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 2364 Hanoi Tips.4252 Hanoi Photos.11 Hanoi Videos. Hanoi Pages by kokoryko
Tips 1 - 10 of 43 Hanoi Things to Do
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Things To Do: Colours and scents : beautiful markets of Hanoi
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Like most of the cities of south east Asia, Hanoi has beautiful exotic markets where the eyes are just amazed, captivated, captured. . . All these colours, movements, shapes, quietude, . . .
Almost impossible to describe, or it would take pages and pages.
Wonderful are the women selling their wonderful and sometimes strange (to the foreigner!) fruits and vegetables; I like so much to dive in such atmospheres, I could gat lost in that sort of markets for days. . . .
Look here at the vegetables and fruits the women are selling, almost art to me! And buy here or there some fruits, just to try them (haha, the ladies here are surprised when the foreigner wants to try other fruits than bananas!), try the strange taste of the jackfruit, the little bit astringent taste of the snake fruit; and there are many more I could not identify.
The pictures here are from Huan Dong and Dong Xuan streets, close to the Dong Xuan covered market.Main picture: The shapes of the baskets, the hats, the fruits, the ladies, it is all harmony! Picture 2: Betel nuts, not to eat of course, except if you like to get red teeth! Picture 3: Passion fruits, pineapple, lime, ginger, chili and . . . . . yellow ? ? Picture 4: Betel nuts, mangoes and strange green leave shaped fruits. . . Picture 5 : oranges, clementines, mangoes, grape and a forest of conical hats (not for sale!).
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Directions: Huan Dong and Dong Xuan streets
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Things To Do: Buy fruits at December 19th market!
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This market, called also 19/12 market is located on Hai Ba trung Avenue; it is a covered marked, a bit dark inside, but lots of things to see!
I like markets because there is life, there is a sort of a summary of the place I visit, and writing this right now I notice how a big contrast is between the hectic and noisy streets and the calm, quietude, almost totally silent atmosphere of the markets; usually markets are noisy, with people calling, animating the customers, lots of shouts, but not in Hanoi, not at Dong Xuan and not here; the markets are very calm, I almost would write peaceful. . . . Ah, pictures of peace. Picture 1: apples, mangoes, grape, green skinned oranges, melons. . . no, not for sale. . . just peace to me! Picture2: Entrance of the market Picture 3: A bit a mess with food and bikes Picture 4: Enlightened hat! Picture 5: Dark, only few alleys have light.
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Address: Hai Ba trung Avenue
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Things To Do: The dragon fruit, one emblem of Viet Nam
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Stop me please! I am posting more and more stuffs about the markets; there is not only that in Hanoi; let me present you the Dragon Fruit on the main picture; I have no I dea why it is called like that. This fruit is not very sweet, has a very subtle taste, and a bit a spongy consistence. It is very good at breakfast; its flesh is white and lots of black seeds (you do not feel when eating, so small they are!) spot its flesh, giving a grey colour from far. It has a strange funny shape and colour, I think.
The dragon fruits were somewhere in the old city on a street market, like here with the ladies and their baskets on picture3; the shops sometimes extend onto the street, here(picture 4) with sweets, but it could be anything, and sometimes you step over living fishes looking like electrical fishes (imagine eating electricity!!), and eels (they look less ugly than in Grass’s description in his Tin Drum where they swarm around in a calf’s skull!).
So I stop with the markets, Let’s go for other things to look at!
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It is probably one of the best ethnological museums I had the luck to visit; people of Vietnam, their traditions, their beliefs, their differences, how they lived (and still live), the diversity of cultures, it is all here displayed, explained, in a modern building set in a beautiful park.
There are an outdoor museum, showing mainly traditional houses, furniture, household in the houses, some ritual artefacts, and an indoor museum where most of Vietnamese ethnological groups are represented, by examples of tools, clothes, ritual artefacts, household, jewellery,. . . . The way of displaying is modern and lively, with many video displays, photographs, dioramas. Amazing is the diversity of people on such a territory like Vietnam, and the ethnic minorities are here well represented; I guess a visit here is a real introduction to Vietnam if planning a longer stay in the country.
