Sun 2 Sep - Hanoi

Vietnam's independence day today on the 2nd of September and also the day Uncle Ho died.

It was quite a party around the lake but at 6.15am for the walking tour, it was very peaceful and streets were almost empty.

Great tour with Anh including alleys and passages, with lots of local insights. Definitely worth $1 which included good coffee and typical Vietnamese breakfast Banh Chon. Not our taste but a good experience.

Anh pointed out this very skinny building.



Mr "I'm a Cafe Shop" must be quite an entrepreneur after a slow start...

Here, they sell lucky phone numbers...

After the walking tour, we had a 2nd breakfast at hotel at 10am. A quick refresh and then back out to walk more near opera house and found surprising Austrian Brau Haus. Architecture in the area is impressive but needs maintenance.

This is Hanoi Opera House:

And this Hilton @ Hanoi Opera, not to be confused with Hanoi Hilton.

Hotel Metropole looks gorgeous. Lots of brides were having photos taken there and not looking happy in the steamy heat.

Found cheap and perfectly good pizza and pasta place for dinner called Pepperonis. After dinner, we walked around the lake for a while and it was really busy. Everybody was out to celebrate independence day.

After wandering around for a while, it was back to the hotel to pack for Halong bay.

 

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