Hanoi | Vietnam

#Asia #Vietnam #Travel #Streetphoto #UNESCO #Art #Architecture #2017

I spent 3 weeks in Vietnam in April 2017 traveling from the north (city of #Hanoi) to the very south of the country (Ho Chi Minh City), visting many extraordinary places. In a first episode I will write about the capital city of Hanoi as it did strike me in many ways and I absolutely loved pretty much everything about this place.

The very first thing I’d like to say to you – if you are planning visiting Vietnam and you are hesitating for some reason – don’t. From my experience this county is very safe and relatively easy to travel. I have never met so many positive and genuinely kind people in one place as I did during my Vietnam travel. Vietnamese people are very traditional but also open to the new, which which is a very interesting combination.

Places that I visited and photographed during my short stay in #Hanoi (as featured in a photo gallery below):

• Old Quarter – This district used to be a residential, manufacturing, and commercial center, where each street was specialized in one specific type of manufacturing or commerce. Nowadays, the quarter is an attraction for people interested in the history of Hanoi. It is also a backpackers district. Place where you can organise your trip and meet people.
• Temple of Literature – is a Temple of Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple hosts the Imperial Academy (Quốc Tử Giám, 國子監), Vietnam’s first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Lý Thánh Tông. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. (Wikipedia)
• Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts – is a museum showcasing Vietnam’s fine arts from a range of historical periods. It is the country’s primary art museum. Much of the 20th Century art presented in the museum is concerned with folk narratives of a nation in defence. As a collection it draws on themes of martyrdom, patriotism, military strategy and overcoming enemy incursion. Just opposite of mentioned earlier Temple of Literature. (Wikipedia)
• Hoa Lo Prison – was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War. During this later period it was sarcastically known to American POWs as the Hanoi Hilton. The prison was demolished during the 1990s, though the gatehouse remains as a museum. (Wikipedia)
• Water Puppet Theatre – a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today’s Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition. The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large bamboo rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play. (Wikipedia).

Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội), the capital of Vietnam, and also its second largest city, is a fascinating blend of East and West, combining traditional Sino-Vietnamese motifs with French flair. It is largely unscathed from the decades of war, and is now going through a building boom, making it a rapidly developing city in Southeast Asia.

Consistently ranked among the world’s top 10 destinations by TripAdvisor, the city and its surrounding region get more tourists every day.

Source: wikitravel.org