Day 2’s weather started very much the same as day 1: Drizzly and overcast with a side of humidity. A bit of sky juice isn’t enough to deter these hardy travellers though and with tiny umbrellas at the ready we headed out with our host across the road to his favourite bun cha ‘restaurant’. I use the term loosely as it is more like someone’s garage. A rough concrete floor with a few tables lined up, all complete with tiny stools, and a cooking set up in the corner. No sooner had we lowered ourselves onto a tiny stool when the food started arriving. Bun cha is a ‘build it yourself’ experience and it is believed to have originated right here in Hanoi. Starting with a bowl of sliced, grilled pork floating in a tasty broth, you add rice noodles, a selection of herbs, lettuce and as much of the minced garlic and chilly concoction as you can handle.
(Bun cha to go)
After breakfast, Craig departed to educate the youth of Hanoi while Murray and I wandered the back streets to Ga La Khê, our local metro station. After feeding the machine with 13 000 Dong each (about 80 cents NZ) we boarded the clean and efficient train, taking it to the final stop Ga Cát Linh. From there we strolled for 15 minutes to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius the temple was built in 1070 and served as Vietnam’s first national university, from 1076 to 1779. It also serves as a stop for Hanoi’s Citysightseeing Hop on Hop off bus which was our target. After handing over 300,000 Dong each ($20NZD) for our 4-hour tickets we climbed high up the stairs and claimed the front row of the open-topped double-decker bus. The health and safety police would have a field day with the activity in New Zealand. If the risk of losing an eye from overhanging trees isn’t bad enough, if you forget not to stand up, or get excited about taking a photo and lift your arms too high you can come into contact with high voltage wires which cross the streets randomly. The payoff of being this high though is that you get a fantastic view of the traffic chaos unfolding below you and of many of Hanoi’s sights including Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, the Opera House and Cathedral, many of which stand as a testament to French colonisation of the area. The stop we chose to disembark at was the Women’s Museum.
The Vietnam Women’s Museum commemorates the contributions and legacies of women in Vietnamese history. A small museum, set over 4 floors with each floor looking at an aspect of how women have and continue to contribute to Vietnam. The 2nd floor showed aspects of family life, birth and marriage rituals of some of the 54 ethnic groups that make up the country. The 3rd floor was in honour of Vietnamese mothers who lived through the wars, how they were involved in protecting their country from foreign invaders and their sacrifice for the cause. The 4th floor was a display of fashion through the ages. The 1st-floor, which confusingly was on the ground, had the gift shop and ticket office.
After the museum, we had a banh mi for lunch sitting on a tiny stool on the side of the road before reboarding the bus to continue looping around the city. By the time we arrived back at the Temple of Literature for the second time approx 4 hours and 15 minutes after we boarded the bus, we disembarked and repeated our travel in reverse to return to our base. Murray kept getting his Dong out and wandering around with it in his hands. While this a fairly safe place don’t be like Murray, keep your Dong out of sight.
Another two couples from New Zealand arrived to stay with Craig in the late afternoon. I finally managed to stay up past 7 pm (thanks alcohol) after the seven of us walked to a craft beer pub about 30 minutes away for dinner and a couple of drinks. Followed by another couple of drinks when we got back as Craig entertained us with his guitar and by making up mad lyrics for songs. I stayed up so much past 7 pm that I don’t know what time I finally went to bed but needless to say, this morning I’m not feeling too flash.
Next stop: Ninh Binh
Gillian Scott Creative 