Hanoi is the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Upon arrival at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport you are immediately transported into a country rich in culture. Hanoi is the heart of the real Vietnam. It has been described as the most beautiful city in Asia, having tree-lined avenues and countless lakes with French colonial architecture and an atmosphere of ghosts and secrets past; where women in conical hats and double baskets (yokes) still walk the streets as they always have done. There are four seasons in Hanoi ranging from hot & dry (June - Aug) to cold and damp (Dec - Feb).
Hanoi is made up of beautiful landscapes with lakes and shaded boulevards, an abundance of trees and only a handful of multistory buildings. The architecture is stunning and there is always something new to look at. The culture of Hanoi is very much found in the 'Old Quarter', with its ancient temples, monuments and coffee shop lifestyle. The Old Quarter is a maze of 36 streets which each have their own specialities, for example, Shoe Street, Silver Street, and Bamboo Street. These streets still retain a great deal of their old charm and are a great place to stop for a coffee to watch life go by and take in the atmosphere, energy and liveliness of Hanoi.
The street life of Hanoi consists of bustling markets and vendors with a selection of goods from silk to livestock! Hanoi is a shopper's paradise with silk, lacquer ware and paintings everywhere and incredibly reasonably priced. If you stand still for long enough, you will see practically everything on the back of a motorbike, from trees, to fridge freezers, to washing machines, to pigs to a whole family of 5!
The nightlife in Hanoi is rich and varied, with beer available everywhere from local 'bia hoi' stalls on the street to classy ex-pat bars in the expensive hotels. A brand new multi-plex cinema has opened with English language films with Vietnamese subtitles as well as some more intimate independent cinemas with a range of world films. There is an opera house with reasonably priced tickets for classical music performances and local theatre groups periodically put on performances in English.
Restaurants are everywhere, the food is great, and it is very cheap to eat out, therefore cooking is rarely attempted by most teachers. However, the satisfaction gained from shopping in markets where you successfully buy exactly what you want for unfeasibly reasonable prices, shouldn't be missed and markets provide you with phenomenal photo opportunities. Although there isn't much in the way of vegetarian street food in Hanoi, in restaurants, vegetarians are very well catered for.
There are lots of places to visit in Hanoi to get a sense of the history and culture of Vietnam. One to not be missed is Uncle Ho's Mausoleum, where you get to line up and file past Vietnam's adored past leader. In the same area is the Ho Chi Minh Museum where you can find out a great deal more about Uncle Ho and Vietnam. You can also visit places where he used to live, close to the famous One Pillar Pagoda.
The Temple of Literature is the place where education was first formalized in Vietnam which dates from around the 13th Century. It is an oasis of calm in the centre of the city with traditional Chinese architecture surrounded by huge trees and some stunning Frangipani trees around the courtyards. There are daily shows of traditional Vietnamese music and dances which are worth seeing to get an idea of the history.
There are several museums, of Fine Arts, of the Army and perhaps the best one, the Museum of Ethnology. This museum is just outside Hanoi and not only has an indoor museum with information about all the different ethnicities and cultures within Vietnam; but also has full size replications of the different types of houses built by each group; which you can go inside and get a real feel for the way of life which is the same today as it practically always has been (apart from the advent of satellite television!) Although you can travel around Vietnam and see these cultures in real life, it's still great to get more information about the cultures and traditions than you might do when you visit them.
You can also visit the 'Hanoi Hilton'. Not the 4 star hotel, but the old prison which still retains a distinctly uncomfortable ambiance of atrocities past. The guillotine is still in the courtyard, the cells are cramped and dark and there are lots of alarmingly recent photos. You can even see the jumpsuit of an American pilot of a B52 bomber which was shot down during the American-Vietnamese conflict (and which still remains in the lake it crashed into today)
The most famous lake in the centre of Hanoi is Hoan Kiem Lake. This is a small lake encircled by trees (absolutely stunning in May when all the flowers are out and it's an absolute riot of colour), and has not only Turtle Tower but also a Temple across the famous red wooden bridge. Turtle Tower is so called because the story of the lake tells that a turtle returned a lost sword to an ancient King. Locals tell you that there is still a turtle in the lake and there are often sightings where huge numbers of people gather staring at the water looking for evidence of the turtle. It may be an urban myth, but it cannot be denied that there is a stuffed version on display of an ancestor of the current turtle in Ngoc Son Temple! At dawn and dusk the lakeside is chock full of people doing exercises, from Tai Chi, to aerobics, to the Vietnamese version of speed walking and is well worth spending some time people watching and taking photos.
Hanoi is a small city with virtually everything conveniently located within a remarkably small radius. The bus system is cheap and frequent although most teachers hire or buy motorbikes or bicycles, and there is always a motorbike taxi on the nearest street corner to take you wherever you need to go for about 10,000VND (approx 75 cents)! Taxis are also cheap and easy to flag down and most are metred.
There are many places to visit if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.
Halong Bay is just on the doorstep and is very easy to organise a 2 or 3 day tour, with one night staying on a 'junk' on the bay.
Sapa is a train journey away (or for more intrepid types with more time to spare; a motorbike trip). Sapa is home to Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in Indo-China and has some of the most beautiful scenery in Vietnam; with misty mountains, ethnic minority hill tribes, and cooler weather conditions making it more comfortable than the cities.
Tam Dao is an old French hill station and is easily reached by motorbike. You can explore deserted stair cases through dense rainforest to reach a radio station at the top with phenomenal views.
Cuc Phuong is another place easily reached by motorbike, a few hours south of Hanoi in Ninh Binh province. Cuc Phuong is a national park protected by the government. When you arrive, having driven through sparkling green rice fields with limestone karsts jutting around the landscape through small villages where children greet you with excitement and loud 'hello's', you drive 20 km through ancient primary rainforest to get to the accommodation. Cuc Phuong is also the home of the Primate Rescue Centre which looks after rare and endangered primates; you can easily organise a visit through the rangers in the national park.
A trip to Cuc Phuong can be paired with a trip to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc. Hoa Lu was an ancient capital and can be visited on the way between Cuc Phuong and Tam Coc. Tam Coc is known as the Halong Bay in the Rice Fields. There is a hotel you can stay in (called the The Long) which is right in front of the ticket kiosk for boat tours along the river. It's worth getting up early to get to the boats when it's still really quiet and peaceful, before the tourist buses start arriving. This gives you the chance to be practically all alone on a boat on the river in the middle of the karsts and may even be up early enough to see the monkeys who live in the trees on the karsts!
Mai Chau is a small area a few hours drive from Hanoi on the way to Sapa. You stay in traditional long houses on stilts and can explore the local area, which is beautiful, nestling amidst rice fields and mountains. Traditional Black Thai dancers can be arranged for you to get an idea of the different cultures in the area and their traditional dress, music and dances.
