Vietnam - Hanoi

This week I am starting a trip from Hanoi in the north of Vietnam and working my way south over the next three weeks. This is one of those big trips that myself and Roma wanted to do in the immediate years after retirement. 

We spent the first three nights in Hanoi, and my lasting impression of this city is that it is a vibrant, chaotic, and wonderful place to visit. We stayed tight in the centre and were in walking distance of almost everything. We took a tour of the Ho Chi Minh complex including his mausoleum and the house where he lived. Despite being dead for over 50 years, he is still revered here. 

The traffic is the most chaotic thing about the place, it’s scooters and cars competing for every inch of the road space. There was only one thing to do about this - join them! So we took part in a Scooter Food Tour moving from place to place - my driver, Thomas, was an expert rider. this is just about the best fun I’ve had on two wheels since riding Route 66.

There are plenty of temples and old buildings to see - some interesting, some not. The symbol of Hanoi is the Khue Van Cac - we got to see the pagoda it is based on.

We do!