Leaving Hội An was a bittersweet moment, we knew that we had another week of exploring Việt Nam, but I had fallen in love with the place and partly did not want to leave. However, taking our flight up to Hà Nội I was in awe looking out of the window over this majestic country and confident the rest of the trip would be just as good. Once we landed we took a taxi into the city to our hotel though upon checking in we were greeted with what can only be described as a disgusting room. After speaking to the manager, we in fact found out that we had been upgraded! After a short discussion with the wife we agreed that I should go downstairs, demand a full refund and that we would find somewhere else to stay. To this point I have never complained about a hotel room, or much anything to be honest, however, armed with my own hotel standards knowledge, I went back to the manager and fought my ground! After promising not to leave a bad review on TripAdvisor or any other such sites, I was given a full refund and we were free from the room. Inadvertently, this meant that we were now homeless in Hà Nội!
Naturally I thought of this as a great adventure and was excited by the whole event; the wife, not so much. Undeterred and using all our extensive knowledge of Hà Nội, by which I mean, Google Maps, it wasn’t long until we found somewhere else to stay. Having explained our situation, that it was our honeymoon and describing the previous establishment, the Angel Palace Hotel on Hang Bong Street were happy not only to have us, but also upgrade us to a 10th floor room with views across the city. On top of that, I was happy to add to my ‘Husband points’ for being so assertive to the previous establishment, go me!
After the first hotel debacle, oh yes there was another, one tune into part three for that epic adventure, we set out to explore the city. Hà Nội, in comparison to Hội An, is massive, naturally because it is the capital city. For those trying to imagine the difference I would describe it by comparing, Chester in the UK to London. So after a week of dodging mopeds and motorbikes, naively believing I was now a pro, the swarm had well and truly upgraded to a maelstrom! At this point even the rare pavements were not safe from riders hedging their bets on a short cut. The same tactics of simply walking out in front of the traffic still seemed to work, though I will admit on a few occasions I remained on the pavement attempting to calculate a good time to dash across. Walking east from our hotel we found the lovely Hoàn Kiếm Lake where we were able to sit down and take in the sights. On a small island in the lake you can see Đền Ngọc Sơn, or The Temple of the Jade Mountain, which made for a lovely view to have some food.
At this point we were joined by a young Vietnamese man who asked us where we were from and after explaining we were English he politely asked if he could practice some English words with us. Naturally we obliged and had a nice chat to him and got some advice of where to visit in the city. Being a slight cynic, I did look over my shoulder a few times to see if he had a friend attempting to make off with our belongings whilst he distracted us, though I can happily say he was a genuine young man who did indeed want to practice his English. Soon after we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest and I planned the next couple of days’ activities.
The next day we went to visit the Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum, a magnificent structure that held the embalmed remains of Hồ Chí Minh himself. This was the first time the wife had seen an embalmed corpse and described it as a ‘disturbing’ experience. I, on the other hand, had seen an embalmed saint in Greece many years before and in comparison would say Hồ Chí Minh was in rather good nick. Photographs inside the mausoleum were strictly prohibited and Hồ Chí Minh had four soldiers guarding him at all times. We were in fact lucky enough to see the changing of these four guards just as we entered the main chamber, so that was an added bonus. After seeing his embalmed body we carried on round the rest of the site and up to Hồ Chí Minh’s Stilt House. As you can imagine it was a small house raised from the ground and promoted his very simplistic lifestyle, I would love to see Boris Johnson attempt to run the UK in a similar setting! After a good look around the gardens and surrounding area we continued into the city for more exploration. It is interesting to note that all the roads in Hà Nội are named after what they sell, for example electronics, phones, laptops, tourist shops etc. are all named as such in Vietnamese.
Our final day in Hà Nội was a leisurely stroll and of course more odds and sods buying for friends and family. We visited Hồ Tây, The West Lake, on which Chùa Trấn Quốc Pagoda stood. Chùa Trấn Quốc was another beautiful example of a Buddhist Temple and Pagoda and is pictured below. Soon after we went to a restaurant just opposite called Bánh tôm Hồ Tây, which apparently translates to West Lake Shrimp Cake! It was here that I attempted, for the first time, an egg coffee. Naturally you are probably thinking that an egg coffee sounds vile, you couldn’t be more wrong! The egg coffee I had that day is without a shadow of doubt the best thing I have ever drunk in my entire life! To this day I still don’t know how it could possibly taste so nice but I implore any visitor to Việt Nam to try it! Also at this point, not to brag, but I was becoming rather adept to using chop sticks which I was very excited by. When travelling the UK and looking for somewhere to eat, I find myself consistently looking for a Vietnamese restaurant. For someone who is a rather picky eater at the best of times I cannot promote Vietnamese food enough! So now it was time to leave our hotel and go to the last destination of our honeymoon, Hạ Long Bay!
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