T39. City of Hanoi

Hanoi city has gone through all the turbulence starting from invasions, occupations, restorations, and name changes.  It has been conquered by Chinese in the 1400s but only lasted for about twenty years.  Nguyen Dynasty give the name Ha Noi in 1887, but when French took over, Hanoi has been turned to be a capital of French Indochina.

When Vietnam split to North and South Vietnam, Hanoi has been turned to be the capital of North Vietnam while Saigon is for the South.

In the 1976 unification, Hanoi remains as the capital until today. 

Hanoi is very much centred around Red River that runs from Yunnan in China right through Vietnam until the Gulf of Tonkin.

Although French has been in Vietnam for about sixty years, the influence and legacy of French rule is not so obvious.  In fact there are not so many people who can speak French, but English is quite widely spoken.

Hanoi has a big number of bikers, and the biggest challenge is to cross the road.  It took us sometime to learn and get used to crossing the road.  The idea is, you have to move in a small step consistently and continuously without hesitation.  You will notice the vehicles find their way around you and soon enough you are on the other side of the road.

There are many tourists in Hanoi, many potential for safety infringement, but we don't really feel unsafe maybe because they also need tourists to contribute to their economy.  The only thing to watch will be cheaters and rippers besides your consistent ability to haggle.

At last, not so busy road.

Watch the video of Hanoi.

T38. Journey to HANOI

 Everything was well prepared this time, from itinerary, flight ticket, currency exchange fluctuation, and even the weather at the destination.  But wait a minute, let me check my passport.  Oh no, this passport has less than six month validity, I will be in trouble.  So when I mentioned to my wife, she suggested that we renew our passport during the weekend.  I know it's going to be hell on weekend, and true enough, the queue is as long as PLUS highway. I exegerate a bit, but lucky enough we manage to get our new passport after spending five long hours.

Why this tiger thing is here?  Better ask the 'owner'.

We had to take ERL to KLIA2 and stay overnight at Tune Hotel because the flight that we took was departing in the wee hour of the day.  Under normal circumstances we might not be able to make it. 
Tune hotel klia2 is very convenient and it only took us ten minutes or so to reach the terminal.  But our boarding gate was way too far, in fact the last gate that required walking for more than thirty minutes.

Tune hotel KLIA2.

And finally, we were aboard and had our breakfast and morning coffee.

 The International Airport in Hanoi is called Noi Bai and connected by a highway to the city centre.  The distance is roughly about 30km but due to a continous traffic jam, it is normally takes about one hour to travel to the Old Quarter.

 As we landed we were not surprised at all about the weather, it was as hot as Malaysia, but we were surprised to find out that the taxi fare from the airport to the Old Quarter is 30 USD.  

Check that tiger.

We did our research as usual prior to coming here and in our research it is suppose to be just 20 USD. We were not happy, so what we did?  We just paid the fare.......don't quarrel la...

Snapshot of the itinerary.  Check the taxi fare.

Airport taxi?

 The airport taxi is not really a taxi, more like a private vehicle, but it is rather new so we never complain.  We are cool now.

First glimpse of Hanoi.

 

Safely arrive at the Tirant Hotel.

The famous roundabout.

We purposely book a hotel right in the Old Quarter, the centre of activities.  The traffic is pretty busy almost 24 hours a day.  Why almost?  Well we never know how busy it is when we sleep.

Haphazard cables is a norm, so does the vehicles.

  Watch the video of the journey.