lesson, we put our new skills to use and made it to Hoan Kiem Lake. With our heart rates returning back to normal, we enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the peaceful lake, visiting the pagoda sitting in the centre on a small island. The lake and temple are probably the most famous places in Hanoi city in which to rest, enjoy the view and recover from important road crossing lessons!
We happened to be staying around the corner, at the Delicacy Hotel (outstanding service), from the only accessible part of ‘Train Street’, with the authorities in Hanoi having shut down cafes and banned large crowds just 3 days before we arrived. It is one of the city’s most popular tourist spots, with trains speeding along a cramped thoroughfare, just inches away from residents’ homes. The staff at our hotel guided us to the open section and we were lucky enough to watch a couple of trains up close.
