267. | A day off in Hanoi

Sometimes it’s good to plan.

I can’t always be in such a “zen mood” to just go and see the sights of a big city.

So I planned my Thursday day. The plan was to work at home in the afternoon after visiting the selected places.

It was evening by the time I got home.

I expected X number of experiences. It ended up being 2 X.

Now I’m writing down my experiences so I can relive this wonderful day.

Let’s make it 4 X!

Walking in Hanoi

I planned to walk twenty kilometers within the city. I managed to do it.

I have mentioned several times – and will probably write many more times – that I love walking. There are so many interesting, otherwise imperceptible things to discover on two legs!

I don’t think of big things at all when I do this.

A lonely factory building towering over the palm trees. A thirsty rooster covered in a cage, which is being watered at that moment. A very small songbird locked in a cage.

In addition to pictures, I also like scents and smells. The enchanting scent of perfume that appears by chance, or the stench that hangs around the meat market, are all experiences in their own right.

Among the senses, sound is also important to me during walks. In Hanoi, there is less music playing on the streets than in Laos. There, enchanting local music was almost always playing from somewhere. Here, the natural noise of the street dominates. I like that too. There’s a delightful rhythm to the traffic if I pay attention. And of course I hear people talking. The language they speak is becoming less and less foreign. And even though I don’t understand a word of it, it’s still somehow nice to hear.

What I like best is hearing people’s names. Fortunately, this is a very common experience on the streets here.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

This wasn’t the first place I wanted to visit. It was also very close, as it turned out. I was looking for the other place when I saw everyone frantically queuing to enter through a gate. Since my route took me there, I joined the line.

To be on the safe side, I asked a guy where we were going. It turned out that we were at the entrance to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

So this place became the first one that day.

Since I’m not familiar with Vietnamese history, and someone else had asked, I looked up who the famous statesman was.

Ho Chi Minh was the most important historical figure in modern Vietnam: he led the independence struggle against French colonial rule, and then the communist state of North Vietnam. Many Vietnamese still regard him as a symbol of national independence, which is why he is often simply called “Uncle Ho”.

The respect he has for him is felt everywhere in this city. And in the mausoleum, it is expressed with incredible intensity.

The mausoleum is located on a huge area. The complex is 32 hectares (320,000 square meters).

The atmosphere is not unfriendly, but very strict. Entry to this huge area is free, but you have to follow the rules. First of all – like at airports – you have to place everything metal on a tray and they scan it along with your luggage. During this time, you have to go through a metal detector gate. Then you have to leave your bags and backpacks in a safe.

I took my laptop with me that day. I naively thought that I would have the opportunity to work during the day. A little embarrassed, I left my backpack on the shelf. I was confident that it would be there in its entirety when I came to pick it up a few hours later.

Because it would take a few hours to explore the area.

I started talking to a German woman inside the cordon leading in. Because you had to walk along a long, designated path. She came in alone, leaving her husband and six-month-old baby outside, because children under a certain age are not allowed in.

She was allowed to bring her camera, which she then had to hand in after a few hundred meters, just like she had to hand in her bags at the entrance. This was a bit incomprehensible, but I think we all felt that there was no room for argument here.

We walked inside the cordon. Outside, at specified distances and at every turn, there were armed guards in snow-white officer uniforms. They performed their duty very strictly. I could not make eye contact with them.

There were even more people walking towards the mausoleum building. They were standing in line at the entrance, then in the stairwell at every turn.

I took a picture of the entrance to the mausoleum. One of the guards immediately started shaking his head very sternly and rolling his eyes. I couldn’t help but apologize and didn’t want to take any more pictures until we got to the other side of the mausoleum.

We went up the stairs at a fast pace. Everyone was told to move quickly. We could walk around the leader’s tomb in a small room, but we didn’t have much chance to stop. Those who stopped stopped for a bow and a handshake at most, and then moved on.

There were guards with bayonets at all four corners of the coffin. I don’t think there was anyone in the room who asked anything or didn’t do things “as they should”. I had the feeling that there were more soldiers in that room than visitors.

I read several quotes from Ho Chi Minh during the day. He must have been a remarkable statesman, I’m sure. He stole his way into my heart with this quote:

I have just received news that has deeply moved and delighted me. It is that the National Assembly intends to award me the Gold Star Order, the highest honor in our country. I express my gratitude to the National Assembly. However, I respectfully request that the National Assembly allow me to postpone receiving the order. Why? Because the order is given to those who have rendered meritorious service; but I consider myself not yet worthy of such a high honor bestowed by the National Assembly.

After the dim, slightly oppressive atmosphere of the mausoleum, the air in the rest of the area was freer. It is true that soldiers were everywhere to keep order, but it was not as difficult a feeling for me as it was in the building.

Next in line was an area dedicated to the memory of Ho Chi Minh. I had to buy a ticket for this one.

There was a lot to learn here about how the beloved politician lived, worked, and lived his everyday life. It was interesting to see how the things I had learned and partly experienced came to life in my life.

The difficult history of this oppressed country gradually emerged. I walked around the area with mixed feelings.

