"Hanoi - City of Absorbing Sights and... " a Hanoi Travel Page by victorwkf

My visit to Hanoi and northern Vietnam in December 2006 was an interesting one because it was rather unexpected. Having visited China and Japan in Oct-Nov 2006, I was rather exhausted from travelling. To my surprise, I had to go to Hanoi to attend a meeting in December 2006 because one of my bosses could not make it. Therefore, I started to look through VT and other resources to piece up an itinerary which included Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa. A big thank you to many VT members who shared their very useful tips on Hanoi with me.

Before I went to Hanoi, I did not really expect much from this city. However, it turned out to be a really fantastic trip for both me and my wife because this city is full of nostalga as well as absorbing sights and sounds. Also, most of the major attractions are within walking distance, and the best way to experience this city is really by walking around.

Hanoi is known as a city of lakes as there are many lakes and trees all around the city, the biggest being the West Lake (Ho Tay) and the most famous in the city centre being the Lake of the Restored Sword (Ho Hoan Kiem).

Let me share with you my experiences and photographs of Hanoi, which hopefully will be useful to you.

The beautiful thing about Hanoi is the interesting contrasts of architecture, ranging from the traditional old buildings of the Old Quarter to the European style huge buildings of the French Quarter to the Communist monuments at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and surrounding areas.

Hanoi is full of very beautiful architecture and temples, and you really need to spend at least a few days to visit them all. The temples in Hanoi and Vietnam have very interesting and unique architecture such as the Quan Su Pagoda as shown in this photograph.

Because of the huge amount of tips and photos, I will updated them from time to time, so do keep a lookout for the updates.