The museum, designed by Vietnamese and French architects, has officially opened in 1997; there are about 15000 artefacts, 40000 photographs, thousands of slides, films, video and audio tapes, a very rich museum where the contribution of the former colonialist (not the neo colonialist whose contribution was napalm and defoliants) was essential. When I visited, there was a temporary exhibition about the research of Georges Condominas, a pioneer of Vietnamese ethnology, example of cooperation of Vietnam and the former colonialist.
Here are a few pictures as an introduction to this museum.Entrance: 20.000 Dong 8:30 am to 17:30 pm, closed Mondays
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Phone: (84-4) 7562193
Address: Nguyen Van Huyen street,
Directions: Ciau Gay district, west of centre, 15-20 mn drive, all taxi know.
Website: http://www.vme.org.vn/index.asp
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In the sun, in the shade of the trees, smelling the scents of flowers, walk in the park, and discover the habitat of some of the many ethnic groups of Vietnam; most displays are houses, and inside is furniture, household and even there are people practising traditional handcrafting. It looks a bit artificial, but remember, it is a museum! The houses in the park are mainly from ethnic minorities of Vietnam, most of them from the mountain areas of the North.
There are 75 ethnic groups in Vietnam, belonging to eight main ethno linguistic groups:
The majority: the Viet Muongs
Thai group, Mon-Khmer group, Hmong Dao group, Kadai group, Austronesian group (relatives of Papu or Australian aborigines), Chinese Han group and Tibeto-Burmese group. Not all 75 groups are represented, but there are examples of diversity.
One of the most impressive displays is the Bahnar communal house (previous tip), but many other deserve a visit; there is an incredible diversity in the minorities , and this diversity is displayed by the different architectural styles.
I found the Jörai from Gia Lai grave (main picture), moving, with the naïve representation of people and souls (these are not zombies!) who escort the dead to his last resting place. . . . . .
The Ede (Austraunesian) long house (picture 2) is quite impressive, and I imagine communities living in there; many artefacts are displayed in the houses, and the decoration inside (picture 3), is also very exotic (Ede long house);
You can also look at handcrafting presentations, like here (picture 4), in the Kinh (Viet Muong) house. I show also a Hmong (Hmong Daohttp://www.hmongstudies.org/LearnaboutHmongwebsite.html) house (picture 5), a very tiny house, from an ethnic minority living in the northern mountains, suffering repression in Vietnam and Laos.Entrance: 20.000 Dong 8:30 am to 17:30 pm, closed Mondays
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Phone: (84-4) 7562193
Address: Nguyen Van Huyen street,
Directions: Ciau Gay district, west of centre, 15-20 mn drive, all taxi know.
Website: http://www.vme.org.vn/index.asp
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Be prepared to spend at least one afternoon to have only a very small introduction to Vietnamese cultural diversity! Most ethnic groups or areas are represented in the museum! This museum is a real work of cultural conservancy and the items displayed were saved during colonial days and the work was wonderfully pursued by the free Democratic Republic of Vietnam (no sarcasm, this time!) .
The building and the rooms are very well lightened, items very well displayed; many explanatory boards give the visitor plenty of a bit scholar explanations, but retain what you like. Videos, dioramas. . . a modern museum.
The pictures show how things are displayed, like the fish traps on the main picture, the ritual decotation, the weapons, the Cham cart. . . On the last picture is ethnologist Georges Condominas on field work (Picture from the museum website).Entrance: 20.000 Dong 8:30 am to 17:30 pm, closed Mondays
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Phone: (84-4) 7562193
Address: Nguyen Van Huyen street,
Directions: Ciau Gay district, west of centre, 15-20 mn drive, all taxi know.
