Hanoi Things to Do Tips by SPW

An imposing building for such a humble man, it is an experience to queue (no handbags, cameras allowed) to pass before the embalmed body of Uncle Ho and to observe the veneration and grief displayed by many Vietnamese for the founder of the modern nation. In the grounds are also to be found his simple home and a museum devoted to his life.

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Address: Hung Vuong, Ba Dinh Square
Directions: In the park like surroundings are the Presidential Palace and the Botanic Gardens and the One Pillar Pagoda

The Temple of Literature dates back to the Eleveth Century and was where mandarins were trained in the Confucian manner. It has several courtyards one of which contains a number of stone tortoises bearing stelae inscribed with the names of graduates. The inner most courtyard contains the temple dedicated to Confucius.

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Directions: At the corner of Pho Quoc Tu Giam and PhoVan Mieu

The Museum of Ethnology, a taxi ride deep into the suburbs, was an excellent presentation of the ethnic complexity of Vietnam. We visited afterhaving seen some of the people and villages of the mountain tribe people of the north and found what we had seen put into a wider context. There were excellent audio-visual presentations which, fortunately for us were in English, as well as models, maps, artifacts and descriptive panels.
The snack bar was basic but the people running it were friendly. Unfortunately the craftshop was shut when we visited, asit appeared to have arange of products for sale.

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Address: D Nguyen Van Huyen

The water puppet performance was crowded and hot but charming, amusing and good fun. The musicians introduced the show and then there were about 20 vignettes of myths and village life, sometimes quite spectacular like the fire breathing dragons. There was lots of humour and adults and children alike enjoyed the performance.
It would have been interesting, though it would have spoilt the magic, to see backstage and how they achieved some of the effects.
I would certainly recommendthe better seats as they are much closer to the action.

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Address: 57B Pho Dinh Tien Hoang
Directions: Near Lake Hoan Kiem

What a wonderful place to wander, get lost and absorb the experience!
This area, traditionally 36 streets named after each of the crafts practised there, is full of people, traffic, colour, noise, shops and people going about their everyday lives. The streets and buildings are narrow, adding to the charm and chaos. The streets are still thematic, though most are not related to the original trades, so there is an area where stall after stall sells towels or baby food, foodstuffs in general, traditional medicines as well as those with coffins and goods for the after life, tin goods, shoes, silks, clothes...And lots of places to eat, stay (although peole reported to us that it tended to be noisy at night) and buy souvenirs.

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Address: The Old Quarter
Directions: In the area north of Lake Hoan Kiem

Walking around in Hanoi is a real feast for the senses. The smells of the food of the street vendors, the toot and ringsof the traffic, the sights, colour and movement.
Oneof our favourite activities was watching the things being transported on bikes and motor bikes.
We saw all the usual things in the way of shopping: sacks of rice, fruit and vegetables, poultry, but the feather duster sellers who stopped as a group for a mid morning street snack and the man with 20 or 30 bags of goldfish were among our favourites.
On motor bikes were a refrigerator, not just a small bar fridge, and a huge television set complete with aerial.
Another thing that struck us was the number of flower sellers on the streets and with stalls.
The rose buds were individually wrapped in paper to protect them and slow their opening. But there were also many other varieties for sale.
Market stalls are always colourful and interesting as the fruit and vegetables are a mix of familiar and strange but the frogs in buckets with their legs tied were amongst the more unusual sights.
And of course the people: old, young, children, traditionally and modern dressed, with school children in their blue skirts/shorts/pants and white shirts and often a red scarf. Very few beggars and we only saw one obvious addict.
I had fun when I stopped to look at some photos I had had processed and the people sitting nearby came to have a look: much fun with english, french and mime - and more photo opportunities.
We always felt safe and perhaps our age helped as everywhere we were treated with the utmost courtesy, or perhaps this is just typical of the people.

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Address: City streets