Ha Noi - Vietnam

First off a few pictures of our last day in Hue before we headed north to the capital

             

We arrived in Hanoi by overnight train (about 13 hours) and as soon as we got off the train (in pouring rain) a man offered to take us to his hotel, nice because we were already a bit lost, so we got free cab ride, hotel price same as most places to stay, and it was really nice, and really clean.  So off to a good start.  In the afternoon we got a photo from our window of a dragon dancing ( to celebrate the opening for a shop selling bed sheets etc) went for dinner at a place on the sidewalk, it is so busy and confusing, but fun!

        

The next day we did a tour around, first off was Tran Quoc Pagoda and is one of the oldest, constructed in the 6th century. 

                        

Then we walked around a lake, i think it was the biggest one in Hanoi, Hoan Kiem Lake.  There was a boat with people fishing rubbish……and dead fish out of the lake.  There was HEAPS of dead fish just floating around, the guide said it is pretty polluted.  Yet many locals were there for the day fishing!

    

Next it was off to the highlight…. Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.  It was quite eerie, security was the most intense, worse than an airport.  No cameras or mobiles allowed in, then we joined a massive massive massive queue that slowly walked for maybe 1km past white dressed soldiers (maximum of 2 abreast) then into the mausoleum.  You were not allowed to stop walking and white gloved soldiers kept pushing me gently to keep in line, and i got told off for talking!  But it was quite amazing, it felt like Ho Chi Minh was going to sit up and talk any minute.  It was his death wish to be cremated but the Vietnamese people loved him so much, they decided not to.  We were to look back on this attitude later (after our trip to Halong Bay) and make more sense of Vietnam thinking.

                        

Then we went to see the houses Ho Chi Minh lived in (all in the same massive area).  First 3 pictures are the cars Ho Chi Minh drove (thought my Dad would like to see them)

         

The Presidential Palace is on the same grounds, but Ho Chi Minh never stayed there, instead he moved into the palace electrician's former quarters behind the building, where he lived from 1954 to 1958.

         

         

Ho Chi Minh then moved into the famous stilt house, built to his specifications.  There are 2 small rooms (about 100 sq feet each) a study and bedroom and no toilet.  The area under the house was used as his office and receiving area.  He lived here from 1958 until his death in 1969.

                       

This was the bunker he once stayed in nearby, you can just make out the green roof by the green fence, that was as close as we were allowed.  On our way out we saw a squirrel with the most awesome tail, and a tree that has a palm tree growing in the middle of the tree, weird aye!

          

One Pillar Pagoda is in the top 2 of Vietnam’s iconic temples.  The temple was built by Emperor Lý Thái Tông, who ruled from 1028 to 1054. According to the court records, he was childless and dreamt that he met a buddha who handed him a baby son while seated on a lotus flower. Lý Thái Tông then married a peasant girl that he had met and she bore him a son. The emperor constructed the temple in gratitude for this in 1049, by erecting a pillar in the middle of a lotus pond, similar to the one he saw in the dream.

    

Then off to Ho Chi Minh’s museum.  It was really artistic, and beautifully done, not really like a normal museum, but worth seeing.

Gifts given to Ho Chi Minh from Holland

Gifts given to Ho Chi Minh from New Zealand

                                                           

And now for my highlight, the Temple of Literature or Van Mieu.  It is a temple of Confucius and was Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of King Lý Nhân Tông and is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars and is on the back of the 100000 dong money.  Confucius actually studied here.

                                                      

                                       

The following stone blocks are called stelae of doctors.  In 1484, the King Lê Thánh Tông erected 116 steles of carved blue stone turtles with elaborate motifs to honour talent and encourage study. The turtle ("quy") is one of the nation's four holy creatures. The others are the dragon ("long"), the unicorn ("ly") and the phoenix ("phuong").  82 stelae remain. They depict the names and birth places of 1307 graduates of 82 triennial royal exams. Between 1442 and 1779, eighty-one exams were held.  The ancient Chinese engravings on each stele praise the merits of the monarch and cite the reason for holding royal exams. They also record the mandarins who were tasked with organising the exams.

    

Ngoc Son Temple is in the lake Hoan Kiem.  According to legend an Emperor who used a magic sword to gain victory over the revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty gave the sword back to the Golden Turtle God in the lake. Large soft-shell turtles, have been sighted in the lake. The species is endangered and the number left in the lake is unclear.  The temple was erected in the 18th century. It honors the 13-century military leader Tran Hung Dao who distinguished himself in the fight against the Yuan Dynasty, Van Xuong, a scholar, and Nguyen Van Sieu, a Confucian master and famous writer in charge of repairs made to the temple in 1864.