October 11, Hanoi, Vietnam
Our tour may have ended, but we were busy on our last full day in Vietnam. We did a Hanoi highlights tour where we saw several sites and had lunch. After that, we spent some time at a café before grabbing dinner.
Even though the tour was formally over, we still had breakfast with the same couple we’d been eating with for the whole tour. We talked about our plans for the day as we ate. They said they were going to the Hanoi Hilton and then the Women’s Museum, then perhaps walking around a bit.
Hanoi Highlights tour
We waited in the lobby for our tour guide to show up and were pleasantly surprised to see San, our guide for the Hanoi food tour not too many days before. It ended up that we were the only people on the tour, so we got into a car that he had hired for most of the morning and headed out.
Temple of Literature
Our first stop was the Temple of Literature, which used to be a temple for followers of Confucius and then later a school. Now it is used by people about to take exams to pray to do well.
We went through a gate that is so well-known that a representation of it is the unofficial symbol of the city. Once San had pointed that out, I began to see the symbol all over the city.
San explained there were three levels of exams, and those who pass all three are the equivalent of a PhD. There are statues of turtles with tables rising out of their shells which have names of students who have achieved this level.
Tea
After we were done with the temple, we walked nearby to a tea house. Because the tables in the courtyard were reserved, we went up the stairs to a small area for tea.
The tea that we were to have was fermented red tea made of lotus leaves. While it wasn’t as elaborate as a Japanese or Chinese tea ceremony, it was still involved. A woman brought a tray with cups, a teapot, a small carafe, and the tea leaves in a small bamboo tray. She warmed up the teapot with hot water. She then poured the water into the carafe, and then into the three cups.
With everything warmed up, she added tea to the teapot and then poured hot water over it. After letting the leaves steep for much less than a minute, she poured the tea into the carafe, and then into the cups. The tea didn’t have the sourness you would think from being fermented, and it was very subtle. San then brewed more, letting the leaves steep longer so we could taste a stronger version of the tea.
We left the teahouse and went back into the car and headed to the Hanoi Hilton.
Hanoi Hilton
Most Americans know the Hanoi Hilton from the Vietnam War, but it was originally built when the French occupied Vietnam. What exists today is about a quarter of the original size because much of it was torn down and the land built up with buildings such as the Hanoi Towers. When trade relations were opened during the Clinton era, the prison was turned into a museum.
The prison was meant to be very secure, but some prisoners were able to escape through the sewers. There were exhibits showing sample sewer sections, and they were extremely small. After the escapes were discovered, bars were put into the pipes to block access, but the prisoners were able to get saws smuggled in and tried cutting through the bars.
There were a lot of photos of Clinton (because of trade relations having opened with Vietnam) and John McCain (who was imprisoned there during the Vietnam War).
St. Joseph’s Cathedral
We got into the car one more time to look at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. It is a Neo-Gothic structure built in the late 19th century. We didn’t go inside, but we did get a good view of the front, as well as the people taking group photos in front of it. There was an impressive amount of pedestrian space in front where there were even no motor scooters.
Ngoc Son Temple
We were near Hoam Kiem Lake so we walked to it, going right past the puppet theater where we had gelato. After going around the north end, we crossed the bridge leading to a small island that houses the Ngoc Son Temple.
In one part of the temple, San told us about the last turtle in the lake which died not too long ago.
Looking south from the Temple, we could see what looked like a small pagoda on a tiny island. Originally, the French had gifted a miniature Statue of Liberty which sat on the top of the structure, but people pulled it down. The top now matches the rest of the structure.
Lunch
San took us across the street from the lake to have pho. he described the broth as very light. There was no room in the restaurant so we went next door to a café, ordered drinks, and waited for the pho to be served there. Not only was the broth light but both the pork and brisket were very good, probably the best pho of the trip.
Rest of the day
We knew beforehand that we would be going back to the gelato store after lunch, so we went there, walking the long way around the lake quite a few people were having their photos taken with the lake in the background.
Since we were traveling without our usual bags for the tour, we went back to the hotel to pick up our things, then found a café to spend the afternoon in. For me, it was nice to have WiFi there (as well as at the hotel) since for some reason my phone wasn’t connecting to the cell network. We also told the group that San was our guide, and people thought it was great we saw him again.
Once we were done at the café, we went to get some banh mi for dinner. The one we got with cold cuts was good, but the other one with chunks of pork was fantastic. To match the best pho of the trip we had for lunch, that was probably the best banh mi we had for the trip.
All that was left for us to do was to go back to our room to pack, so that’s what we did.