Website: http://www.vme.org.vn/index.asp
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Things To Do: Geological Museum
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Why not look at some rocks ? There are even rubies. . . . . Those who know me, know I have some links with rocks and mountains, I will not be technical! The geological museum of Hanoi is mainly designed for natural history students, and the displays are like in old museums, with show windows, drawers, lots of rocks, minerals and fossils with their name, where they come from, chemical composition. . . etc. . . For the tourist more interesting (euh, I guess!), are explanations about composition of our planet, the place of the planet in the universe, volcanism, earthquakes, and may be natural resources. It is all a bit old fashioned but I liked to walk around, remember my old student days. There are very few spectacular minerals, but. . . . . . . there is a small shop!! In this shop, located at the entrance of the museum (for those who do not wish to visit the dusty two storey museum) it is possible to buy gemstones or minerals, raw or cut and polished, at prices challenging any competition! Rubies, of course (Viet Nam has a local production), spinels and garnets, amethyst, beryls and aquamarines, black tektites and other. For rubies, the prices start at 5 US$, but I will not guarantee the gem quality; if you think of a gift to bring back from Viet Nam, you may consider it.
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Phone: + 826.6802
Address: 6 Pho Pham Ngu Lao
Directions: Behind the Opera house, opposite the Museum of History.
Website: http://www.dgmv.gov.vn/baotang/gtbt_EN.htm
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Things To Do: A walk around the museum of history (1)
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This museum is currently (December 2008) being renovated, and it is not possible to visit inside; so, a small tour for free in the gardens and a look at what is displayed outside only.
The building itself has a particular character, constructed in a pagoda style, with very well chosen colours, giving it an exotic charm and very well integrated in the surroundings; it has been built in the thirties by the French and was the French Far East school (Ecole Française d’Extrême Orient, now based in Paris, cooperating with institutes from Far East countries; Ethnology, history of arts, civil engineering, etc. . . would not be in the shape they are in Viet Nam, if that school would not have worked here; it is a statement, not a post-colonialist lamentation, for instance, these guys “found” and saved Angkor. . . . http://www.efeo.fr/en/presentation/vocation.shtml).
Let us walk in the gardens where we can have a look at the building walking around; in the front garden are many statues like this Nghe (Picture 2), a sacred animal from the 18th century, used to protect and decorate gardens, or this tortoise, other sacred animal (Picture 3). Dragons with a little pagoda (Picture 4), another pagoda and various artefacts (picture 5), and many more statues can be seen outside.
This very very short overview gives an idea of what could be found inside, and lets the visitor frustrated; hopefully, the museum will re-open soon.Tuesday-Sunday, 8-11 and 1.30-5 pm
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Phone: 04 825-3518
Address: 1, Trang Tien
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Things To Do: A walk around the museum of history (2)
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It is beautiful, so I do not resist to show a bit more of what can be seen outside. . . . Some Garudas in the backyard, like the one on the main picture, former decoration of a temple, a female bird , celestial singer (Picture 2), a Kala’a –like divinity (Picture 3), all these showing the influence of Hinduism on the local Buddhism, and another divinity; the building again, on the last picture. I really wish visitors will enter this museum soon, as it has lots about old history, religion, architecture, and not the usual military and national hero cult.Tuesday-Sunday, 8-11 and 1.30-5.30 pm
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Phone: 04 825-3518
Address: 1, Trang Tien
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Join a Discussion Need some info about Kenh Ga
(3 replies, Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008, 9:18 AM UTC) Train Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City
(7 replies, Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008, 1:18 PM UTC) Vietnamese dolls in traditional costumes
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(no replies yet, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2008, 5:59 AM UTC) Hotels in Hanoi
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(no replies yet, Saturday, Jun 21, 2008, 9:39 AM UTC) » All Hanoi Posts
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 Comments for kokoryko about Hanoi | | | | |
spunkmuffin Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:45 UTC
Wow! Judging by the number of bikes, it's a good thing they started requiring them to wear helmets! Still the discipline is impressive. | Margarethyap Sat May 3, 2008 19:17 UTC
How to go from Ho Chi Min to Hanoi? Any Coach or train? how long? how much? pls advise Thx | volopolo Fri Mar 28, 2008 20:01 UTC
I hope one day to be here! Hanoi and Vietnam is in my travel plans! | Gpetita Sat Mar 8, 2008 22:00 UTC
After reading your Hanoi page, I don't have to purchase Lonely Planet Travel book :>)) also nice shots. I am not sure if you explain in experiencing what it is like visiting Socialist country? Thanks. |
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on Jan 19, 2008
