We walked to the West Lake at Tay Ho district. All restaurants here by the West Lake was pretty expensive. So we settled our lunch at the only food stall in sight, had a delicious chao (rice porridge) and a no taste coconut drink.
Continue reading →

Bao Tang (Museum) Ho Chi Minh, located about 200 meters from One Pillar Pagoda. Entrance fee is VND 5,000.
Continue reading →

Dien Huu Pagoda is just a few steps away from One Pillar Pagoda, but often overlooked by tourists. We managed to come to here by following the university students, as I assumed they should be studying tourism.
Continue reading →

Right beside the Ho Chi Minh stilted house is One Pillar Pagoda, one of the few structures remaing from the old Thang Long. One Pillar Pagoda is dedicated to Quan Am, the goddess of mercy, after Emperor Ly Thanh Tong dreamed about the goddess sat on a lotus flower and offered him a son. And surprise, soon a boy was borned to him. The pagoda was destroyed by French in 1954 but has since been rebuilt.
Continue reading →

In 1958, Ho Chi Minh moved into this simple stilted house near a carp pond, after refusing to stay in Presidential Palace. Ho Chi Minh stayed here until his death at 1969.
Continue reading →

Fifth day in Vietnam, finally saw some Vietnamese girls wore Long Dress, the Vietnamese women traditional costume, which ‘covers everything, but also reveals everything’!
Continue reading →

Some Vietnamese school children with their teacher. A lot of organized trip from schools in Vietnam to pay Uncle Ho Chi Minh respect.

Presidential Palace was residence of the Governor-General of French Indochina before been served as a state guest house since 1954. Ho Chi Minh believed the building should belong to the people and chose to live in an electrician’s hut on the ground. The Presidential Palace is not opened for visitors, so we could only glanced from afar.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, or in Vietnamese, Lang Ho Chi Minh, is where the remains of Ho Chi Minh (despite against his wish to be cremated) are kept. He is venerated as national hero and father of the Vietnam. There seemed to be 2 entrances to the Mausoleum. The entrance that we were, the queue was mainly formed by Vietnamese, and occasionally tourists came by walking. Adeline paid VND 4,000 each which until now I still don’t know what it was for. Anyway, this was the first time in Vietnam that I saw Vietnamese girls in full traditional long dress costume.
Continue reading →

Hanoi Citadel is a restricted area, once called Thang Long Citadel, home to the imperial city. I hardly noticed the citadel until I saw this 31 m high Hanoi Flag Pillar, a former guard tower, built in 1812 under the Nguyen Dynasty.