Backpacking in Hanoi, Vietnam

Since I’d already been backpacking in Hanoi for three days but hadn’t seen anything due to being sick up to this point, I thought I would take about two more days here to check out the city. I thought a week would have been too much as Hanoi is a pretty busy city and it didn’t seem like the kind of city you would want to spend more than a few days backpacking. There is a lot to see however and the first place we went by was Hoan Kiem Lake that is centered in the Old Quarter.

Street View of the Old Quarter in Hanoi

We also stopped by the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. And to be honest, I was very curious about this since Lenin’s mausoleum was closed when I was in Moscow. Security to get in was tight and there were armed guards lining the streets outside as well as throughout the inside including every hallway and set of stairs.

The “line” to get into the mausoleum. It was literally lining about 4 or 5 blocks. I had no idea that there were this many tourists in Hanoi since I’d only seen about 10 tourists in town since arriving three days ago.

You have to leave your cameras at a desk before you go in and you have to keep your hands at your sides while you’re inside the building. I know this because I had first my hands together behind my back but they didn’t approve of that and had me put them back out at my sides. And when we walking through the front door of the mausoleum, the genius in front of me thought it would be a good idea to take a picture with his camera phone right in front of the guards. He ended up getting pulled out of line by security so fast I thought he was going to cry yet looked confused as to why they were trying to take it from him. I doubt they kept his i-Phone but it wouldn’t have surprised me if they did. I don’t know what (if anything) he was thinking at the time…

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Seeing Ho Chi Minh inside was an experience though. There’s really not too much to describe it other than the fact that he looks almost fake due to the amount of makeup, etc that he has on. It’s a bit ironic too because his last dying wish was to be cremated with his ashes spread out throughout his beloved Vietnam. So much for that…

Inside the museum

Another place we stopped in while backpacking Hanoi was the Ho Chi Minh museum. It was less about previous wars than it was about his life and how he came to power over the years and the influence he had on the Vietnamese people. Leaving from there we headed to the ‘Temple of Literature’. It’s within walking distance from the Ho Chi Minh museum and dates back to 1070 and was Vietnam’s first university. Today, it is used as a place devoted to Confucius and his teachings that started back then and continue on into modern day society.

The Entrance into the Temple of Literature

The rest of the time we spent backpacking in Hanoi was mostly just walking the markets and the various neighborhoods in the city. As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of French influenced architecture throughout the city and we spent time just walking the streets and checking out shops in that district. We were planning to leave soon for HaLong Bay which is in North Vietnam’s coastal bay and we ended up booking a three day tour so our time here was soon over…