One piece of advice we were given before setting off on our journey, was to fly between destinations in Asia wherever possible. Although the 36-40 hour train journey north to Hanoi was tempting, we opted instead to fly directly, taking a significantly less 2 hours. This enabled us to spend more time exploring the city of Hanoi before travelling on to Ha Long Bay.
Hanoi is Vietnam's capital, and its second largest city after Ho Chi Minh City. We stayed in the Old Quarter, which keeps the original street layout of old Hanoi. Each street was represented by a different trade, and the names today still represent the original guilds. The narrow streets are lined by the traditional 'Tube' houses, named so because they are tall and skinny, resembling a tube, perhaps 2m wide, but up to 60 deep. The reason is that historically the land was taxed according to street frontage, hence the houses are built as narrow as possible, and the style of building has continued today.
The Old Quarter is situated around the beautiful Hoan Kiem Lake, which acts as the focal point for the day to day life of Hanoi's residents. In the centre of the lake lies the 'Tortoise Tower', which relates to an ancient legend of a magic sword and a golden turtle god, and near its northern shore, the 'Temple of the Jade Mountain', in honour of a 13th century military leader.
Hoan Kiem Lake at sunset from our hotel balcony
No comments:
Post a Comment