Day 285 - Hanoi Walking Tour
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Today after breakfast, we walked to the Hoa Lo Prison, well known as the "Hanoi Hilton" by the American POWs who were imprisoned there. It was interesting to learn about how many invasions the Vietnamese people had over time. Almost no breaks from one invader to the next. I didn't like the vibe in some of the rooms, especially where they had the guillotine and the basket in which they carried the severed heads. I like to go to these places and learn but it is emotionally draining.
It was also interesting to see how they described themselves when they were invaded [Gregory's note: that was the word they used for "colonized"] by the French and how well they treated the Americans when they were their prisoners. Gregory kept laughing and saying how this was all propaganda, I just kept quiet and reminded him where he was! [Gregory's note: the winner gets to write history.]
In any case, it was a good experience to show the kids how the information can be manipulated and how can it vary depending on who tells the story.
We walked back to our hotel to rest for our walking tour in the afternoon.
At 2:30pm, our young local guide met with us in our hotel lobby to take us to our tour. She first took us to Train Street, which we had seen in many pictures. Who knew we were that close? It is a very narrow street where local people live their lives like it's a normal street and they make the rails part of their daily lives. You see women cooking on the side of the rails, children playing on the tracks, chickens crossing, and they all just move to the side before the trains come through. Now it has become a tourist attraction. You see cafes and bars and you sit outside to watch this picturesque scene. We didn't stay because we wanted to cover many things.
Later we requested Grab to take us to the University of Literature but the taxi would not fit five people. I honestly thought it was odd considering how many people I have seen on one motorcycle but of course, we are tourists and the treatment is different. Gregory was in a bad mood and still not liking Hanoi. The fact that our guide didn't speak very good English and seemed insecure didn't help either. [Gregory's note: I was mildly amused when she told me that the US invaded Vietnam in 1954 and had no knowledge of Japanese occupation or of the South Vietnam government. But then, she was a tour guide, and they have certain standards.]
Instead of the temple, we walked 10 minutes through the busy streets of Hanoi and arrived at the center of the Hoan Kiem district, the Hoan Kiem Kage Ngoc Son (turtle lake). We walked around the lake, took pictures and then we crossed the red bridge to a temple. Of course, Gregory and Daniel didn't want to go in but we girls did. I use to get frustrated every time we went somewhere, made the effort to get there and then, Gregory or the kids would not want to go in! [Gregory's note: she still gets frustrated but we do it anyway.]
Gregory and Daniel went to a cafe while the guide took us into the temple. It was interesting to see Confucius and not Buddha. People were praying to him and offered fruit and sweets. Our guide told us that some students go there to pray before their examinations. It reminded me of how I used to pray to the Virgin Mary. Now I think that was silly, that it was my effort that helped, not the Virgin.
After half an hour, we picked the boys and our guide took us to a cool cafe where we found other guides and small groups. The coffee was good and cheap. Afterward, she led us to the French Quarter to admire the colonial buildings and especially the beautiful plants, nice gardens and huge trees. We walked to the Hanoi Opera House and appreciated it from outside. Good thing it was closed because I know we would not have paid to go inside and it looked very European. [Gregory's note: the money is an excuse. What she means, is that she would have wanted to see the inside but the rest of us didn't want to enter yet another building with questionable historical significance, and one that looked like buildings we had already seen. I mean, it's a theatre and not even an authentic one.] Here we thanked our guide, tipped her well because she was sweet and tried hard and most important, a college student! She left very happy.
Today after breakfast, we walked to the Hoa Lo Prison, well known as the "Hanoi Hilton" by the American POWs who were imprisoned there. It was interesting to learn about how many invasions the Vietnamese people had over time. Almost no breaks from one invader to the next. I didn't like the vibe in some of the rooms, especially where they had the guillotine and the basket in which they carried the severed heads. I like to go to these places and learn but it is emotionally draining.
It was also interesting to see how they described themselves when they were invaded [Gregory's note: that was the word they used for "colonized"] by the French and how well they treated the Americans when they were their prisoners. Gregory kept laughing and saying how this was all propaganda, I just kept quiet and reminded him where he was! [Gregory's note: the winner gets to write history.]
In any case, it was a good experience to show the kids how the information can be manipulated and how can it vary depending on who tells the story.
We walked back to our hotel to rest for our walking tour in the afternoon.
At 2:30pm, our young local guide met with us in our hotel lobby to take us to our tour. She first took us to Train Street, which we had seen in many pictures. Who knew we were that close? It is a very narrow street where local people live their lives like it's a normal street and they make the rails part of their daily lives. You see women cooking on the side of the rails, children playing on the tracks, chickens crossing, and they all just move to the side before the trains come through. Now it has become a tourist attraction. You see cafes and bars and you sit outside to watch this picturesque scene. We didn't stay because we wanted to cover many things.
Later we requested Grab to take us to the University of Literature but the taxi would not fit five people. I honestly thought it was odd considering how many people I have seen on one motorcycle but of course, we are tourists and the treatment is different. Gregory was in a bad mood and still not liking Hanoi. The fact that our guide didn't speak very good English and seemed insecure didn't help either. [Gregory's note: I was mildly amused when she told me that the US invaded Vietnam in 1954 and had no knowledge of Japanese occupation or of the South Vietnam government. But then, she was a tour guide, and they have certain standards.]
Instead of the temple, we walked 10 minutes through the busy streets of Hanoi and arrived at the center of the Hoan Kiem district, the Hoan Kiem Kage Ngoc Son (turtle lake). We walked around the lake, took pictures and then we crossed the red bridge to a temple. Of course, Gregory and Daniel didn't want to go in but we girls did. I use to get frustrated every time we went somewhere, made the effort to get there and then, Gregory or the kids would not want to go in! [Gregory's note: she still gets frustrated but we do it anyway.]
Gregory and Daniel went to a cafe while the guide took us into the temple. It was interesting to see Confucius and not Buddha. People were praying to him and offered fruit and sweets. Our guide told us that some students go there to pray before their examinations. It reminded me of how I used to pray to the Virgin Mary. Now I think that was silly, that it was my effort that helped, not the Virgin.
After half an hour, we picked the boys and our guide took us to a cool cafe where we found other guides and small groups. The coffee was good and cheap. Afterward, she led us to the French Quarter to admire the colonial buildings and especially the beautiful plants, nice gardens and huge trees. We walked to the Hanoi Opera House and appreciated it from outside. Good thing it was closed because I know we would not have paid to go inside and it looked very European. [Gregory's note: the money is an excuse. What she means, is that she would have wanted to see the inside but the rest of us didn't want to enter yet another building with questionable historical significance, and one that looked like buildings we had already seen. I mean, it's a theatre and not even an authentic one.] Here we thanked our guide, tipped her well because she was sweet and tried hard and most important, a college student! She left very happy.
We walked to a nearby park with a big fountain but it was so hot that Gregory suggested we go sit in the Hotel Metropole next door. Sunshine was worried that she was not dressed properly but I reminded her that most of the tourists were not so well dressed. The hotel was really nice, the doorman opened the door for us and we sat in the lobby. Gregory offered to stay for dinner, he said that we could share something but the prices were high and we were starving. We all voted to go back to our busy street full of restaurants for a big local meal!
We ended up in a tiny stand that sold sandwiches, we all wanted Western food and we had vegetarian and chicken baguettes. We walked back to our hotel with full happy tummies!
We ended up in a tiny stand that sold sandwiches, we all wanted Western food and we had vegetarian and chicken baguettes. We walked back to our hotel with full happy tummies!
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