The Ho Chi Minh Museum

This huge museum is located in the complex.

It presents the life, political career, and the history of the Vietnamese independence movement of Ho Chi Minh, in a rather monumental and highly symbolic exhibition style.

I’ll start by saying that on the first floor I was able to see the exhibition dedicated to the 156th anniversary of Lenin’s birth. Memories rushed in. When I was young, Lenin was still very much present in my present.

It was very strange to feel what I had experienced back then after so many years.

The rest of the museum was not so cheerful, because independence had a hard price. It was measured in war. Accordingly, the objects on display and information banners had difficult stories to tell.

Objects of everyday life told stories about poverty. War relics showed the horrors that took the lives of poor people.

I still found a “favorite” exhibit.

This mini pyramid immediately captured me. I felt it had a strangely timeless and “human-history” feel to it. It appeared to me as diverse as the world in my eyes. It seemed like a kind of spiritual-modernist vision of man.

I first saw Jesus above Adam and Eve. I think this familiar image drew my eye there. Familiar, yet new. I had never seen Jesus depicted in pants before. With a belt around his waist! It took me out of the classical Christian pictorial tradition.

That’s why I went around the little pyramid and why I’m writing about it here.

For me, this pyramid embodies an open attitude towards the world. It’s just the right symbol for my own journey.

The One Pillar Pagoda

This place was my first destination this morning, and I didn’t know that it was also located within the large area where I was.

This pagoda is one of the most famous temples in Hanoi. I liked its history so much that I decided to share it with you.

One Pillar Pagoda became one of the most famous temples in Hanoi because of its very unique architecture and strong symbolic meaning.

The pagoda was originally built in the 11th century and stands on a single stone pillar in the middle of a small lake, as if a lotus flower were rising from the water. In Buddhism, the lotus is a symbol of purity and spiritual ascension, so the entire building is actually a huge symbolic “lotus built of stone”.

According to legend, Emperor Lý Thái Tông met the Buddhist goddess of compassion in a dream, who gave him a child while sitting on a lotus. After he actually had a son, he had the pagoda built out of gratitude. For this reason, many people still visit it today, praying for a child or good luck.

I read this story while writing this post, and when I was there, I didn’t know it yet.

That’s why the little thing I felt at this temple is particularly interesting.

I walked around the small building and the small pool at its foot. That’s probably all that’s left of the lake in the story today.

You can go up a few steps to the tiny shrine. People were queuing here to make the 2-3 meters up. And the thought crossed my mind that it was completely unnecessary to go up there. My experience doesn’t have to involve going up here.

I didn’t think so because of the line, because I probably shouldn’t have waited more than two minutes. It was simply here that I got the feeling that the experience was complete for me even if I didn’t take the last steps that seemed “necessary.”

I was here, I will remember this place, the moments, the old Vietnamese man enthusiastically telling an Indian couple the story of the pagoda, or whatever else will want to live in me.

I spent some beautiful moments here. Also.

The Old Quarter

From here I took a longer walk through the city to arrive at the old quarter of the city.

During the walk I came across many interesting things.

The most interesting of all was when – on two occasions – three soldiers marched towards me on the sidewalk. They moved in sync, and the characteristic movement of their arms was so cinematic that I smiled for minutes afterwards.

I saw a few architectural masterpieces on the road, as well as a monumental parade ground. I was a little afraid that I would get caught in the rain, but in the end the weather was kind to me and I escaped getting wet.

The part of the city called the old quarter did not enchant me. It is a very crowded part of the city, with many locals, even more tourists and crazy traffic. For some reason, on this day I wanted to leave rather than stay here any longer.

I can say that I saw it, but I can’t tell you more about it.

St. Joseph’s Cathedral

This is a very beautiful cathedral from the outside.

It was an interesting experience to come across a Christian cathedral in the heart of Hanoi.

Unfortunately, I only saw it from the outside, because when I was there, it was not possible to see it from the inside. I regret this a little, because based on the pictures I found, it must be beautiful from the inside as well.

I had a coffee near it and looked at it from the outside for a long time, but life didn’t want me to see it from the inside today.

No problem. It was still impressive, and it was really nice to rest near it.

And here I got the bracelet, which I had been patiently waiting for to arrive.

An old lady asked me to buy something from her. She was selling bracelets. I told her thank you, I don’t want any. I was really polite, I thanked her with a smile, but I didn’t want to buy anything.

So she gave me one as a gift.

I think this is part of the game here.

Since I naturally didn’t want to accept it as a gift, I thanked him and took out my wallet.

I had 20,000 VND in change (240 HUF, 0.8 USD). I thought it was not enough, but I gave it to him, and then I thought about how to solve the situation, because the next banknote was a 200,000. (2,400 HUF, 7.8 USD).

He solved the problem, I simply took the 200,000. I didn’t mind. He thanked me right away and called me his friend. That’s not a lot of money for that, 220,000 VND is not much.

Railway Street

I continued my journey to Hanoi’s famous Railway Street.

This is a few hundred meters long street with a pair of railway tracks in the middle instead of a sidewalk.

