Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam, second to Ho Chi Minh City in terms of population. It was the capital of North Vietnam from 1954 to 1976, which then became the capital of a reunified Vietnam from 1976 onwards. Hanoi has been around for more than a thousand years with the millennial anniversary celebrated from 1 to 10 October 2010.
It wasn't exactly the best time to walk around outside due to the bad haze, but my BFF and I did anyway. With the relentless flow of countless number of vehicles and only a handful of pedestrian traffic lights in Hanoi, crossing the road was quite scary at first. It's not for the faint-hearted, but all you have to do is to walk straight at a steady pace.
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| That was one of the few empty big roads~ |
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| I waited for a while to see if there'd be a train passing by, but none came. |
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| It's a school. Did you manage to guess correctly? |
Along the way to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, we saw quite a number of government and ministerial buildings.
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| Oh, a jet! |
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| I believe that's the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. |
The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long was the former residence of Vietnamese monarchs. Sad to say, the royal palace and most of the old buildings were destroyed due to the French conquest of Hanoi. The remaining central sector is listed under UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| The Flag Tower of Hanoi, built in 1812 as an observation post, is still standing tall till date. |
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| The Doan Mon marks the southern entrance to the past royal palace. |
The Presidential Palace, which isn't open to the public, was constructed by Auguste Henri Vildieu, the official French architect for French Indochina. It's said that Ho Chi Minh refused to live in such a grand structure for symbolic reasons when Vietnam achieved independence in 1954, using the building only to receive state guests. He built a traditional Vietnamese stilt house and a carp pond for himiself on the grounds of the palace.
Across the famous Hoan Kiem Lake is a small park with a statue of Ly Thai To, the founder of the Later Ly Dynasty who moved the capital to Hanoi in 1010.
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| Born in 974, Ly Thai To reigned from 1009 till his passing in 1028. |
There are a few more pictures that I took in the evening.
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| Trang Tien Plaza is a six-storey shopping centre with a total retail floor area of 20,000 square meters, |
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| What was the occasion, I wonder? |
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| Anyone knows what building is that? |
Below is the list of four eateries, all offering Vietnamese food, that I visited:
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