DAY 01
27th April '16
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| View of the Old Quarter in the morning from our hotel room... |
Whilst almost halfway through my plate, the hotel staff started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ with matching cake and candles. Baffled, my sister and I started looking around to see who’s birthday it is because we’re still confused with the time and dates due to jet lag I guess lol. After the singing they placed the cake on top of our table and greeted us all a happy birthday! We were silently delighted with the gesture because back home, if you’re staying at a hotel and it happens to be be your special day, the staff will just bring a slice of cake to your hotel room with a note. Here in Hanoi, our first
time in this country, we got ourselves a whole birthday cake on our birthday yay! We’re not used to getting birthday cakes anymore because we’re already adults so we were kinda shy afterwards plus there was one caucasian couple also having breakfast there. That was the time we seriously would like to wear an invisibility cloak for a while lol. It was cute though, I felt like a kid again after we blew our birthday candles. Damn, I forgot to make a wish because we got so self conscious. Later on, we ate a few slice and it tasted really good. I told my sister if she would like to share the rest of the cake to the hotel staff or we’ll just bring it to our room since we have a full sized fridge upstairs. We opted to keep it in the fridge instead because we thought they might be offended if we will not eat the cake. We did not eat much the next day but cake because we need to devour it to show them we loved it. We really did actually. It wasn’t so sweet and tasted like an ice cream cake!
After breakfast we headed back to our hotel room with the cake. Suddenly, I got a call from the reception regarding our Bai Dihn tour. Puzzled, I told the lady at the front desk that the tour is not for today but tomorrow. It was just a language barrier I guess with the gentleman at the front desk early this morning. It was all good though afterwards, the lady at the front desk rescheduled the tour for tomorrow instead. We prepped up for roughly an hour and a half then headed back down to the hotel lobby. We don’t know what’s the name of the lady at the front desk with eye glasses but she was really helpful. We asked her how to get to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hoan Kiem Lake, One Pillar Pagoda etc. She gladly gave us a map, marked the attractions we’re headed to and even advised to not take a cab or any other ride because everything is just walking distance from the hotel. So we head our way and started walking around the Old Quarter armed with the map she gave us and of course our cash and DIY itinerary. And then, lo and behold, my sister lost the copy of our itinerary (Ms. Front desk lady even added some useful notes to it for our reference). Well, at least we still have our map.
After minutes of walking, we realized that walking the streets of Old Quarter isn’t easy even if you can read maps. It’s way more difficult in real life so we stopped relying on the map and started asking the locals for directions which they all gladly helped. Vietnamese people are friendly even if they barely speak english, they’re just not friendly to each other as motorists, everybody wants to go first that’s why it’s a havoc watching the motorcycles blanketing almost all streets of Hanoi. Alright, so we're told to head straight to get to Hoan Kiem Lake and that’s what we did. We found that Hoan Kiem Lake is a long straight road and you will know you’re there once you see the lake of course and the busy intersection. As soon as we saw the City View Cafe building, we knew outright we found Hoan Kiem Lake as it’s just across.
Hanoi Soul Cafe
We took pictures as soon as we saw the infamous red bridge. There were lots of people there when we arrived so we just took few photos and that’s it. There were temples inside after you walk past the bridge but there’s an entrance fee so we did not avail that anymore because we’re hoping to see more temples in Hanoi. Hunger pang strikes so we decided to visit the City View Cafe because it is famous for their Banh Mi and good view of the Hoan Kiem Lake. Unfortunately, it was closed so we attempted to go to Highlands Coffee which is similar to Starbucks but decided not too since we’re here in Hanoi to try their local dishes and not another coffee with whipped cream because we also have those back home. To make the long story short, since we’re already starving, we instead ate at the Hanoi Soul Cafe, same building as the other two. Commercial establishments in Hanoi is so filled with sales people inviting you to try their restaurant, cafeteria etc. We had their Pho Ga (chicken noodles) and chilled Vietnamese Coffee! They also have free wifi and a good view of the Old Quarter from the balcony. The Pho Ga cost 55,000.00 VND whilst 35,000.00 VND for the coffee. The Pho Ga was good and a must try if you wanna veer away from oily foods (which Vietnam has a lot, they have lots of deep fried dish).
Let the tour begin baby!
My sissy came up with our own DIY city tour which would cover the following attractions:
· Visit St. Joseph’s Cathedral (Address: 40 – Nhà Chung – Hoàn Kiếm)
· Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.
· One Pillar Pagoda
· Turtle Pagoda
· Temple of Literature: Originally built as a temple to Confucius, this is the site of Vietnam’s first university dating back to 1070. The temple highlights the importance that Vietnamese society placed then and now on education.
· Shop for souvenirs at Dong Xuan Market. Opening Hours: 07AM-09PM. Location: Dong Xuan Street, North part of Old Quarter.
· Mai Trang in Hang Gai St., (where to buy fridge magnets)
· Afternoon - Watch Water Puppet Show at Thang Long Water Puppet theater (There are puppet show every day at 15:30 - 17:00 - 18:30 - 20:00 - 21:15 and Sunday at 9:30). Ticket costs between 60.000 - 100.000 VND ($3-5) and can be purchased at doors.