The people living on the street have arranged themselves to serve tourists. Every house is a small cafe. There are chairs set up, you can order drinks.

All this so that we can sit down and wait comfortably for the trains that run according to the schedule.

I waited here for almost an hour, drinking a delicious watermelon juice. I politely refused those who wanted to sell me all kinds of things.

Finally the train arrived.

It was magical. It filled the entire street.

The locals took care of us. As the train came, they made sure that everyone was sitting in their seats, they even pulled the chairs a little further in.

It was necessary. The train passed so close to me that if I had stretched out my hand, I could have touched it.

Of course, I didn’t want to do that, I was simply enjoying the huge crowd flowing past me at a not-so-slow speed.

I also made a video of the train passing by, so I know that it passed by me for exactly 1 minute. The train was not short.

Lotte Observation Deck

By now I was a little tired from walking all day, so I called a taxi and did the next 8 km by car.

In 40 minutes!

Enjoying the chaotic traffic from a car is a completely different experience than gambling in traffic as a pedestrian.

It’s scary how everyone drives, but I’ve mentioned this several times. The only difference was that I frantically pressed the brakes a few times that didn’t exist in front of me. In vain, my instincts work.

I was glad that I didn’t have to drive.

I was also a little sorry that I didn’t do these 8 km on foot, because I saw a lot of places from the car where I would have stopped if I had walked here.

But of course I can’t see everything, exactly what I managed to see in the end was enough.

I arrived at the Lotte Tower. I looked for directions to the observation deck, but couldn’t find them.

It soon became clear why.

There are two Lotte Towers in the other one and I didn’t choose the one I wanted to go to. Luckily I was confronted with this at the information desk and the woman who came to my aid was kind enough to order me another taxi.

This time it was a motorbike, so after the previous crazy traffic I was able to throw myself back into the thick of the street.

Another 6 km, another half hour and another dose of excitement awaited me.

Finally I arrived at the tower I was heading for.

The observation deck is located on the 65th floor. I don’t remember if I’ve ever looked up at such a tall building from its base.

An incredible sight. I had strange feelings standing at the base of this huge building.

Soon the elevator was racing up with me. Two signs accompanied my way up. One was a meter counter that constantly showed how high I was above the street. The other was my ear, which got blocked twice during the one-minute journey up.

I reached the top in 50 seconds. The altitude counter stopped at 272 meters.

As I got out of the elevator, I stopped too. As did my breathing.

Seeing Hanoi from a height of 300 meters is an unforgettable experience. These 300 meters show the city in such detail that I just stared at it for minutes. I sat down in front of the glass wall and discovered random spots of the city one after another.

The size of the settlement from here is impressive. The city limits disappearing into the distance, other skyscrapers nearby, the bustling bustle of the street… All this spiced up with such oddities as people playing tennis on the roof of a hotel about 50 floors below me, or the light of the lights constantly flashing as darkness approached.

I bought an entrance ticket that also included a VR game. So for 10 minutes, I ran around a small area of the circular corridor with VR goggles on my head and a rifle in my hand, shooting Lego zombies.

I didn’t die during the game, I just ran out of time, and I received a compliment from the young man running the game: “It was a good game, sir!” I even fell on my face once in the crazy running. 10 minutes after finishing the game, I noticed that both my knees were bleeding, as well as the area around the tattoo on my hand.

No way! If you can, don’t fall on the floor while killing zombies. This is a serious lesson. It could be, but luckily it was just a game accident.

I also remembered an Airsoft game from a few years ago. Back then, we fought in an abandoned building under real conditions. Running into a corridor, I slipped on the fallen leaves there and fell on the butt of my gun, cracking a rib.

The next time we were there – knowing the place – I prepared for this corridor, and when I slipped while running, I quickly leaned on the wall. So a broken tile easily cut two of my fingers.

Blood was still flowing. I have to slowly learn that it’s not good to play with guns!

In any case, this shooting here and now was very good. Of course, I was dripping with water by the end, so I quickly drank the delicious virgin cocktail that came with the ticket.

Then I went to the photo point like this. Here I stood on a platform that had a glass bottom, so I could feel that I was standing in the air above the street.

I took a few meditative pictures. Then – since this was also part of my package – a few pictures were taken of me using a traditional camera.

I could have chosen one of these and had them printed for me, but I repeatedly told the young guy who was operating the camera that I didn’t need a paper picture. It would be enough if he sent me the one that was taken.

We had a nice chat with the guy. At that point, all I had to do was leave and get a little gift.

I told the guy that I didn’t know what the gift would be, but I was sure I didn’t need it. So – if he wanted it – I would gladly give it to him. He thanked me, but didn’t accept it.

So I finally went to the exit, where a nice girl showed me where I could choose a little souvenir. Key chains, little plates, and I don’t remember what they were.

I asked the girl if she had children. She didn’t. If she had any relatives with children. She found my questions strange, so I told her that I wanted to give her the little plush stuffed animal key chain I had chosen.

Unbelievable, but she didn’t accept it either.

So I hung my little gift on my bag.

Spoiler alert: two days later I found its new owner, but that’s for another post.