Our first day of Hanoi’s exploration.
Roads in Hanoi are a royal glorious motorcycle mess! There is never-ending honking, endless lines of motorcycles weathering everywhere with occasional car stuck in between (which looks like a giant bug stuck in a stream of other nimple insects). There is an occasional traffic light, although it largerly taken as a suggestion by the motorcyclists. There is only one way to cross a road – by taking a deep breath and just stepping in this chaos with one of your arms extended. Motorcyclists don’t stop, they ride around you as you make your way to the other side of the road.
We walked to Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake and made our way around the lake. There were tons of young women and men (mostly women) taking pictures in their traditional clothes (Ao Dai) holding flowers. Vietnamese traditional Ao Dai is absolutely gorgeous. It’s my most favorite traditional outfit in South Eastern Asia so far. It’s practical – would have been very comfortable to walk in, yet, it’s incredibly feminine and elegant.
We bought tickets for the next day show at the Lotus Water Puppet theater (VND 150k or $8 per person).
On the way back, we accidentally came up the famous among bloggers “Train Crossing” place (D’s pic). It’s the narrowest passage a train passes relative to nearby houses/cafes. I don’t know why it became such a popular attraction among tourists, but there it is. Go figure.
As we kept walking, one statue looked utterly familiar. I said to Marat “That dude doesn’t look like Ho Chi Minh but awefully looks like Lenin. Guess what, it WAS Lenin’s statue at the park named… you guessed it – Lenin Park!
Then we stumbled upon the Roman Catholic Church of Cua Bac. It reminded me Spain because of its yellow color, although the structure itself did not look like most of the cathedrals we saw in Spain.
Then we ended up strolling through the Truc Bach area – loved the vibe, would have been a great place to stay. Maybe next time?!