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| Hồ Hoàn Kiếm which means "Lake of the Returned Sword" whilst The Huc (Red Bridge) means “Morning Sunlight Bridge.” |
Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake’s Red bridge isn’t included since it’s just round the corner. The Turtle Pagoda though is a given as it’s right there as well so our next stop would be to visit St. Joseph’s Cathedral just to drop by and offer thanksgiving prayers since it’s our birthday. They don’t have mass that time but the church was open so we were able to take some pictures. St. Joseph’s Cathedral is pretty difficult to track by foot just a heads up. Our map was useful this time plus we asked directions from the locals as well or else we’ll waste time walking and head nowhere. It was a long way from Hoan Kiem Lake to the Cathedral, we were both tired already so we're in the verge of hiring a Cyclo (pronounced as ‘Siklo’) to take us to the rest of the attractions in our list.
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| Turtle Pagoda |
Before we decide on taking the Cyclo (they are everywhere in the Old Quarter) we bought some more bottled water to combat the heat. For the nth time we were asked again if we’re Thai, we said we’re Filipinos and the store owner was so delighted for some reason. I remember when we were in Cambodia years back, we were asked the same question. I never thought we’ll answer the same question many times here in Hanoi. Not that I hate being asked about my nationality, it’s quite fun to be asked actually because it means that the locals find you interesting plus Thai women are skinny and pretty so I guess that’s supposed to be flattering lol.
I took the map out once more to figure out how we’re supposed to go to HCM Mausoleum, this Cyclo driver about the age of 60-70 approached us and offered us a ride. We started negotiating, we asked him if he could take us then to HCM Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, Dong Xuan Market and lastly back to Hoan Kiem Lake where the Than Long Theater is to watch the water puppet show. He offered 400k VND for the two of us or (200k VND each/20 bucks) and we asked multiple times if that’s everything since he barely speaks english, he said yes so we took his word for it. He recommended The Temple of Literature first because it’s the nearest one from where we’re at. Off we go with Granpa Cyclo pedalist.
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| the beautiful view of the Old Quarter from our Cyclo.. |
Cyclo
Taking the Cyclo is such a fun field experience although it felt a little touristy. We thought, we’re tourists anyways so why not? It’s quite difficult to track where the tourist attractions are located in the Old Quarter if you haven’t done an initial stroll the first time you set foot in Hanoi. So, just do yourself a favor, get someone who would take you there, problem solved (unless you have ample time in the world to stay in Hanoi which we don’t that’s why we took the Cyclo instead).
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| The Temple of Literature. Vietnam’s first university dating back to 1070. |
The Temple of Literature
Mr. Cyclo pedalist waited outside whilst we’re taking pictures. We did not spend much time in The Temple of Literature ‘cuz there’s a fee to get inside. We don’t want to be too late neither for the water puppet show later.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum & Museum
The HCH Mausoleum was huge. We just took few more photos and watched the little marching thing and that’s it. We also swing by the HCM Museum which was walks away from the Mausoleum and just took few photos outside and off we go to our next stop which was the One Pillar Pagoda. |
| One Pillar Pagoda, across are the souvenir shops. |
One Pillar Pagoda
It was just a small Pagoda that’s why it was possibly called One Pillar Pagoda. Nothing much to see here so we just decided to buy souvenir items. We bought five fridge magnets for 80k VND in total which was originally 20k VND a piece. My sister asked for a discount, we got a 20% off instead. We also bought a Cyclo replica for five bucks. The seller did not grant us anymore discount for the Cyclo toy. We thought, it’s still a good deal because when we went to Dong Xuan Market later on, they sell the same Cyclo replica for a hefty 280kVND ($14.00) and we got ours for 100k VND ($5.00). We thought, what a rip off right?
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| We bought this baby Cyclo from a souvenir shop across the One Pillar Pagoda for $5. |
Dong Xuan Market
Time for some souvenir shopping! Dong Xuan Market looks more like Quiapo to me than Divisoria. A lot of the souvenir items here were quite overpriced. Good thing, we already bought most of our souvenirs from the souvenir shop whilst at One Pillar Pagoda. We still bought a few stuff such as couple of bracelets for our nieces (20k VND a piece), this sweet and sour tasting dried fruits for 50k VND, handbag for our other sissy (260k VND or $13), 5 purses all for 100k VND. We’re so friggin' millionaires here in Vietnam man! Off to our last stop for the Day - the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. Sorry I wasn't able to take pictures of Dong Xuan Market, it's a busy place.
