If you come to Hanoi, our capital, how do you spend the time to discover?
Actually, you could visit all places and taste all kind of unique foods in Hanoi, so I would like to introduce some specific ones then you could explore and understand about our city, our culture by shortest way.
Almost people know Hanoi as a traditional city with maintaining ancient places or local people’s lifestyle.
Let’s discover Hanoi with me one day.
By the way, you should wake up early and start your journey which make you see all of our beauties.
I would like to recommend you to wake up at 5.30am, then you could come to Uncle Ho Mausoleum and watch saluting our own country flat which is a significant celebration every single day at 6.30 am in summer and 6.00 am in other seasons even though rainy or sunny. There are 37 soldiers who are selected carefully from Government to take place of this one. This celebration is national level and organize by the most respectful feature.
If not, firstly you could have a breakfast in the center with a unique food of Hanoi which is Pho. Everywhere Pho Hanoi is also delicious, which one has specific taste such us Pho Thin, Pho Bat Dan, Pho Ly Quoc Su…, it is better, you go around the Hoan Kiem Lake and figure out some of Pho restaurants. In sum up, Pho is the first food you should try when coming to Hanoi.
After your breakfast, you start traveling one day in our city.
The first place, I still recommend you to visit Uncle Ho Mausoleum cause this place is Vietnam’s unique not only Hanoi. If you read about our history, Uncle Ho is the first president, who spent his whole life to liberate our country. He was recognized by international organizations by his brave spirit for freedom in Southeast Asia area (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos), he was a great revolutionist affecting to revolt countries at that time.
In addition, you could visit the Uncle Ho house and his garden, via the telling of presenter you will be acknowledge about his lifestyle and working style when he lived. Near here, there is Uncle Ho museum which collected all Uncle and our elder generation’s photos during 2 wars against French American people.
In that complex, there is a One Pillar Pagoda which was built in 1049 by Ly Thai Tong, a our ancient King. That one has an unique architecture by erecting a pillar in the middle of a lotus pond .
Once more, if you have more time, please access Hochiminh Museum to listen our historic stories by the time which one record and save many memories.
The second one I would like to introduce you that is Imperial Citadel of Thang Long which is the complex of historic imperial building King place from year 1010. By the time, this complex is still maintained due to the historic value, and when we remind about Hanoi, people will remember this one, as a significant of one thousand years of cultural landed.
After visiting Hoang Thang, it is lunch time, I would like to suggest a delicious food of Hanoi that is Bun Cha. Bun Cha is very famous with foreign friends and when Obama, President of US visited our country he also tried it. There are a lot of Bun Cha restaurant.
Bun Cha is made by grilled pork, its specialty is grilled by charcoal not by grill machine or other methods, so that still keep the taste of meat including pepper, garlic, fish sauce and some other unique ingredients. Especially, the fish sauce is made by featured recipe of Hanoi people.
Beside of Bun Cha, you could refer snail noodles, or shrimp cake, or bun dau mam tom (fried bean, noodle and fish sauce), etc… I think is not enough time to eat all Hanoi foods in one day.
After lunch, you could back to your hotel for taking a nap or go around Hoan Kiem Lake.
You could look around and understand our Vietnamese living style when you walk in Old Quarter. We are a poor country, so local people work so hard, as you see the below photo, a man who is old but still stand outside both rainy and sunny to wait customers, we call that is “xe om” service.
Beside that, you could see the beauty of Hoan Kiem Lake which including Turtle temple is a signal of historical story long time ago.
Once place I would recommend you to visit in the afternoon is Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Imperial Academy) which is the first academy of our country. It was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Ly Thanh Tong, has 5 courtyards. The special point is that has approximately stone stele records of imperial examinations of the Le and Mac dynasties, nowadays before important exams, many students visited Van Mieu and touch the head of turtles which one bring the stele to pray the luckiness.
My suggestions for your dinner are fried fishe cakes (cha ca La Vong) shrimp cake in Ho Tay lake, or boiled snail at Dinh Liet Street, or spring rolls at Ngu Xa, etc. If could, you should try all of these ones.
Ending a Hanoi tour day, you should enjoy drinking beer at Ta Hien street in Old Quarter where foreigners gather in listening to DJ music and talking together until midnight.
In this subject, I couldn’t show you all of beauties in Hanoi for one day, only suggest you a few main places and some unique foods. Hope you will spend more time to discover our historical city next time.
Donna Nguyen 