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 | Hanoi Arround the City Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 28 |  |
 | |  |  | Arround the City: Wake up and Smell the Coffee/Cafe Culture | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
One of the best things that the French left behind in Vietnam is the cafe culture. On the streets, whether day or night, you will find pockets of people sitting around enjoying their cup of freshly brewed Vietnamese coffee. Even when it was way past midnight, on a deserted street within the Old Quarter, I saw young people seated on low stools sipping coffee, smoking and chatting quietly,
The one pictured is actually a shop that I didn't get to visit, but our tour bus passed by it a few times and this time, I managed to get a picture of it.
How I lurve Vietnamese Coffee... the Arabica Beans which are grown in the highlands are hand - roasted with butter and afterwards a touch of vanilla is thrown in. The coffee is strong and robust with a slight bitter aftertaste that lingers on your tongue. Quite delicious when drunk with a spoonful of thick, creamy, sweet condensed milk. I miss it! ~sigh~ Leave a Comment
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| | | | Arround the City: Statues and monuments of local and foreign heroes. | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
Viet Nam is still officially a communist country and of course, Vladimir Ilitch Oulianov has his statue or monument somewhere; preferably on a place easy to find, where the visitors can pay respect. The monument here is in Lenin Park, a small park just opposite to the Museum of military history and the Flag tower, on Dien Bien Phu Avenue.
Interesting in Hanoi is that Viet Nam has a long independence history, occupied from time to time by Chinese or French, it is an old nation, fought fiercely for independence, but the Vietnamese do not forget their big brother who helped them; I did not find a monument to other foreign communists (I think of Mao, of course. . . Chinese and Vietnamese fought against each other in the end seventies. . . ). There are not a lot of foreigners but this music is listened a lot in Vietnam (this is a version from the Spanish civil war).
You may see in my other writings about military history, military training of school children, etc. . . and in Hanoi, if you walk around you will see lots of other monumental statues displaying anonymous or famous heroes (picture 2 near Hoan Kiem Lake, pictures 3 and 4 at the eastern end of Pho Phan Din Phung avenue, picture 5 at Dong Xuan market) , they are mostly militaries, fighters, guerilleros, insurgents, etc. . . . Viet Nam is a fighters country, no surprise they are independent and proud if it!
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| | | | Arround the City: Lakes are important landmarks in Hanoi | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Lakes are important landmarks in Hanoi, but not only! The old city developed between the western bank of the Red River and Hoan Kiem Lake; later, many temples, pagodas and palaces were built on the shores or islands of the nearby lakes, mainly West lake (Ho Tay Lake), where the breezes freshened a bit the air during the hot days. Also, many divinities in Buddhist religion are linked to water.
Today, the lakes have more “practical” uses: tanks for rainwater and water for household or industrial use (after treatment), waste intake, wastewater treatment ponds. . . . Well, the water does not look very clean, in general, but there are usually parks or gardens around, small restaurants, tea houses. . . It is very relaxing and pleasant to walk on the shores of the lakes, have a rest from the hectic traffic and the noise.
The map (picture 2) shows lakes I visited, once, or several times, and the small stars show other lakes; there are lots, and you are never far from one of them.
Picture 1: Hoan Kiem Lake, looking north, and Tortoise tower.
Picture 3: Fishing on Ho Tay Lake
Picture 4: “Swans” on Ho Tay Lake
Picture5: Young people like to meet. . . . and more on the quiet shores of the lakes.
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on March 30, 2005
on May 16, 2004
on February 20, 2007
on December 1, 2004
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on November 11, 2005
on February 25, 2004