End of today’s tour
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| Thang Long Water Puppet Theater Lobby |
Mr. Cyclo guy dropped us off in front of the Water Puppet Theater and this is where we handed him our payment. He barely speaks english like I said so it was really difficult deciphering what he’s trying to say. He gestures something about the bills so I thought he was returning my 200k VND. My sister and I were so effin confused already thinking if he’s ripping us off or what until he said the word ‘tip’ that’s the only time we both got what he’s trying to say. Since it’s my discretion ‘cuz I have all our USD bills (whilst my sister keeps all of our Dongs), I gave him 3 bucks for tip which made him extremely happy. Let’s just say his job isn’t easy and he even slowed down many times probably due to leg fatigue. Like I said, he’s old and when you’re older, your bones are brittle and he shouldn’t still be working considering his age. I could’ve given him a better tip if he did not ask first lol. There are times having an initiative isn’t good, and this is one of those instances :D
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| Water Puppet Show Sequence |
Thang Long Water Puppet Theater
Alas! Our last itinerary for the day is to watch the water puppet show regularly held at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater.
We got there around 5:00 PM and went straight to the ticketing booth to purchase tickets. When I asked how much I was told its 100k VND or $5 per ticket for the 5:20 PM show. I was just wondering how come it cost 100k VND considering it wasn't even in the front row. Nevertheless, we still bought two tickets before it gets sold out then grab some late snack at the closest eating joint around. We’re running out of Dongs so just used some of our USDs for food.
5:20 PM - We made it to the Theater on time although quite on a rush. There were flyers outside the theater so we took the one written in english (and the one in Viet for souvenir) because the whole show is in vietnamese. It was quite enjoyable even if I didn’t understand a thing. This is what I love about cultural performances, it’s not meant to be understood, it’s mean to be appreciated as it is regardless of the language used. Our only regret is we weren’t able to sit somewhere pretty close to the stage to get a good view of the performance. I loved the juxtaposition of lights and of course the music which somewhat sounded like Hindustrani to me. It was fun, a little weird at times but what they did was showcased the Vietnamese culture in a comical yet artistic way. I recommend the puppet show to those who are looking to visit Hanoi, it'll complete your Vietnam travel experience.
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| My sister and I sat somewhat far from the stage so we weren't able to get a better view of the water puppets. 😕 Nevertheless, we enjoyed the show! |
Quarter to 7:00 PM..
After watching the puppet show (which lasted for about an hour), we headed back to our hotel by foot even though we seriously do not know how because using the map is much more complicated like I said than read the street signs (although we still looked at the map from time to time though). I’m pretty good with directions, just not the way too complex ones so I led my sister to the familiar streets we passed by early today. I told her we’ll look for Hang Manh Street and it’s easier to find Bat Dan from there. We bought some more bottled water for 20k VND each and stopped for a while to see if we’re heading the right way and thank God we did as if a guardian angel is leading us back to our hotel. One last look at the map and there we found the familiar street where our hotel sits. It’s not easy to find by foot if it’s your first time in Hanoi so we took notes of landmarks such as the ‘Pho' or noodle joints around and the names of the hotels close to Little Hanoi Diamond. Had a blast with our little DIY city tour today! I told my sister, we are our own travel agency. She arranged all of our itinerary and I track the location and take care of the accounting part lol. I love this little adventure of ours, I just wish we had more time to eat and try more vietnamese food. We’re just really pressed for time and yeah that's a bummer.
Today’s Expenses:
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| some of the souvenir items we bought, the rest were already distributed 😜 |
(conversion 20k VND = $1.00/PHP470-480.00)
- 216K VND Hanoi Soul Cafe, Hoan Kiem Lake
- 80k VND Fridge Magnets
- 100k VND Cyclo Display ($5.00, we paid in USD because it’s easier)
- 100k VND for 5 purses (Dong Xuan Market)
- 40k VND 2 bracelets
- 80k VND 5 packs Trung Nguyen Coffee/500g each
- 50k VND Dried Fruits
- 260k VND My sister’s hand bag (paid $13.00)
- 190k VND Snacks before the Water Puppet Show
- 200k VND Water Pupper Show tickets (100k VND per pax or $5 each)
- 400k VND Cyclo Rental (200k VND per pax)
- 60k VND Tip to Cyclo guy (paid $3.00)
- 40k VND 2 bottled water 1Liter each (20k VND per bottle)
= 1,816,000.00 VND ($81.48 USD or PHP3,833.45)
**PHP3,833.45/2 = PHP1,916.73 per head is how much we spent today.**
Oh btw, the only place we weren't able to visit as per our itinerary was this store called Mai Trang along Hang Gai (they sell fridge magnets) because we did not see it the first time we passed by Hang Gai Street. We saw it on our way back to our hotel and we already bought fridge magnets from the souvenir shops across One Pillar Pagoda, too bad.
Oh btw, the only place we weren't able to visit as per our itinerary was this store called Mai Trang along Hang Gai (they sell fridge magnets) because we did not see it the first time we passed by Hang Gai Street. We saw it on our way back to our hotel and we already bought fridge magnets from the souvenir shops across One Pillar Pagoda, too bad.
Anyways, we had a lovely birthday today, tired but ecstatic. Tomorrow is boating and Pagoda day. We have to be up early ‘cuz our tour starts at 8:00 AM. Slumberland is calling…
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