Hanoi Old Quarter and Ninh Binh

Visit dates :16th till18th, February 2024

3d2n.

Hanoi Old Quarter (day 1 upon arrival)

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Hanoi was the oldest capital of Vietnam since 1,564 years ago, 544 AD. An old city that possessed a full spectrum of characters and colours. It encompasses various dynasties , unique building architecture, rich history , sumptuous food selections and costumes attire, more than 20 brands of beers, 5 main languages and more than 20 dialects easily and 53 tribes. There are many paddy fields around the outskirts of Hanoi because of good fengshui. The wide Red River delta ( Song Hong) coupled with the mountain range of Bavi making it useful as a defence measure. 

In about 1880, French established Hanoi as the headquarters of Indochina, managing Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In 1954, French left Vietnam because of the strong force of Ho Chi Minh, Communist Party leader. American managed to controlled the Southern part of Vietnam whereas North Vietnam was controlled by Ho Chin Minh. In the late 60s, war erupted and it ended in 1975 whereby Vietnam was finally been reunited successfully . Therefore, the buildings here are very much of French influence and some of the old shrines/temples and old gates can be dated back to different dynasty. I like their old building balconies that are narrow generally but tends to be planted with many colourful plants . The small tight alleies lie between buildings are simply amazingly designed where one can find many residents residing along those small lanes. The last gate, dated back in Nguyen dynasty, are very well preserved by the government of Vietnam. It really impressed me with those upheavals that could possibly explained the strong characters of the Vietnamese today. 

Serene asked Sonny for any reasons the Hanoi people are not obese although their diets are very much high meat base with high liquor consumption ? Sonny replied immediately that Vietnam ladies are working very hard to earn a living which can be seen obviously by the road and shops. Men drink too much sometimes with merely USD 0.45/glass of BiaHoi, so much so that trees by the roadside also stink with urine smell in the early morning 😁.  

The old solid steel structure, Long Bien bridge, is my personal favourite which is the main reason for me to visit Hanoi. Always enjoy seeing such a stunning huge steel structure, rusted badly, but standing up tall and steadily since 1900. Thanks to the French engineers in designing such a gigantic steel bridge since 1895. 

Beef noodles soup is a must try whenever visiting Hanoi. The shop that is famous with long waiting queue is called Pho 10, Ly Quoc Su. I hv never tasted such a soft and tender beef meat before. As a non- heavy meat eater, this shop has really impressed me with such a tasty beef noodle soup. As for dinner, I prefer the Cha Ca food where one gets so much fresh vegetables coupled with a fresh pre cook meat like fish. A more healthy diet as compared to the meat base like Buncha BBQ meat solely. Lastly, one should try their super fresh unfiltered beer, Bia Hoi, that must be consumed within 3 days upon delivery from the production. It has a good aromatic hop taste albeit low alcohol level. Price wise, 'bloody' cheap lah, USD 0.45 per glass 😂. Weather in February is quite cooling, foggy and cloudy, temperature ranging between 16 to 20 degC. Nice to sit on a small stool beside the road, enjoying a freshly brewed beer especially at the famous beer street, Ta Hien. The beer service ladies are very efficient, making order and deliver the beers within a split second . This is a simple indication of productivity attitude which I believe Vietnam economy will surpass many of the ASEAN countries in the near coming years . 

Do be prepared to walk a lot in this old city whereby I ended walking 20 thousands steps as recorded in my Garmin watch. 

Ninh Binh (day 2)

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Emperor Dinh TienHoang 丁天王(original named Dinh Bo Linh) was the first King who formed the united Vietnam, called Dai Co Viet in 968 AD, detached from the dependency of China. 

Hence, 968 to 1010, Ninh Binh was named the capital of Dai Co Viet simply because it was the born place of Emperor Dinh. 

Sung dynasty of China attacked Vietnam in 981, Le dynasty defended the sovereignty of Vietnam successfully.

Mongolian attacked 3 times in 1258, 1285, and 1288, but the Tran Dynasty fought and defended Vietnam. 

 A majestic temple with great fengshui was built in 1608 to honour the Emperor Dinh TienHoang in Ninh Binh . Surroundings of the temple has a lot of lime hills and river that is similar to China's Guillin. River water was kept clean as big engine boat is forbidden. Only sampans with manually row are allowed. I managed to climb up one of the lime hill, called Mua Cave Hill. Absolutely stunning to see those multiple peaks of limestone accompanying a beautiful river flowing through many caves underneath. It took me 1.5 hours to cruise along the river route with full shinrin-yoku atmosphere, gaining loads of fresh oxygen certainly. Hills here are also called mini Halong Bay. Be prepared for abundance of walking again. I ended my second day with 10 thousand steps in my garmin watch. The hill steps climbing to altitude heights of 130 meter, had given me a great cardio exercise. 

Day 3, departure for home. 

It's kind of short weekend but certainly has learnt a lot about Northern Vietnam, the charm, the colourful and the charismatic ancient city of Hanoi Old Quarter. Thanks again SonnyChu for an efficient tour guide role. Appreciation goes to Tommy and Thuy also, not forgetting Esther who introduced Thuy to me. 

Compiled by

TayKC 

An avid cyclist

A semiconductor industrialist

Sunday, 18th February 2024

My 60th birthday 🎂, 18th February 2024