Hanoi - Day 2

Mr. Tiet waited for 30 mins as we were having our breakfast. There is no such thing as vegetarian here. Even the vegetarian rice tagged on buffet had meat in it. Amit had tough time eating food. He survived on fruits and salads.

We felt safe today and started getting the feel of Hanoi. We took a map from hotel's receptionist whom Amit loved chatting to and went to explore the streets of Hanoi. The 36th street is full of souvenirs, handy craft bags, shoes, tea stalls, paintings, fresh fruits, all kinds of meat - we even saw hot water poured on tortoise to clean it's upper skin and getting it prepared to cook, vegetables, sea food, flowers, decorative masks, etc.

 

On our way to the city lake, we saw a group of Protestants. They were fighting against Chinese expansion in Vietnam.

Then we visited Ngoc Son Temple. This temple is located on a small island in the middle of city lake, Hoan Kiem Lake. It honors some scholars and military heroes. It is dedicated to the 13th century hero Tran Hung Dao, a Confucian artist who offered his duty for restoring the temple. There is a 6-ft long stuffed tortoise in the pagoda. The turtle is old enough to be the legendary turtle of the lakes mythology.

 

 

We saw many school girls from the south of Vietnam visiting the temple. They wore the typical Vietnamese dress called "Ao dai". Many newlywed couple were seen visiting the temples to take blessings. Since it was a Sunday many couples came for their wedding photo shoot because of its scenic Beauty.  We also saw many lovers spending time here.

Afternoon we had lunch at the highlands coffee. We had the most amazing spaghetti and garlic bread :) every restaurant had free WiFi.

Later in the evening we explored the night market and the food market which happens only on Saturday and Sunday night. It starts from 7:00 p.m to mid-night. We were stunned to see so many stalls in the middle of the streets. It felt as if the entire population of Vietnam gathered together on this long strip. From clothes to mobile covers, everything was on sale. I got depressed as none of the clothes would fit me. The girls are too skinny and fit there and I'm too healthy for their clothes! The food market had its own charm. Live stove was placed on the tables and people made their own dishes and ate. We could not stand there for long as we are not used to the type of food they ate and the way it smelled. The only thing that caught our attention was mango pieces. We got slices of mango pieces drenched in salt chilly and sugar syrup. :)

The night had just begun for us. We decided to check out the local bars and night life. From the recommendations of lonely planet we found out dragonfly bar and temple bar. Dragonfly was divided into three sections - discotheque, lounge and hookah joint. As soon as we entered we saw a bar full of people watching soccer and cheering the teams. Further inside we saw a room filled with locals dancing on English club music. The energy was out of the world. Upstairs they had lounge where we saw most of the couples hanging around and the hookah place which was jam packed. It smelled very FISHY! The night party bars are open till 5 in the morning!!! We visited few bars and then on our way back to hotel we realized that it's very safe in Hanoi. We did not see a single policeman or any bouncers in the bars.

 

Its almost 3. Time to get back to Hotel. Really excited about tomorrow's trip to Halong Bay!