Old Town Hanoi

We had a great relaxing Christmas Day. After opening presents this morning, I went for a walking tour of Old Town Hanoi. A few short blocks from our hotel is Hoan Kleim Lake home to the Ngoc Son Temple.

The lake is a beautiful oasis with plentiful gardens, statues and benches to relax. It seemed to be very popular with the "love birds" as I saw many young and old couples taking a relaxing stroll or curled up on a bench. It was a very nice walk, even with the hustle and bustle of the city streets near by.

This is where several of the stages were last night for the big Christmas Eve services. You wouldn't have known it because it was all cleaned up by the time I got there.

Down at the one end of the lake is an island with beautiful Asian bridge, Flood of Morning Sunlight Bridge, that heads to the Ngoc Son Temple. This small temple is basically a tourist destination now, but it is still very peaceful. Having both some Taoist and Confucian background, I did not step into the temple, as I did not want to participate in any ceremonies. I did check out the memorial to the great turtle, that supposedly swallowed the golden sword and saved the city from the invasion of China. It was eye opening and interesting although very crowded.

On my way off the island I ran into a Christian Youth Group from Hanoi who was going to be performing later in the day. Although we could not understand each other very well. The name Jesus was understood very well.

From of there I hit the streets, walking through the small cramped streets of old town. It is interesting to see how two blocks or so will be the "Home Depot" section with each family providing a different need, all layed out on the sidewalk. Then you run into the clothing blocks, followed by the electronics blocks, etc. What makes it amazing is that every square inch of space is used. The sidewalks are covered in goods, and what is not covered, has become a parking lot for hundreds of motorbikes. Thus when you walk down the street, you literally are walking down the street with motorbikes and cars whizzing by you. You definitely put your faith in God here. And amazingly there are very few accidents. The people were pleasant, many trying to sell me, but overall nice.

One lady even gave me some tangelos after talking to me (I politely accepted, but later disposed of them.) She has been selling produce for ten years now, helping her family of 10 (including parents and grand parents.)

A few hours later, I was on my way back to the hotel, feeling as though I had just smoked two packs of cigarettes from all of the exaust. My allergies and sinuses were flaring.

We finished our Christmas day with a buffet dinner at Jaspas, a nice trendy place here in the hotel. It was very good, but probably not worth the price (are holiday buffets ever worth the price?)

We prat that everyone is having a very Merry Christmas day. Good night from Hanoi.